Thursday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Thursday, 12.25pm: SkyShowtime ties with Federation & Telemundo on Spanish drama

Comcast and Paramount-owned European streamer SkyShowtime has ordered its third original series out of Spain, this time a drama from Federation that is set in a nail salon and has Telemundo Studios attached.

Nails is being produced by Federation Spain in association with SkyShowtime and Telemundo Studios, the latter part of Comcast-owned NBCUniversal.

The series is created by Araceli Álvarez de Sotomayor, who also serves as writer and director, and production has begun at locations in Madrid and Bilbao.

Thursday, 11.23am: Latest 2025 TV festivals & markets calendar

2025 is again shaping up to be a busy 12 months for those working on the international side of the business, with a dizzying array of TV markets, festivals and conferences taking place around the world.

To make sense of it all, Broadcast International has collated all the major events in one single place, complete with links to find out more. Read more

Thursday, 10.43am: Revamped Czech Audiovisual Fund to back TV series

The Czech Film Fund has rebranded as the Czech Audiovisual Fund (CAF) with an enhanced budget and is extending its financial support from films to series and games.

The move follows the introduction of the Czech Republic’s new Audiovisual Act, effective from 1 January, which is funding the CAF through a 2% levy on cinema admissions and TV broadcasters and a 3.5% investment obligation on all streaming platforms. Read more

Thursday, 10.10am: Rumpus alum unveils Northern Ireland indie

Former Rumpus exec Fintan Maguire has launched Northern Ireland indie High Rock Media with a pair of factual orders from Channel 5 and Channel 4.

Headquartered in Belfast, High Rock also has a London office and will focus on accessible factual programming including travelogues, ob docs and lifestyle titles. Also at High Rock is RTS Award-winning and Waddell Media creative Catriona Doyle, who serves as development executive.

Maguire, who is founder, managing director and creative director of High Rock, brings 20 years’ experience to the indie, having exec produced numerous series for BBC, ITV, C4, C5 and Sky. Read more

Thursday,10am: UK’s C4 to examine ‘supermarket snobbery’ in prime time experiment

Channel 4 in the UK will explores ‘supermarket snobbery’ in a three-part doc from nascent indie High Rock.

The untitled 3 x 60-minute series aims to challenge the perceptions of ‘supermarket snobbery’ in an experiment that in an experiment aiming to alter consumer spending habits in life-changing ways. It will also feature money-saving tips, tricks and hacks.

While the show has begun production, details of the project are being kept under wraps due to the nature of the premise.

Thursday, 9.30am: ITV alum launches investment advisory

Former ITV exec Vanessa Chapman has partnered with communications duo Aimée Norman and Janet Balmforth to launch investment advisory firm, The Growth Partners.

Chapman’s VJC Media along with Norman and Balmforth’s Liberi Consulting are behind the launch of The Growth Partners, which aims to draw on the experience of both businesses to offer access to specialist advice and a bespoke roadmap for companies seeking potential financing and investment.

The new outfit is aimed at small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) working across all genres of TV and film internationally looking to take the next step in business development.

Chapman is a former controller of kids TV at ITV, while Norman and Balmforth have more than 25 years’ experience in corporate communications. The Growth Partners is a joint initiative, but both companies will continue with their individual businesses.

Thursday, 9.15am: BBCS’s UKTV doubles streaming service viewers in two years

BBC Studios-owned UKTV has seen viewing numbers for its free streaming service more than double in the past two years.

The streaming service has seen viewers to the streamer now known as U jump by 109% from January 2023 to December 2024.

Just over a third (34%) of this growth is from direct to consumer viewership occurring in 2024, while active user numbers increased by 21% last year. Read more

Thursday, 9.03am: UK’s Film & TV Charity appoints TV star ambassadors

The Film & TV Charity in the UK is to launch an ambassadors programme, with big name advocates drafted in to help strengthen its mission to improve the wellbeing of industry workers.

Actor and producer David Morrissey, screenwriter Kit de Waal, director and filmmaker Amma Asante and broadcaster Marverine Cole have been selected as the charity’s first official ambassadors.

Asante has directed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) and Mrs America (BBC2), while Morrissey has acted in shows including Sherwood (BBC1) and Daddy Issues (BBC3) and produced Thorne (Sky), The Driver (BBC1) and In Plain Sight (ITV1).

The Third Day writer de Waal has set up the Kit de Waal Creative Writing Scholarship to help improve working-class representation in the arts, while Cole is one of the newsreader team for ITV’s Good Morning Britain.  

Thursday, 8.55am: Blink49 hires Mark Ford to creative role

Fifth Season-backed Blink49 Studios has appointed Creature Films founder Mark Ford as its chief creative officer.

Ford, who started last week, reports to Tara Long, president of global unscripted TV, and will oversee the studio’s unscripted development and production. Read more