EXCLUSIVE: Channel 5 is on the brink of finding a new producer for its next Jane McDonald and Susan Calman shows. This follows owner Paramount Global’s decision to close the Viacom International Studios (VIS) UK unscripted division, revealed by Deadline last month.
Deadline understands that Daisybeck Studios, which makes some of Channel 5’s biggest hits including The Yorkshire Vet and Our Yorkshire Farm, is extremely close to taking on the work with two of the channel’s highest-profile presenters. Based in Leeds, eOne-owned Daisybeck is a trusted Channel 5 supplier that has made hundreds of hours of shows for the channel including many that focus on the outfit’s native Yorkshire.
The move comes as Paramount begins the process of apportioning dozens of hours of VIS’s factual programing to the UK indie sector.
McDonald’s next project is unknown but will likely be within her travelog wheelhouse. She is best known for Cruising with Jane McDonald, which has run for eight seasons and earned the presenter a rare Channel 5 BAFTA, while she has also helmed spin-offs Jane & Friends, Holidaying with Jane McDonald and Jane McDonald: My Yorkshire, all for Channel 5.
Calman has more recently hosted the Cruising strand following a break for McDonald and she has also presented the likes of Big Antique Adventure with Susan Calman and Susan Calman’s Grand Week by the Sea. The comedian is a regular on BBC radio shows.
Deadline revealed last month that Paramount Global was shuttering the UK unscripted division of its international production arm, which makes the likes of Catfish UK and True Life Crime, with around 20 roles impacted. A number of these execs posted the news on LinkedIn last week.
Paramount will shift international production focus to high-end scripted and several UK-based Paramount TV studio execs working on shows such as the big budget Sexy Beast remake and A Gentleman in Moscow are unaffected by the changes, with more news on the scripted pivot expected shortly. Deadline revealed this morning that Paramount+ is developing a UK drama based on Sarah Pinborough’s Insomnia.
VIS will close its unscripted division later this week but enter a transition period until the summer, with several execs understood to be staying on to finish shows including Channel 5 double Best British Places to Live and Caught on Camera, and Comedy Central’s East Mode with Nigel Ng and Most Ridiculous. Other high-profile recent VIS shows include Channel 5’s Into The Grand Canyon with Nick Knowles.
Some execs have begun seeking roles elsewhere such as Oliver Wright, who is launching an unscripted label with All3Media’s Objective Media Group. Deadline understands at least three other former VIS execs have joined him and the yet-to-be-named indie is making Channel 5’s upcoming space doc series Tim Peake: Secrets of Our Universe.
VIS’ closure comes with Channel 5 in rude health.
Under Chief Content Officer Ben Frow, Channel 5 has had a fine few years, working with high-profile stars such as Knowles, McDonald and Michael Palin, greenlighting a number of successful dramas and drawing neck-and-neck with rivals BBC Two and Channel 4 in the ratings.
Paramount declined to comment for this story.
