Friday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Turkey’s Kanal D names Europe sales manager

Kanal D International (KDI) has bolstered its global distribution team with the appointment of Mesut Özkeçeci as sales manager for Europe.

Özkeçeci has worked across TV, theatre and film, with more than 15 years experience in sales, and will work on deals between the Turkish distributor and European buyers. 

Elsewhere, Sangerim Zhakhina has become sales manager for CIS, CEE and Baltics, where she will oversee sales of KDI’s premium drama slate. 

Prime Video lands another LOL success

Prime Video UK’s latest comedy format Last One Laughing UK has opened with approaching 3m viewers in its first seven days.

Based on the original Japanese format and produced by Initial and Zeppotron, the UK version follows 10 comics including Bob Mortimer, Daisy May Cooper and Richard Ayoade as they attempt to make each other lose by laughing.

The first four episodes of the six-parter landed on Prime Video on 20 March and the launch episode has so far been seen by 2.8m. The second episode dipped to 2.2m, the third 2.1m and the fourth 1.8m. 

By way of comparison, the first episode of Prime Video’s biggest hit last year, Clarkson’s Farm series three, reached a whopping 5.1m in its first seven days in May, picking up to picking up 7.7m after 28 days. Read more

TelevisaUnivision returns Deal or No Deal to Mexico, US

Banijay Entertainment’s Deal or No Deal is returning to Mexico and the US Hispanic market after a five-year hiatus.

The show is being produced by EndemolShine Boomdog with post-production by Wide Angle, both part of Banijay Americas, and will air on TelevisaUnivision’s Las Estrellas in Mexico and UniMás for US Hispanic audiences.

Sixty episodes of the high-stakes decision-making series have been ordered, with the show - known locally as Lo Tomas O Lo Dejas - to be presented by actor Paul Stanley.

Deal or No Deal has been adapted in over 80 territories, with more than 350 productions since its 2002 Dutch debut. Recent reboots include a Swedish edition for TV4, produced by Meter/Jarowskij in partnership with the Postcode Lottery. The show has not been made in the Nordic country for more than a decade.

New8 reveal latest copros

New8, the European collective made up of SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RÚV (Iceland), NRK (Norway), VRT (Flanders, Belgium), NPO (Netherlands) and ZDF (Germany), have revealed their latest projects.

The group, which has coproduced eight dramas since the start of the collaboration in autumn 2023, revealed the shows at Series Mania.

Shows include: WW2 drama Breendonk (VRT, Belgium, 6 x 54 minutes) from De Mensen; kidnap series Phoenix (ZDF, Germany, 6 x 45 minutes) from Les Films du Cygne, Storia Télévisions and Maze Pictures; business series The Machine (NPO/BNNVARA, The Netherlands, 6 x 54 minutes) from Hollands Licht; and court drama Henki (NRK, Norway, 6 x 45 minutes), which is produced by Klynge and Scanbox.

The other quartet are: relationship drama Cold Song (SVT, Sweden, 6 x 45 minutes) from Miso Film; Generations (DR, Denmark, 6x60 minutes); crime show Death of a Horse (RÚV, Iceland, 6x52 minutes) from Act 4 in coproduction with Windlight Pictures; and doppleganger drama The Dark Ones (ZDF, Germany, 6x45 minutes) from Network Movie and Studio Zentral.

Debmar-Mercury names current programming chief

Lionsgate-owned US broadcaster Debmar-Mercury has upped Karen Bonck to become exec vice president of partnerships and current programming.

She replaces Alexandra Jewett, who has been with the company for more than 15 years.

Bonck was most recently senior vice president of branded integrations and partnerships, and has been at the company for more than a decade.

Prime Video unveils ITVS’s Better Sister debut

Amazon’s Prime Video is preparing to launch Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks-starring drama The Better Sister on 29 May.

All eight episodes of the limited series, which has been produced by Amazon MGM Studios and ITV Studios-owned Tomorrow Studios, will drop on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

The thriller is based on the book by author Alafair Burke and tracks the terrible things that drive sisters apart and ultimately bring them back together. Olivia Milch (Ocean’s 8) and Regina Corrado (Mayor of Kingstown) are executive producers and showrunners.