Promoter AEG Presents has appointed its first-ever head of comedy ahead of its comedy festival, Just For Laughs, making its U.K. debut next spring. Comedy specialist Georgie Donnelly has been tapped to take on the inaugural role. She will be based in London. The company said that Donnelly’s appointment was integral to its focus on
Television
BBC Studios has taken full ownership of British factual producer Voltage TV, whose credits include “Inside the Factory” and “The British Tribe Next Door.” The BBC’s production and distribution arm buys out Channel 4’s minority stake in Voltage via its C4 Growth Fund, which has been in place since 2015. The deal signifies a renewed
Fremantle has acquired a majority stake in David Glover and Mark Raphael’s factual powerhouse 72 Films, the producers behind “9/11: One Day in America,” “The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty” and “All or Nothing: Arsenal.” The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions for the Bertelsmann and RTL Group-owned Fremantle, which has been
British public service broadcaster ITV has posted its Q3 revenues, which are up by 6%. Revenues for ITV Studios, the production and distribution company owned by ITV, were also up by 16%. Total external revenue for ITV was £2,523 million ($2,894 million), 6% more than last year’s £2,381 million. Meanwhile ITV Studios posted revenues of
German media powerhouse ProSiebenSat.1 is bundling its eight production companies in Germany, the U.K., Denmark and Israel, along with its global distribution arm Red Arrow Studios International, under a newly established banner called Seven.One Studios. The new entity will produce across all key genres for its own platforms as well as external players. In the
Paramount+ has unveiled the cast of its new original series “The Doll Factory” from “Marcella” producers Buccaneer Media. An adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name by Elizabeth Macneal, “The Doll Factory” is set in London in 1850 and tells the story of Iris, who paints dolls for a living alongside her twin
SPOILER WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the reunion episode of “Love Is Blind” Season 3, out now on Netflix. Zanab Jaffrey isn’t looking back. During her wedding to Cole Barnett in Episode 11 of “Love Is Blind’s” third season, she rejected her fiancé at the altar. While Jaffrey affirmed that she loved Barnett, she didn’t
Travis Fimmel has joined the prequel series “Dune: The Sisterhood” at HBO Max. The show is set 10,000 years before the events of “Dune” and is based on the novel “Sisterhood of Dune” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Per the official logline, the show “follows the Harkonnen Sisters (Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson) as
Several Discovery+ titles, including series such as “Property Brothers” and “Chopped,” will become available to stream on HBO Max in the next week. Seasons 5 and 6 of “Property Brothers: Forever Home” will start streaming on the service on Wednesday, November 9. The two episodes of Season 7 that have already aired will also become
The cast and crew of “The Crown” were joined by Netflix boss Ted Sarandos in London for the show’s Season 5 premiere. Before the screening started, Sarandos took to the stage at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in central London on Tuesday evening to introduce the new season. During his speech, Sarandos called the series
Award winning composers helped turn this year’s Netflix Playlist event into an aural and visual spectacle. The music from some of the streaming platform’s awards contenders and series were brought to life for live audiences alongside immersive, wall-to-wall projections. Alexandre Desplat, Nathan Johnson and Danny Elfman were among those in attendance for an orchestral performance
Netflix has canceled two of its freshman drama series: “Partner Track” and “The Imperfects.” “Partner Track” premiered in late August of this year, while “The Imperfects” came in early September. Both made appearances on the Netflix Top 10 and stayed there for three weeks, with the former peaking in the No. 4 position and the
“It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” That’s the slogan of the premium cable network that single handedly changed the television landscape forever, and ushered in the Peak TV era. With Home Box Office turning 50 this week, Variety is celebrating its Golden Year by ranking the 50 best performances in its history. Disclaimer: We’re including performances
Disney is actively looking to develop an Indiana Jones TV show for Disney+, Variety has learned exclusively from sources. The Mouse House and Lucasfilm have specifically been bringing up the possibility of a streaming show set in the world of the globe trotting archaeologist in general meetings with writers of late, sources say. They are
“Manifest” made a triumphant return on Netflix. Season 4 of the drama opened on Netflix’s Top 10 at the No. 1 spot after its Nov. 4 release. During the Oct. 31-Nov. 6 viewing window, the series scored 57.1 million hours viewed in its first three days of availability. The show’s premiere season also returned to
Walt Disney Co, said continued heavy investment in its streaming business held its profit-making ability in check during its fiscal fourth quarter, part of the media giant’s ongoing effort to reshape its operations for a world increasingly dominated by broadband-delivered media. The Burbank, CA owner of the ABC television network, the Pixar movie studio and
Social media star Benito Skinner is developing a comedy series currently titled “Overcompensating” at Amazon. Skinner created the series and will serve as an executive producer. Singer-songwriter Charli XCX is attached to provide music and executive produce, with Jonah Hill’s Strong Baby Productions also executive producing. A24 will serve as the studio. Per the official
On the eve of the Season 5 launch of “The Crown,” top-billed cast members – including Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki – gathered at a press conference in London to discuss the royals, the roles and their anticipation for audiences to watch the show. Staunton, who takes over the role of
NBC is bringing further synergy to streamer Peacock with the addition of all-day access to the broadcast network for paying customers. For Peacock Premium Plus customers, users who pay for the upgraded, ad-free version of the NBCUniversal platform, a 24/7 livestream for their local NBC affiliate station will launch beginning Nov. 8 and be available
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Dick Clark Productions and NBC announced Tuesday that veteran entertainment publicist Chet Mehta and his firm PR Dept have been retained to lead publicity for the upcoming Golden Globes. The 80th annual awards return to airing on NBC and streaming on Peacock on Jan. 10, 2023, after the network paused
Unscripted production label Banijay Mexico & U.S. has signed up actor-comedian José Eduardo Derbez to co-develop and host a number of new unscripted series. The Banijay-owned studio, launched in September 2021, has already developed two new shows for Derbez to host: “Jinxed” and “Mexico Oscuro” with Derbez co-developing and co-producing the latter. Derbez is best
The writing was already on the wall, but now it’s getting bolder: The CW’s carryover programming from its former parent companies Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery will be “minimal” by the next broadcast season. “Programming for the CW is in place for the 2022-2023 broadcast season, that extends through the end of August/early September
Kanye West served as the musical guest on the “Saturday Night Live” Season 44 premiere, hosted by Adam Driver, but the buzziest moment from the September 2018 episode did not make it to air. Following his performance of “Ghost Town,” West launched into a pro-Trump rant off-air that generated boos from the audience. The rapper
It’s the news “Bad Sisters” fans have been hoping for: the limited series has been commissioned for a second season, meaning the murderous Garvey sisters are set to grace our screens once more. Apple TV+ and executive producer and star Sharon Horgan confirmed the second season order on Tuesday (Nov. 8), although no other info
Peacock has announced “Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies,” a limited docuseries featuring interviews with Anthony about the investigation, trial and media spectacle regarding accusations that she murdered her daughter, Caylee Anthony. “Why talk to me now when you’re not getting creative control?” an interviewer asks Anthony in the trailer. The brief footage concludes with
All the usual suspects will be on hand for Fox News Channel’s Tuesday-night coverage of the 2022 midterm elections. Viewers may see some unexpected ones as well. Yes, Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer will be on hand to guide the Fox News audience through the vote tallies, as will Arnon Mishkin, who leads
Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to the documentary “Living With Chucky.” The film, which had its world premiere at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in August and recently screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, is set to premiere on Cinedigm’s horror streaming service Screambox and on digital early next year. Featuring interviews with
New CW network owner Nexstar reported its third-quarter 2022 earnings Tuesday before the bell, revealing TV ad sales were up more than 18% year over year overall, while revenue from political TV advertising, specifically, jumped 942% from Q3 of 2022. Per Nexstar, the TV station group and parent company of NewsNation posted $399.7 million in core advertising
TelevisaUnivision’s fledgling streaming service ViX has teamed up with leading food-themed content studio Chefclub in its continued bid to expand its programming offer to U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. Both Chefclub and Chefclub Kids are now providing fun cooking lessons on the ad-supported streaming service that launched in March 2021. Bilai Joa Silar, senior
Chris Evans is People’s sexiest man alive for 2022. The star of “The Gray Man” and Marvel’s original Captain America was revealed as this year’s honoree during Monday evening’s broadcast of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” “It is with humility and gratitude that I am thrilled to announce that People magazine has decided to