Verizon will acquire an approximate 24.5% stake in multi-platform media company AwesomenessTV. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. DreamWorks Animation, which bought AwesomenessTV in 2013 for $33 million, will retain a controlling stake in the company, with 51% ownership of outstanding shares, while Hearst will keep the 24.5% it acquired for $81 million in 2014. Brian Robbins, AwesomenessTV Founder and CEO, and Brett Bouttier, AwesomenessTV’s President, will continue to head the company.
Verizon has also entered into a multi-year agreement with AwesomenessTV to fund a new independent brand that will produce premium, transactional short-form mobile video content for Go90 in the U.S., with AwesomenessTV retaining the right to sell content in the rest of the world. The goal is to create content that has production values on par with broadcast TV.
Both regions of the WGA reached a tentative pact with CBS News for a new three-year contract. The pact covers upwards of 300 news writers, producers, editors, graphic artists, production assistants and promotion writers working in the network’s TV and radio news operations on both coasts. The agreement now has to be ratified by the guilds’ members and will replace the old contract that had been set to expire today.
Writer-producer Bob Daily has signed on for another two years under his overall deal with CBS TV Studios. He is the current executive producer/showrunner on the studio’s Odd Couple, starring Matthew Perry, which returns for a second season on April 7. He also is the co-creator/executive producer/showrunner on the studio’s CBS comedy pilot Superior Donuts with Jermaine Fowler, Brian d’Arcy James and Maz Jobrani.
Producer Liz Feldman has signed a two-year overall deal with CBS TV Studios to develop new projects for network, cable, and streaming services. Feldman created and executive produced the NBC comedy series One Big Happy. Her other credits include five seasons as a writer/producer on CBS’ comedy series 2 Broke Girls and a writer-producer stint on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Vivendi is close to securing a deal to take control of Mediaset’s pay TV arm, Mediaset Premium. The deal would see Vivendi buy a 3.5% stake in Mediaset proper in exchange for an equal stake in Vivendi given to Mediaset. The deal will also encompass internet video, with a partnership spanning Mediaset’s Infinity offering and Vivendi’s Watchever service. Mediaset Premium has struggled to make headway against rival Sky in Italy, but, it’s been rumored Vivendi would use its stake in Telecom Italy to create synergies between the two groups. The deal would give Vivendi access to free and pay TV operations in France, Italy and Spain, creating a formidable competitor to Netflix.
Twitter has signed a new agreement with the NFL that will allow it to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games, including pre and post-game shows and behind the scenes videos on the company’s Periscope service. The deal was not without competition as Verizon, Yahoo, and Amazon were rumored to have also bid for the NFL streaming package. To protect the broadcasters, Twitter will have two minutes per hour of ad inventory for local spots that would supplement, not replace, the national ones.
Red Arrow Entertainment Group has acquired a minority stake in indie production company Mad Rabbit. Under the deal, Red Arrow International will distribute Mad Rabbit’s projects internationally. Based in Toronto and Los Angeles, the Rabbit produces high-end drama for the international market. Canadian director, writer and showrunner Kari Skogland, whose credits include House of Cards and Vikings will be the CEO. The board of directors will be chaired by former Entertainment Group CEO Peter Sussman. Elsie Choi will lead development in Los Angeles. She was a former executive for Bruce Willis.
Nielsen and Dish Network have inked a multiyear agreement to integrate Dish’s aggregated set-top-box data initially into Nielsen’s Local TV Measurement service across all 210 designated market areas. This is the first nationwide dataset to be calibrated with Nielsen’s panel to provide deeper granularity and demographic descriptiveness. Nielsen will also utilize Dish’s set-top-box data to balance many of its local and national products including Nielsen Scarborough, Nielsen Data Fusion, Nielsen Media Custom Insights, and multiple national insight services.
Endemol Shine has launched Endemol Shine Studios Israel, based in Tel Aviv. The new shingle will invest in local writers, showrunners and onscreen talent to develop and produce scripted series for distribution around the world. Gal Zaid will be the Director of drama and comedy, reporting to Endemol Shine Israel’s CEO Elad Kuperman.
Reel One Entertainment and UP TV have signed an international development, production and distribution deal to develop scripted content to premiere on the cable net. The deal marks the network’s continued expansion in original programming and allows UP to develop its relationship with Reel One Entertainment, the producer and distributor of its first scripted series, Ties that Bind.
Time Inc. will acquire This Old House Ventures and all of its associated media properties, including two TV series, online destination, magazine and line of books, as well as capabilities including custom video production and digital marketing. Under the pact, Old House Ventures President Eric Thorkilsen will become Chief Executive of the company.
Women In Film and Franklin Leonard‘s The Black List have launched the Women In Film/The Black List Episodic Lab, for women TV writers. It will run for eight weeks, starting in the fall, with eight women writers to be selected. The initiative features script development, workshopping sessions and master classes with established writers and industry executives. Participants will have their pilots read by agencies and networks.