All the latest news from the global content industry on Thursday, 12 February

 

Propagate lands $50m injection

US producer Propagate Content has secured a $50m investment from finance firm Areas Management Corp to expand its creator and digital efforts.

The Ben Silverman and Howard T Owens-led company will also use the injection, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, to expand its talent management and studio operations.

It means Propagate, which was founded in 2015 and is behind shows such as Apple TV’s Stick and Prime Video’s Capital one Skins Game, is valued at around $200m.

Former NBC exec Silverman, chairman and co-chief exec at Propagate, said the deal would also provide “access to growth capital that will fuel the continued expansion of our independent, next-generation studio.”

 

Smartest Person lands in Poland

Poland’s public broadcaster TVP has ordered a local version of quiz format The Smartest Person in the World, following a deal with Belgian distributor Primitives.

The show will air locally as Omnibus and launches on 3 March on TVP1, with production by Rochstar.

The format, which was originally created and produced by Woestijnvis for Play in Belgium, sees three celebrity contestants answering questions in a bid to avoid elimination, with a final week crowning the show’s smartest player.

It has been sold around the world including in the Netherlands where it airs twice a year, wiht its 28th seasons slated for NPO1 this spring. Emma Gosling, sales and acquisitions manager at Primitives, brokered the TVP deal.

 

WBD investor urges against Netflix deal

US-based Ancora Holdings Group has urged its fellow Warner Bros Discovery shareholders to ditch Netflix’s $83bn takeover deal in favour of Paramount’s offer.

Ancora, which only holds a $200m stake in WBD, revealed a presentation that outlined its “strong opposition” to the Netflix sale, which it claims to offer “inferior value” to shareholders.

The investment firm said it planned to vote against the proposed Netflix deal.

The move comes a day after WBD said it would “review” Paramount’s most recent ‘ticking fee’ offer, adding however that its board was “not modifying its recommendation” to accept the Netflix proposal.