FX Lines Up New York Times Series The Weekly

FX has scored the first-run North American rights for The Weekly, The New York Times’ first major foray into TV news, in partnership with Hulu, which will be the exclusive SVOD streaming home for new episodes the day after they air.

This marks FX’s first entry in the ongoing weekly news genre. The network has committed to a minimum of 30 episodes, with the series scheduled to premiere later this year. Episodes of The Weekly will also be available on FX’s VOD services FXNOW (with commercials) and FX+ (commercial-free) to authenticated subscribers.

The Weekly will be a narrative documentary news program that includes one or two of The Times’ biggest and most important visual stories each week. The Weekly is produced by The New York Times and Left/Right, a Red Arrow Studios company.

“The New York Times is synonymous with excellence and FX is honored to be chosen as their partner on what will be the first entry for both organizations into the weekly TV news business,” said John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions. “A free press is vital to the health of our American democracy. The Weekly will give viewers compelling stories about the courage and commitment New York Times journalists bring to seeking out and reporting the truth. We also want to thank our partners at Hulu on this deal and the team at Left/Right.”

Meredith Kopit Levien, chief operating officer of The New York Times Company, said, “Our ambition with The Weekly is to bring the authority and excellence of New York Times journalism to the largest possible television audience. Partnering with FX and Hulu together for distribution represents an entirely new and uniquely powerful way to do just that. The leadership at each of these organizations demonstrated real enthusiasm for The Weekly and for work of The Times. We are incredibly excited to work with them, and with our production partners at Left/Right, to make millions more people spend much more time with quality, original journalism.”

Sam Dolnick, an assistant managing editor who will oversee The Weekly on behalf of The Times’ newsroom, added, “The Times newsroom has the raw ingredients for must-watch TV: on-the-ground reporting, unmatched expertise, and a steady stream of scoops. Now, we have the right partners to create a new kind of narrative news show that will have an unconventional approach and a modern sensibility and will help more people understand the world each week.”

“It’s a documentary filmmaker’s dream to be given an all-access pass to the reporters and editors at The New York Times—journalists who are constantly breaking the news, scooping the competition, and starting some of the most important conversations of our time,” said Ken Druckerman, co-president of Left/Right. “Our goal in this series is to add a new dimension to these stories by bringing their words and work to life on the screen.”