Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Monday, 1.24pm: Netflix returns Rowan Atkinson comedy

Netflix is bringing back Rowan Atkinson for a follow-up to its 2022 show Man vs Bee, with the comic taking on “another unlikely companion”.

In Man vs Bee, Atkinson brought his signature brand of physical comedy to a slapstick series about doting dad Trevor Bingley and the bee who was out to get him.

Man vs Baby is now in production and the 4x30m series will see Atkinson return as Bingley while he looks after a luxurious penthouse in London.

HouseSitter Productions will once again produce the four-parter, which is again created by Atkinson and Will Davies. Davies also executive produces with Chris Clark and David Kerr is the director.

Monday, 12.12pm: Britishness and Bake Off fuel Wizards of Baking bump

Leaning into the “Britishness” of shows like The Great British Bake Off as well as the underlying IP have helped Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking succeed in the streaming world, according to the show’s producer.

The cookery competition, which was commissioned by Warner Bros Discovery’s Food Network and SVoD Max, has quickly become a hit on the streamer, repeatedly featuring in its top 10 shows since it launched on Thursday 14 November. It launches tomorrow on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. Read more

Monday, 11.51am: Canal+ shares slump on London debut

French entertainment company Canal+ SA has seen its shares fall more than 15% on the first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange. 

The company, which owns StudioCanal, was spun off following a four-way split by French media giant Vivendi, whose board approved the move last week. 

Canal+ shares opened at 290p on Monday morning but sunk to 242p by mid-morning, giving the company a valuation of £2.4bn - well below most analyst estimates. 

Read more

Monday, 10.13am: NBC to air Day of the Jackal episode  

US broadcaster NBC has unveiled plans to air the first episode of the The Day of the Jackal, as it looks to use the hit show to tempt more viewers to sibling streamer Peacock.

It will air Monday, 30 December at 10pm ET/PT and follows the show becoming one of the hits of the year, ranking as a top five streaming original drama in the US for its opening weekend, according to Nielsen data. It is also the biggest new series to ever launch on Sky.

The drama, an adaptation of the Frederick Forsyth novel, is produced by NBCUniversal’s Carnival Films and stars Eddie Redmayne as the elusive assassin known as The Jackal, with Lashana Lynch’s MI6 officer Bianca tasked with capturing him.  

The first series was written by Top Boy creator Ronan Bennett, who exec produced alongside Redmayne, Gareth Neame, Nigel Merchant, Sam Hoyle, Sue Neagle and Brian Kirk, the latter of whom also directed it. Marianne Buckland co-executive produced it.  

Monday, 9.55am: Mastiff Norway rejigs ahead of Jostein Olseng exit

Banijay Nordic has appointed Sissel Randsborg as chief executive officer at Mastiff Norway, with Hege Vik Hansen named creative director.

Randsborg will oversee operations, shape the company’s strategic direction, and drive growth in factual, while Hansen will lead creative development, manage the entertainment slate and client relationships.

Mastiff Norway is behind The Summit and the Nordic remake of Korean format Bloody Game, which will soon return to TV 2.

The appointments follow news that current chief exec Jostein Olseng is set to join Norway’s NRK in the spring.

Monday, 9.48am: Sesame Street to end HBO, Max pact

US kids show Sesame Street is to end its decade-long partnership with HBO.

Sesame Workshop struck a pact with the Warner Bros Discovery-owned channel in 2015 that saw new epidoseds of its flagship show air on the channel prior to broadcast on PBS.

The deal was amended in 2019 to also cover WBD’s streamer Max, but new programming will now not be added once the deal runs out after the 55th season. A pact to keep library programming on Max will run until 2027, according to THR which broke the news.

 

https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcast-international/canal-shares-dive-15-following-vivendi-spin-off/5200149.article