Cancelled: The Lens and Wild Docs, Canadian Broadcasting Company

The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) has cancelled two documentary strands: Wild Docs and The Lens. Visit Realscreen for the full article.

Fox Reality Channel becomes Nat Geo Wild

From 1st April 2010, Fox Reality Channel will cease to exist and will become Nat Geo Wild (an offshoot of National Geographic Channel), focusing on original and archive wildlife programmes.

Meet the Entertainment Commissioner: Zai Bennett, ITV

Zai Bennett, Director of Digital Channels and Acquisitions at ITV, outlined his commissioning needs to attendees of the Broadcast Entertainment Forum (as of September 2009).
Zai’s View on ITV

ITV2 is celebrity-led entertainment that has genuine access (Katie and Peter) or jeopardy (Jack Osbourne). Coleen, Paris Hilton etc. work well. Doesn’t want joe public fulfilling their dreams [...]

Meet the Entertainment Commissioner: Matthew Littleford, UKTV

Matthew Littleford, Controller UKTV, recently outlined his commissioning needs to attendees of the Broadcast Entertainment Forum (as of September 2009). Matthew commissions entertainment across several channels at UKTV: Alibi, Gold, Watch and Dave.
Matthew’s View on UKTV

Gold – transmits classic BBC comedy and programmes that support that comedy.
Alibi – Largely co-produced crime programmes; can’t afford to [...]

Meet the Entertainment Commissioner: Mark Sammon, Virgin Media

Mark Sammon, Head of Commissioning at Virgin Media TV, recently outlined his commissioning needs to attendees of the Broadcast Entertainment Forum (as of September 2009). Mark commissions programmes for Virgin 1, Bravo and Living.
Mark’s View on Living

Living is aimed at young women; its competition is ITV2 and BBC3.
Celebrities, dating, weddings and makeovers do well.  Dating [...]

Meet the Entertainment Commissioner: Mark Linsey, BBC

Mark Linsey, Controller of Entertainment Commissioning at the BBC, recently outlined his commissioning needs to attendees of the Broadcast Entertainment Forum (as of September 2009).

Photo by Torres CC BY 2.0
Photo by Torres CC BY-SA 2.0

Looking For:

* Main agenda for the BBC is new talent.
* New talent can be given a platform on BBC3 – when pitching, think about the format that would best suit them.
* There is room on BBC2 for some more established talent.
* Need a chat show to replace Graham Norton’s show.
* Want some bold and ambitious new talent on BBC1
* Strong and distinctive formats.

How to pitch

* Likes to talk about an idea in its earliest stages, before it’s been too formatted.
* Likes regular dialogue with producers.
* When pitching, talk about the ambitious, bold and distinctive top line idea first.

(Photo by Torres CC BY-SA 2.0)

Meet the Entertainment Commissioner: Richard Woolfe, Five

Richard Woolfe, Channel Controller at Five, recently outlined his commissioning needs to attendees of the Broadcast Entertainment Forum (as of September 2009).

Photo by Torres CC BY 2.0
Photo by Torres CC BY-SA 2.0

Richard’s View on Five

* Five is looking for ‘fun’.
* Wants entertainment to be the flagship genre for Five.

Looking For:

* Programmes that will make the channel famous – noisy, talked-about programmes that have a life outside of TV eg. in the newspapers or on forums.
* Doesn’t want “me too” shows that feel derivative.
* Talent is important – has just signed up Justin Lee Collins. Generally wants established faces rather than new talent.
* Ideas for viewers aged 16-34 years.
* Big shows that resonate with the nation.
(Photo by Torres CC BY-SA 2.0)

Meet the Entertainment Commissioner: Andrew Newman, Ch4

Andrew Newman, Head of Entertainment and Comedy at Channel 4, recently outlined his commissioning needs to attendees of the Broadcast Entertainment Forum (as of September 2009).
Andrew’s View on Ch4

Channel 4 offers an alternative to the mainstream terrestrial channels.
It’s a channel for big and bold programmes that no other channel would dare to do.
Derren Brown predicting [...]

Meet the Commissioner: Matthew Littleford, UKTV

Matthew Littleford is Channel Controller for the UKTV network; he recently outlined his current channel strategy and needs (as of August 2009).

Matthew’s View on UKTV

* Factual UKTV channels include: Dave, Really, Good Food, Home, Eden, Blighty, Watch and Yesterday.
* Dave website is rebranding and are launching a new schedule in mid-September.
* Really is reality/lifestyle programming for women aged 18-34 years.

Looking For:

* Cookery shows with new (and established) talent for Good Food
* Talent – bigger names.
* Noisy lifestyle shows – with focus on talent, home and foo.

How to pitch

* Send a one-liner with a snappy title.
(Photo by torrez CC BY-SA 2.0)

Meet the Controller: Richard Klein, BBC4

Richard Klein is Channel Controller for BBC4; he recently outlined his current channel strategy and needs (as of August 2009).
Richard’s View on BBC4

BBC4 is challenging and intellectual but with a twinkle in its eye.
Programmes should be thought provoking – it’s a place for diversity of opinion and controversy. Polemical pieces that make us question our [...]