All the latest news from the global content industry on Tuesday, 13 January

 
 

Disney, France TV buy Fifth Season’s Canadian drama

France TV, Disney and UKTV are among buyers of Canadian drama Saint-Pierre following deals with distributor Fifth Season.

The 10 x 45-minute police procedural is from Hawco Productions and was commissioned by CBC in Canada, debuting on the channel and sibling streamer CBC Gem in winter 2025.

Disney has rights in Belgium and Eastern Europe, while ABC (Australia), Quebecor Content (French Canada), FreeTV (Israel), Sky (New Zealand) and BBC Studios (BBC NL in the Netherlands and BBC First in Poland) are among other buyers.

CBC launched the 12-part second season on 5 January, with Fifth Season - which produced the show in association with Hawco - also distributing globally. 

 

Tom Hanks war docuseries heads to Hearst

Hearst Networks has picked up rights to World War II With Tom Hanks for its services in the UK and across EMEA.

The 20-episode exploration of the conflict, which is hosted and narrated by the Hollywood star, will air on Sky History in the UK and The History Channel across EMEA.

The show was first unveiled in 2024 and is produced for A+E’s The History Channel by A+E Factual Studios and Nutopia, in association with Playtone and Motion Entertainment. A+E Networks EMEA was rebranded to Hearst Networks EMEA in September 2024.

 

ITV, Sky alum joins Sunburnt Penguin

Clelia Mountford’s fledgling indie Sunburnt Penguin has snapped up ex-ITV and Sky commissioner Saskia Schuster as executive producer, Broadcast can reveal.

Schuster will build a slate of comedies and dramas at the All3Media-backed label, which Merman co-founder Mountford launched in November 2024.

Schuster previously spent three years as head of scripted at Fulwell 73 where she created developed a slate of drama and comedy projects with the likes of Jez Butterworth, James Graham, Stephen Poliakoff, Jessica Hynes, Jack Whitehall, Tom Basden and Sue Perkins. Read more

 

UK’s TLC names Mock the Week host

Warner Bros Discovery UK’s reboot of classic comedy panel show Mock the Week will see the return of former host Dara Ó Briain.

The nine-episode run of Mock the Week will begin on Sunday 1 February on WBD’s UK version of TLC, which relaunches today (13 January) as a free-to-air channel.

Ó Briain previously presented all 21 seasons of the BBC2 iteration of Mock the Week, based on the Angst Productions’ show. Read more

 

 

Topics