2024: The Year in Factual

With more manageable budgets, faster turnaround times and enduringly consistent audiences, the factual sector weathered the twists and turns of 2024’s choppy media environment better than other genres. Distributors we talked to throughout the year, including at our inaugural TV Real Festival, spoke of reliable demand for factual fare from across the globe and, crucially, at a time of diminished commissions, the potential for additional monetization through AVOD and FAST.

Indeed, in reviewing TV Real Daily’s coverage of the factual business last year, the importance of FAST to this ecosystem was clear for distributors, especially those with big brands and iconic personalities in their slates. Fremantle scaled up its FAST business in 2024, including bringing channels like BUZZR and Let’s Make a Deal to MyFree DIRECTV and expanding the reach of The Jamie Oliver Channel. BBC Studios secured a wealth of deals, including for BBC Earth with Samsung TV Plus in several European markets. Cineflix Rights landed a slate of channels on Bolt+ and brought Real Disaster to Pluto TV in the U.S. and Canada. Blue Ant Media’s deals included teaming with Pluto TV in the U.S. and Australia’s Fetch TV and bringing Love Pets to The Roku Channel in Canada. A+E Networks clinched pacts with Plex in the U.K., Europe’s Titan OS and Pluto TV in the U.S. Cineverse’s Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan FAST channel arrived on several additional platforms. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk TV landed on Pluto TV. Curiosity Now launched on Fubo, DirecTV, Xumo, Sky UK, STARZ ON, Fawesome TV and Samsung TV Plus. Several international channel operators used FAST to build their U.S. footprint, including TV5MONDE and Autentic—the German company also expanded the reach of its FAST channels across Europe. In the traditional pay-TV channels space, the most significant development was in Canada, with Bell Media losing the Discovery-branded channels, now available through Rogers.

It was also another strong year for sports documentaries. Netflix, which has been ramping up its sports segment, aligned with Skydance Sports for a series about Rafael Nadal. Apple TV+, on the heels of its MLS deal, aligned with the U.S. soccer league for a series. Prime Video renewed FACEOFF: Inside the NHL and slated a doc on football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. Paramount+ commissioned a title about American soccer star Christian Pulisic. Mike Tollin’s MTP and LALIGA Studios partnered to develop soccer-centric projects. Rakuten TV expanded its sports doc slate with the likes of We All Play. Goldfinch signed a deal with Major League Rugby to produce an exclusive, all-access multiyear docuseries. Wheelhouse partnered for unscripted content with multi-hyphenate NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist Anthony Edwards and his Three-Fifths Media production company.

On the M&A front, it was a muted year, with first looks and distribution deals far outweighing takeovers. Fremantle bought a majority interest in Beach House Pictures and a minority stake in BOLDPRINT Studios. Zinc Media Group acquired Raw Cut. DLT Entertainment bought Juniper Productions. Wheelhouse secured a minority investment from private equity firm Alignment Growth. A+E Networks formed a joint venture with Rachael Ray’s Free Food Studios and made a 50 percent equity investment in the company. Box To Box Films received a minority investment from Bruin Capital. In terms of talent deals, MGM Alternative aligned with Regina Hall and her Rh Negative production company; Jupiter Entertainment entered an overall co-production deal with Chris Deaux and his company Two Fifteen West Entertainment; Investigation Discovery (ID) extended its partnership with Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer and her production company Orit Entertainment; and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Hamachek scored a first-look series and film deal with Apple TV+. Asylum Entertainment Group, which recently rebranded as Pantheon Media Group, had a busy year, building relationships with Water2Drink Productions, Mohawk Puppy Productions and Large Eyes Entertainment and investing in London-based DARE Pictures and Soho Studios Entertainment. New ventures to launch last year included Solange Attwood and Asha Daniere’s Serial Maven Studios; Jonathon Hancock’s Reel Scenes Media; Hasbro Entertainment’s unscripted television division; Zentropa’s documentary film division; Richard Farmbrough and Owen Rodd’s Somersault Studio; and MoonBall Media, founded by former Major League Baseball players Anthony Seratelli and Eric Hosmer.

In their quest for compelling entertainment, streamers, broadcasters and producers also looked to the creator economy for talent. First We Feast, which produces the hit online show Hot Ones, was sold by BuzzFeed to a consortium led by an affiliate of Soros Fund Management for $82.5 million in cash. Prime Video slated The Pasta Queen, a culinary travel show led by chef and social media star Nadia Caterina Munno. Netflix greenlit a second season of The Sidemen’s YouTube series Inside. Little Dot Studios entered into an output deal with The People Profiles YouTube channel. IP owners were also keen to harness the potential of YouTube to reach audiences. Of note, BBC Studios’ BBC Earth Science YouTube channel launched an 18-part online series created by After Party Studios. BBC Earth hosted its first-ever live stream from the BBC Studios Natural History Unit’s production shoot in Botswana for Big Cats 24/7. National Geographic expanded its portfolio of YouTube content, and Autentic rolled out Autentic Documentary on the video-sharing site.

2024 also marked the end of MIPDoc in Cannes. The long-running factual event will now be part of the inaugural MIP London next month. In the absence of MIPTV in April, 13 French producers and distributors will gather for the Paris Unscripted Showcase.