ITV Orders Motown Special

LONDON: The U.K.’s ITV has commissioned Shiver, ITV Studios’ factual division, to produce a prime-time special focusing on Motown tunes.

The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song, a 90-minute documentary special, is set to air this summer. The doc will tell the story behind 20 Motown songs and will feature new interviews with the music label’s stars, along with footage of hits from the iconic artists. A representative panel of ITV viewers from across the country will vote on the songs.

The series is the latest in Shiver’s The Nation’s Favourite… format. Last November, The Nation’s Favourite Elvis Song aired on ITV to an audience of 5.2 million viewers. The accompanying Sony Music album went platinum with more than 300,000 sales.

Priya Singh, the network’s factual commissioning editor, and Richard Klein, the director of factual, ordered the Motown special for ITV. John Piper produces and Mark Robinson exec produces for Shiver, with Iain Funnell exec producing for Globe/Universal.

“If you don’t like Motown, you don’t like pop music—or dancing,” Klein said. “Motown is the distilled essence of ’60s urban pop music, and no label has ever quite matched it. The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song is a brilliant and delicious way to celebrate 20 three-minute slices of musical genius.”

Mark Robinson, Shiver’s creative director, added: “Motown is ideally suited to the The Nation’s Favourite… format, which celebrates the greatest popular music acts of our lifetimes. This special explores the fascinating background to some of the best-loved Motown songs and will ultimately reveal The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song.”