Paul Buccieri 

Paul Buccieri 
President and CEO
ITV Studios, Inc.

Just a few weeks in, the American version of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has generated its fair share of press (in large part due to the antics of now ex-contestants Spencer and Heidi Pratt of The  Hills.) The show, based on the successful ITV1 format, opened well for NBC, particularly in the coveted 18-to-49 segment.

Produced by ITV Studios, Inc. (formerly Granada America), the series pits TV stars such as American Idol‘s Sanjaya Malakar, actors Daniel and Stephen Baldwin and supermodel Janice Dickinson against each other on a desert island as they vie for a cash prize for the charity of their choice. This is the format’s second outing in the U.S., after ABC gave the show a try several years ago.

To give the series a better chance of success this time around, ITV and NBC inked an innovative deal with MTV, which is airing weekly marathons, as well as previously unaired footage. At the time of the signing of the agreement, Paul Buccieri, who heads up ITV Studios in the U.S., noted: "By any measure, this partnership represents a breakthrough in entertainment event programming. Together we have crafted a deal that will ensure that I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! has the optimum opportunity to reach the largest possible audience this summer and grow into an enduring franchise for both MTV and NBC."

Buccieri is credited with the tremendous growth of ITV’s U.S. business over the last few years, both in the scripted and unscripted arenas. Beyond generating revenues from the American networks, Buccieri and his team are developing content that can be put back through ITV Global Content’s worldwide distribution infrastructure and sold to networks across the globe. I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, for example, has already sold to ITV2 in the U.K., TV3 in Ireland, the pan-Asian service Star World and TVNZ in New Zealand. Another ITV Studios U.S. production, Hell’s Kitchen, continues to fare well for FOX and has lined up slots on a plethora of international channels. Other U.S. productions at ITV Studios include Nanny 911 for CMT and Ultimate Gamer for SCI FI Channel.

"It’s been a robust year," Buccieri says. "We’ve had a good 19 months. My goal is to keep expanding and really create a brand that people will want to buy because they know it’s quality, and viewers will want to watch because they know it’s quality."

While ITV Studios America is certainly developing original ideas in-house, it has as its disposal the significant ITV Global Content catalogue of formats. "You have a distinct advantage when you have a show that is coming from another territory, because you have a fully realized product, you have meaningful ratings, that makes my job a lot easier!"

Reality fare has been the driver of ITV Studios’ U.S. network business thus far. "We can realize a significant impact the quickest through reality," Buccieri notes. "The turnaround time is quick, you go right into series." However, the scripted arena is certainly an important one for the company, with a slate of TV movies produced for the U.S. networks. "That’s an area where we can have significant growth, but it’s a much longer-term process, the risks are much higher, but the rewards can be significant.

"Right now we’re in a really unique time," Buccieri continues. "Everybody is feeling the crunch, universally. [Networks are looking at] the co-pro model, the fully ad-funded model, the independent-movie model. We did a four-hour mini-series, fully funded, brought it to the States, sold it to ABC and the second window went to SCI FI. If we can do that on four hours, I hope there’s a model that can be done on a larger scale."

Buccieri is tapping into his varied experience in American television as he experiments with new models for ITV Studios’ business. A former scriptwriter signed to William Morris, Buccieri got into reality-TV game early, working at Endemol before moving on to ITV. "I’m at a unique place where I’ve been able to draw upon a lot of my collective experiences, both as a buyer and as a seller. I’ve always loved television. It’s always been a passion."