All the latest news from the global content industry on Wednesday, 8 January

 

Wednesday, 12.15pm: Piers Morgan exits News UK to focus on YouTube

Piers Morgan is departing News UK to focus on the international expansion of his YouTube channel Uncensored.

The broadcaster and media personality has agreed a deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News UK that will grant him ownership of the Uncensored brand through his outfit Wake Up Productions, Sky News reported.

It is understood that as part of the agreement, he and News UK have inked a four-year revenue-sharing deal that will see the media company receiving a portion of Piers Morgan Uncensored’s advertising revenue.

Morgan rejoined News UK in 2022 under a three-year deal that included presenting Uncensored on the then-fledgling linear channel TalkTV, as well as writing columns for the publisher’s titles The Sun and New York Post. That deal expired at the end of 2024.

 

Wednesday, 10.57am: George RR Martin backs animation firm Bizaar

Game of Thrones scribe George RR Martin is among backers of new LA-based animation company, Bizaar Studios.

The US firm has been started by Jeremy Iovine and Amir Mohamadzadeh, who previously launched Rosewood Creative, and will be led by president and co-founder Eric Bromberg.

Bizaar Studios will focus on adult animated TV and movies, with plans to launch a dedicated streaming platform in the future according to Deadline, which broke the news. Martin is a stakeholder and board member of the nascent firm, along with Iovine’s music mogul father, Jimmy Iovine, and voice actor/director, Conrad Vernon.

 

Wednesday, 10.04am: Sky’s Sophie Judge joins BBCS & UKTV 

Long-serving Sky executive Sophie Judge has joined UKTV and BBC Studios’ acquisitions team as global acquisitions manager.  

Judge moves on having been at Sky since 2009, leading the renewal of the HBO output deal in 2019 for all European Sky territories. She will now be responsible for sourcing and securing shows from third parties for the BBCS-owned portfolio of channels under UKTV, and its free streaming service UKTV Play. Read more

 

Wednesday, 9.57am: M6’s Gulli makes large Hit List

Tuesday’s Child musical quiz show The Hit List has scored a French adaptation with Groupe M6 ordering a bumper 80-episode run for its youth-skewing channel Gulli.

Free-to-air network Gulli has commissioned an 80 x 30-minute series, following a deal with distributor Keshet International (KI). Read more

 

Wednesday, 9.45am: Rakuten TV unveils Nordic film FAST channel

European operator Rakuten TV has launched a branded owned and operated FAST channel that will focus on movies from the Nordics.

Viewers in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark will be able to access Nordic Films, which will be “dedicated to celebrating the very best of Nordics cinema” and will provide access to a raft of movies ranging from family comedies and dramas to crime thrillers. 

Films starring actors including Mads Mikkelsen, Alexander Skarsgård and Josephine Bornebusch will feature.

 

Wednesday, 8.05am: Kanal D names CIS & Russia sales manager

Turkish distributor Kanal D International has hired Sangerim Zhakhina as sales manager for the CIS regions and Russia.

Zhakhina’s remit covers countries including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

She has more than a decade of experience in the TV industry across content acquisition, TV programming, production and sales role, working predominantly for broadcasters in Kazakhstan.