News, deals and hires from the global content industry during the Christmas period

 

Netflix scores with NFL Christmas games

Netflix has revealed its Christmas day NFL games averaged 30 million global viewers.

Viewers came from 218 countries and territories, and the games ranked first and second place in Netflix’s Global Top 10 during the Christmas week.

The streamer offered two live NFL games in the first year of a three-year deal to broadcast NFL games on Christmas day.

 

The Traitors recruits over 5m

BBC1 dominated New Year’s Day evening viewing in the UK, with Studio Lambert’s hit competition format The Traitors returning to 5.1m (29.5%).

The third series added over 2m viewers to last year’s opener, which aired on 4 January in the later 9pm slot wih 3m (18.6%). The previous series almost doubled its audience across its run, bowing out with 5.8m (35.4%).

Back in 2022, the debut series had enthralled 2.9m (22.5%) in the 9.30pm slot in November.

 

Paramount+ orders more Dating Naked

More singles will be taking their kit off as Nest Productions has secured a second run of its original dating series Dating Naked for Paramount+ and MTV.

The reality series, which was Nest Productions’ first original series commission, will be hosted once again by Rylan Clark and return for a further 10 x 60-minutes series. It will commence filming in 2025.

It will air on Paramount+ in the UK later in the year, as well as on MTV’s network of international channels and digital platforms which spans over 150 countries.

 

DAZN to buy Foxtel in £1.7bn deal

Global sports streamer DAZN has agreed to buy a majority stake in Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel Group from News Corp and Telstra, in a deal valued at A$3.4bn (£1.7bn) including debt.

Len Blavatnik’s DAZN will also gain control of Foxtel’s sport streamer Kayo and set-top box Hubbl, plus a raft of sporting rights including domestic and international cricket, Australian Football League and National Rugby League.

The deal also includes general entertainment streamer Binge, the home of hit romcom Colin From Accounts and forthcoming dramedy The Last Anniversary, as well as HBO shows. Read more

 

Canada’s actor union ACTRA eyes production agreement

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Association Québécoise de la Production Médiatique (AQPM) have struck a new collective bargaining deal with ACTRA, the country’s actors union.

The proposed Independent Production Agreement (IPA) now needs to be ratified by ACTRA members, a process that will begin on 13 January when details of the deal are confirmed.

Members will then have a week to discuss terms of the agreement. The most recent pact for ACTRA, which represents more than 15,000 workers, ended on 31 December 2024 and provided guidance on issues ranging from working conditions to minimum fees. The Writers Guild of Canada agreed a new deal with the CMPA in May 2024.