SPT and Brian Cox strike major digital deal

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has forged a major digital collaboration with science broadcaster professor Brian Cox.

The broadcaster, author and live performer will work with SPT to develop and produce a portfolio of shows for global, digital audiences as part of a new collaboration developed through SPT International Production’s digital studio. 

The slate will encompass science, astronomy, culture and conversation and is designed specifically for digital platforms. SPT said it wants to build a destination for science-led storytelling.

The venture is described as a “long-term creative partnership”, with a focus on developing and producing numerous repeatable formats across a spectrum of content.  

“It’s more important than ever to find new and engaging ways to deliver science and fact-based content to audiences, wherever they consume it,” said Cox.

“This collaboration with the Sony Pictures Television team is tremendously exciting for me, because we share a desire to make high quality, intellectually challenging, informative and entertaining content available to as many people as possible, across as many platforms as possible.” 

Sacha Khari and Matt Ford, who are the co-leads of SPT’s digital studio added: “There aren’t many people who can take the most complicated questions about existence and make them feel accessible and entertaining, but Brian does it better than anyone. The chance to work with him on something of this magnitude is incredibly exciting.” 

The partnership with Cox marks the second project from the SPT Digital Studio initiative following its launch of 100 Questions with Tom Simons in April. The series was fronted by Simons, a well-known content creator, with shows dropping on YouTube and clips shared across socials.

So far, SPT said the series has claimed more than 150m views and 500,000 followers across all platforms.