Wednesday's London TV Screenings, MIP London latest news

Wednesday, 3.45pm: YouTube has ‘no interest’ in returning to originals

YouTube’s EMEA chief has poured cold water on any plans on returning to original programming, revealing the Google platform has “no interest whatsoever about producing our own content”.

Pedro Pina, vice-president of YouTube in the region, told delegates at Mip London the company had tried originals but in following the mantra of “fail fast and move on”, landed on the knowledge that parent company Alphabet was better at “producing platforms” to allow other creators to thrive.

YouTube’s foray into original programming yielded splashy and expensive dramas including Cobra Kai and Origin before the media giant pulled back from scripted projects in 2019 and ended its originals output in 2023. Read more

Wednesday, 3.09pm: Dialing into distribution at London TV Screenings

Distribution has changed beyond recognition over the past decade, so where is it going next?.

Broadcast International spoke to more than two dozen distribution chiefs at the major companies this week - from the very biggest to the most boutique - to find out how they’re navigating the shifting l;andscape and where profits are coming from. Read more 

Wednesday, 2.22pm: Banijay reveals Dutch comedy format

NPO Start and NPO3 in the Netherlands have ordered a new dating show, which has been revealed by Banijay at its London TV Screenings event today.

Date on Stage has been created and produced by Banijay Benelux label TwentyTwo Productions and follows singles looking for love, who are blindfolded before embarking on a date with two potential matches, guided only by conversation, chemistry and instinct. The show is set on a theatre stage in front of a live audience, with two comedians assiting in conversation.

Other titles within Banijay Entertainment’s format line-up for London TV Screenings include Spain’s 30 Days and 30 Dates (Cuarzo for Mitele Plus), Sweden’s Against All Odds (Meter/ Jarowskij for SVT), Germany’s Mission Unknown: Atlantic (Banijay Productions Germany for Prime Video), Denmark’s The Rest of Your Life (Pineapple Entertainment for DR1 and DR TV) and AI Love You (Nordisk Film TV for TV 2).

Wednesday, 1.11pm: BBC News unveils international rejig

BBC News is to introduce a new way of working internationally to boost audience growth around the world and counter the spread of disinformation, with six senior leadership roles in London set to close.

Later this year, six regional directors will be appointed to lead Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Central and South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa.

Aiming to grow audiences in their regions, they will have editorial and operational oversight and control over regional spending, governance and culture.

The BBC confirmed that the leadership roles in London will close to fund these positions.

Wednesday, 12.35pm: Prime Video eyes co-exclusivity deals in UK

Prime Video is open to sharing exclusivity on its UK commissions, as pragmatism reigns supreme in a cost-conscious market.

The Amazon-owned streamer has become known for its flexibility in deal-making over recent years, with the company’s European teams increasingly open to sharing first-window rights.

That has not yet been replicated in the UK, but Prime Video’s head of TV licensing in the country, Hannah Blyth, said such deals were of interest. Read more

Wednesday, 11.54am: Beta, Foss prep The Great Chimera adaptation

Germany’s Beta Film and Athens-based Foss Productions, alongside Greek broadcaster ERT, are adapting Greek novel The Great Chimera into a six-hour drama series, with shooting starting on the Greek Island of Syros.

Vardis Marinakis (Silent Road) is attached to direct, with the show moving to film in Greece’s capital Athens as well as Trieste in Italy. The cast is led by Italy’s Fotinì Peluso (Everything Calls for Salvation), who stars as a young Italian woman who falls in love with a Greek ship owner Yannis, played by Andreas Konstantinou (Milky Way), before finding herself conflicted by feelings for others.

Foss Production is in co-production with ERT and Beta, which handles international sales. Production service is provided by Beta’s subsidiary Mompracem, with the show supported by Ekkomed Creative Greece and co-produced by Boo Productions. 

Wednesday, 11.30am: Ukraine to adapt The Traitors

Ukraine and Mongolia are among new territories to order a local format version of The Traitors.

Ukrainian streaming platform Sweet TV has commissioned and will produce the local adaptation of the competition format. It has also been sold to Mongolia’s Hulegu Distribution for production by and broadcast on EduTV, IPTV Univision and OTT LookTv.

The Mongolian version marks The Traitors second commission in Asia, with an Indian adaptation set to launch on Prime Video. The latest deals mean there will be 35 local adaptations of the show around the world. The Traitors was created and developed by IDTV in cooperation with RTL Creative Unit.

Wednesday, 10.01am: ITVS lands Vice shows, French label launch

It has been a busy morning for ITV Studios - which holds its London TV Screenings event today - with a deal to sell Vice Studios shows around the world and a new French scripted label. Read more about that one here.

A raft of Ludwig sales have also been revealed, while in the UK, ITV has confirmed a return of veteran gameshows Bullseye.

Wednesday, 9.59am: ITVS strikes Zhejiang Media pact

ITV Studios and Zhejiang Media Group (ZMG) have struck a new partnership to co-develop non-scripted IP for the local and global market.

ZMG and ITVS have akready unveiled details of their first co-developed project, titled Go! Fishing!, with full details yet to be confirmed.

Shen Jian, editor-in-chief at Zhejiang Satellite TV, said: ”We are definitely seeing an appetite globally for new formats that explore universal themes through different cultures. I am personally very much looking forward to the collaboration which we expect to produce a new co-developed concept to launch in China and internationally in 2025.”

The deal was brokered on behalf of ITV Studios by Augustus Dulgaro exec vice president of sales at Asia Pacific and Zoe Tsui, head of content & format sales for Greater China. 

Wednesday, 8.56am: Little Dot to launch Leaving Neverland 2 on YouTube in US

All3Media’s digital-focused outfit Little Dot Studios has acquired exclusive US and English Canadian rights for Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson and will launch the show on YouTube.

The follow-up to the Emmy and BAFTA-winning documentary Leaving Neverland is being produced and directed by Dan Reed of Amos Pictures. It will premiere in the US and English-speaking Canada on Little Dot Studio’s owned and operated network Real Stories, shortly after its initial UK debut on Channel 4. Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution.

Little Dot’s Real Stories YouTube channel, which has more than 6.5m subscribers, will carry the show first followed by select additional Little Dot channel brands. Little Dot said the strategy “ensures the film reaches a wide and diverse audience by leveraging YouTube’s growing dominance as a platform for long-form viewing.” 

Wednesday, 8.23am: Keshet Int’l lands Seven Wonders sale

Keshet International (KI) has completed two further pre-sales for its three-part history docuseries, Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The show, co-developed with SandStone Global, has been pre-sold in Australia to public service broadcaster SBS, and in France to TF1 for its Histoire TV channel. The UK’s Channel 5 previously became the 3 x 60 minute ancient history series’ first broadcast partner.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World has been filmed across three continents at locations in Turkey, Greece and Egypt. It is presented by Professor Bettany Hughes and based on her eponymously titled book, which was released in October 2024.

Wednesday, 8.19am: BBC Studios expandsa News in Singapore

BBC Studios has agreed a deal with Singapore-based telecoms firm StarHub that will see BBC News added to StarHub’s Starter+ and Malay+ passes.

The deal means the news channel will become more widely available to customers across StarHub’s platforms, with StarHub’s Entertainment+ subscribers also being able toi access BBCS’s content via its five channels or on demand through BBC Player.