Thursday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Finland ski team doping drama set at Banijay

Banijay Finland has started development on Disqualified, a thriller based on the book by sports journalist Johanna Aatsalo.

Laura Birn (Foundation, Purge) is attached to star in the project, which is being unveiled at MIA in Rome today.

Inspired by true events, Disqualified explores Aatsalo as she uncovers evidence of systematic doping within the country’s world-famous national ski team.

Minna Virkajärvi, EP at Banijay Finland, described the show as "a gripping journalistic thriller about one woman’s determination to pursue the truth, even when faced with extraordinary personal and professional consequences."

Mediaset & Discovery Lat Am buy from OTF

Off the Fence Media (OTF) has revealed sales for its natural history headliner Wild Battlegrounds to Mediaset in Italy, Viasat World and Discovery Latin America.

The 8 x 60 minute show was produced by Australia's Wildbear Entertainment for RTL Germany.

Through the metaphor of military strategy, each episode examines the tactics employed by both predator and prey, from communication through camouflage to combat.

OTF has also bolstered its catalogue by adding Wild Earth TV's Growing Up Cat, Stay Wild Studio's Muskox: Survival in the Arctic, Mind of a Predator, from Lion Mountain Media, and CZAR Film’s one-hour documentary The Insect Effect (w/t)/

TV & audio commissioners merge at BBC 

The BBC is to merge TV and audio commissioning teams across comedy, arts and classical music next year as part of its £500m savings drive.

The move makes contributes to the push for the Content division to cut 100 roles before the end of the financial year.

The merger will take effect in January and sees comedy chief Chris Sussman overseeing the genre across TV and radio, with Radio 4’s commissioning editor for comedy and entertainment Julia McKenzie joining his team.

Head of arts and classical music TV Suzy Klein leads arts, while Radio 3 and BBC Proms controller Sam Jackson steer audio and video commissioning for classical music. Read more

UK's TV Festival unveils dates & chair

Organisers of the TV Festival - fka The Edinburgh TV Festival - have revealed the new Manchester iteration of the event will run 31 August to 3 September.

Sony Pictures Television’s Wayne Garvie is on board as advisory chair and while ticket prices are still being modeled, they are expected to cost around 25% less than in Edinburgh, meaning a full priced £1,500 pass could potentially drop to £1,125.

Organisers also say that the majority of prices will be “well under £1,000”, with even cheaper passes for those facing challenges. Hotel prices are forecast to be at least half of what delegates paid in Edinburgh.

In an exclusive interview with Broadcast, TV Foundation chief executive Campbell Glennie and executive chair Fatima Salaria underlined that accessibility and affordability are paramount for the refreshed festival. Read more