Princess Productions to Close Down After 20 Years

Endemol Shine UK is planning to close the 20-year-old indie producer Princess Productions at the end of the year.

Princess was initially acquired by Shine in 2006 before being merged into the Endemol Shine group in 2014. Its existing productions—Sunday Brunch (Channel 4), Taxi of Mum and Dad (Channel 4) and recently commissioned The Mash Report w/t (BBC Two)—are intended to transfer to appropriate production companies within the wider Endemol Shine UK group along with the production teams assigned to those shows. The Wright Stuff (Channel 5) will run the course of the contract until the end of the year within Princess.

Richard Johnston, Endemol Shine UK’s CEO, said, “This is not a decision we are taking lightly and we have carefully considered all potential options for Princess Productions. However, taking into account the costs involved in moving the studio shows, the makeup of Princess’s upcoming slate and Channel 5’s recent decision to put The Wright Stuff out to tender, we can see no alternative to this difficult commercial decision.

“Princess Productions has been responsible for many incredible titles over the past two decades, leading the way in live entertainment with shows such as T4, Got to Dance and Stand Up to Cancer. However, our industry is constantly evolving, with entertainment, in particular, going through a period of change in recent years, and in order to stay ahead of the market we need to regularly review our structure and investment.”

Lucinda Hicks, Endemol Shine UK’s COO, said, “The Princess team currently deliver 13 hours of high-quality live television each week, and it is our priority to ensure that these shows, along with the other existing entertainment titles, are not impacted in any way. As such we will be working closely with the individual broadcasters and the incredibly experienced production teams at Princess to ensure a smooth transition.”