'Insane': Paramount U.K. TV Biz in Turmoil As Programming Whiz Goes Silent
Ben Frow's no-show at the Edinburgh TV Festival has tongues wagging about what the hell is going on with the studio's profitable Channel 5, Pluto TV and more
Manori Ravindran covers international TV from London for Series Business. She recently wrote about what’s selling and who’s buying in the global TV market, the creative dealmaking that got Netflix to say yes to a hit series after rejecting it three times, and Tubi’s launch in the U.K. for the broke Letterboxd generation.
“It’s an atmosphere under siege.”
That’s how one senior source this week described life for senior leadership at Paramount U.K., the parent company of British broadcaster Channel 5. “No one knows what’s going to happen, and everybody’s fixated on the news cycle of who’s going to take over the business,” says this person. As my colleague Sean McNulty has reported extensively, Skydance’s David Ellison and Jeff Shell are targeting $2 billion in cost savings for the combined entity after they take over in what is expected to be sometime late next year. Current management is already underway in implementing $500 million in cuts (including laying off around 15 percent of the U.S.-based workforce).
In this fraught environment, the source adds, leaders “have a tendency to shut up, and just not say anything.” This is likely why — just one week before Edgar Bronfman, Jr. backed away from his competing bid for Paramount Global — Channel 5, one of the Edinburgh International TV Festival’s perennial attractions, was nowhere to be seen in bonny Scotland.
The broadcaster’s “Spotlight” session is normally the most keenly anticipated panel at the event, thanks to the unfiltered insights from its visionary programming boss Ben Frow, Paramount U.K.’s chief content officer who’s considered the greatest showman in British TV. One year at Edinburgh, his presentation included a no-holds-barred therapy session so producers in the room could get to know him.
But this year, just hours before he was set to take the stage, the festival announced Frow was “unwell and unable to take part.” Frow could very well be ill, but a well-placed source tells me that he was still taking meetings remotely during the week of Edinburgh.
The news left some producers with a sour taste, particularly in a challenged year when they’re counting on clear agendas from channels so they know what to pitch. “Delegates pay a lot of money to attend Edinburgh and hear directly from these people,” one program maker told me.
Others have wondered about Frow’s future at the broadcaster, with rumors abounding that the 12-year veteran will soon depart. Indeed, sources tell me Frow is now away on a two-week vacation and will also be on jury duty into September. Curious timing! Channel 5 declined to comment.
Crucially, Channel 5’s absence has also prompted the industry to consider more seriously how Paramount’s corporate chaos might affect one of the U.K.’s most distinctive broadcasters, especially as the company’s U.S. leadership has signaled that changes are coming to its international business.
In this issue, you’ll learn:
Why Paramount would be “insane” to dismantle its international operations
How Channel 5 became a profitable jewel in Paramount’s pursuit of a global business
How Paramount’s pivot to streaming has made a mess of its U.K. strategy
What the sudden decision not to merge Channel 5 and Pluto TV into one “supersized, free streaming service” signals about the future for both the network and the FAST service
Why producers are so upset at the prospect of Frow’s departure
How there are no top programming jobs in the U.K.
Why Skydance would underestimate Channel 5 and its programming genius’ strategic importance at their peril
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