Tuesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

John Downer, OTF & One Tribe TV link on factual 

Amsterdam-based factual distributor Off the Fence has partnered with John Downer Productions and the UK’s One Tribe TV on projects offering co-development and co-production opportunities.

The deal aims to combine John Downer’s library of wildlife footage, OTF’s sales reach and One Tribe TV’s production capabilities to launch a slate of shows for broadcasters and streamers around the world.

The initial quartet of shows are: Nature’s Odysseys (3 x 60 minutes), Wild Offspring: Animal Families (3 x 60 minutes), Nature’s Indestructibles (3 x 60 minutes) and Wild Geniuses (3 x 60 minutes). One Tribe TV chief Dale Templar brokered the deal.

Wordle lands NBC adaptation

NBC has greenlit a gameshow based on the hugely popular Wordle game.

The show will be produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio (UTAS) in partnership with Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog and The New York Times, which acquired Wordle in 2022.

Savannah Guthrie, co-host of NBC’s Today, will host the gameshow, which challenges players to solve five-letter word puzzles in a supersized battle of the game.

Casting for the season is open, with production to begin later this year and a premiere in 2027. The Wordle format will be sold by NBCUniversal Formats.

1% Club lands bumper ITV order

ITV has made a major commitment to Saturday night hit The 1% Club with a three-year deal to keep the format at the broadcaster.

The Lee Mack-fronted quiz has proven to be one of ITV’s most successful gameshows and the biggest original quiz show in more than a decade. It regularly exceeds 5m viewers an episode and has been streamed over 60m times since its launch three years ago.

Magnum Media will produce the series for a further three years for ITV1, including the return of spin-off The 1% Club Rollover later this year, and The 1% Club Kids Special – due to air later this month. Read more

Fast & Furious series in works

NBCUniversal is developing four TV series based on the US studio’s hit film franchise Fast & Furious.

The movie franchise’s star, Vin Diesel, revealed the news during NBC’s Upfront, with US reports suggesting NBCU’s Peacock streamer will house one show.

Shades of Blue duo Mike Daniels and Wolfe Coleman write, with Universal TV producing. The plot is being kept under wraps, with no details on the other three shows in development.

It is not the first time a series has been spun off from the Fast & Furious franchise, with an animation from DreamWorks Animation running for six seasons until 2021 on Netflix.