{"id":19161,"date":"2023-01-04T10:40:55","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T15:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-year-factual\/"},"modified":"2023-01-05T09:43:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T14:43:19","slug":"2022-the-year-in-factual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/","title":{"rendered":"2022: The Year in Factual"},"content":{"rendered":"

Factual producers and distributors entered last year with high hopes for all the opportunities CNN+ would present in the fast-proliferating factual streaming space. The service went live at the end of March and was shuttered in a month<\/a><\/u> amid a series of strategy shifts at the new Warner Bros. Discovery, ones that are still playing out as the company prepares to lift the lid on the upcoming merged HBO Max\/discovery+ service<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

Despite the CNN+ news and a fair bit of confusion over Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s streaming strategy, it was still a busy and fruitful year for doc producers and distributors in the streaming space. Wildbear Entertainment launched Chronicle, a new history streamer in Australia<\/a><\/u>. A+E Networks EMEA unveiled Crime+Investigation Play as a dedicated direct-to-consumer streaming service for true-crime content<\/a><\/u>. TelevisaUnivision\u2019s streaming service ViX<\/a><\/u> emerged as a new buyer in the U.S. and Latin America. Global sports streaming service DAZN served up a range of documentaries<\/a><\/u>, expanding its investment in originals<\/a><\/u>. FIFA launched a streaming platform<\/a><\/u> to deliver live domestic league games worldwide, stats, an archive of football matches and original content<\/a><\/u>. MagellanTV ramped up its originals slate, including partnering with Nigel Marven<\/a><\/u>. ITV revealed its first slate of factual commissions for ITVX<\/a><\/u>, which launched in December. Tinopolis-backed Mech TV launched Mech+, a VOD streaming service dedicated to robotics, science and engineering content<\/a><\/u>. And, of course, the global SVOD giants continued their investments, including Netflix expanding its natural-history slate<\/a><\/u> and renewing its most successful love and dating shows<\/a><\/u> while ramping up its unscripted offerings in key markets like Japan<\/a><\/u>. Disney+ also expanded its non-scripted offerings in EMEA<\/a><\/u>, as did Paramount+<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the AVOD\/FAST space is becoming more lucrative for distributors, especially those with large catalogs. Pluto TV launched new channels in partnership with a range of content providers, including A+E Networks UK.<\/a><\/u> Autentic and OneGate Media partnered to launch the FAST channel Adventure Earth<\/a><\/u>, featuring nature and wildlife documentaries. Quintus bolstered its FAST channel bouquet, which includes FD Crime<\/a><\/u>. Blue Ant Media continued the expansion of its FAST channels, which include Love Nature and Homeful<\/a><\/u>. Tubi unveiled a brand-new Gordon Ramsay FAST channel<\/a><\/u>. A dedicated FAST channel featuring titles fronted by Jamie Oliver<\/a><\/u> rolled out on Amazon Freevee, which emerged as a significant home of both acquired and commissioned factual fare in 2022. The AVOD platform greenlit new originals like the court program <\/a>Tribunal<\/a><\/em><\/u> and the reality show God. Family. Football.<\/a><\/u><\/em> and inked a two-year licensing deal to bring back all 14 seasons of The Suze Orman Show<\/a><\/u><\/em> to the U.S., the U.K. and Germany<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

The last year was also marked by significant M&A activity, including Banijay acquiring Beyond International<\/a><\/u>. Fremantle also inked a slew of deals, among them majority stakes in Israel\u2019s Silvio Productions<\/a><\/u> and 72 Films<\/a><\/u>, the independent production outfit behind All or Nothing: Arsenal<\/em> and 9\/11: One Day in America<\/em>, and a 51 percent interest in Wildstar Films<\/a><\/u>. Red Arrow Studios’ U.S. production companies, a portfolio that includes\u00a0Kinetic Content, Left\/Right, 44 Blue, Half Yard Productions and Dorsey Pictures, were sold to Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company<\/a><\/u>. BBC Studios became 100 percent owner of Voltage TV<\/a><\/u> in the U.K. LEONINE Studios bought a 50 percent controlling interest in gebrueder beetz filmproduktion, which specializes in documentary features and series<\/a><\/u>, and acquired the Berlin-based production outfit Hyperbole Medien<\/a><\/u>. Newen Studios acquired a majority stake in the London-based production house Rise Films<\/a><\/u>. ITV agreed to purchase a majority interest in Plimsoll Productions<\/a><\/u>. Amcomri Entertainment acquired the assets of Flame Media<\/a><\/u>. Blue Ant International took full ownership of the U.K.-based distributor Drive Media Rights<\/a><\/u>. Sony Pictures Television acquired Industrial Media<\/a><\/u>, expanding its footprint and capabilities\u00a0in nonfiction and documentary television production. SK Global purchased Critical Content<\/a><\/u> from Anchorage Capital Group.<\/p>\n

Creative alliances and first-look deals also remained critical last year as IP owners sought to align with key talent. Of note, Lionsgate entered into a first-look agreement with producers Karis Jagger and Fabienne Toback (<\/a>High on the Hog<\/a><\/em>)<\/a><\/u> and with Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg<\/a><\/u> for unscripted projects through their Work Baby Productions banner. HGTV signed a new exclusive multiyear talent deal with renovation and real estate stars Drew and Jonathan Scott<\/a><\/u>. BBC Studios Natural History Unit entered into a one-year development pact with Underdog Films and its founder, James Reed<\/a><\/u>, who directed the Academy Award-winning My Octopus Teacher<\/em>. Investing in new talent, the NHU also committed \u00a31 million to developing and supporting up-and-coming natural history filmmakers<\/a><\/u> in the U.K. and worldwide over the next three years.<\/p>\n

Sign up for TV Real Daily<\/em>, TV Real Weekly<\/em> and TV Real Breaking News<\/em> here<\/a><\/u>, visit TVReal.com<\/a><\/u> or follow us on @tvrealdaily<\/a><\/u> to keep up with all the latest trends and developments in the business of factual programming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A look back at the major stories from the factual business in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":19162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n2022: The Year in Factual - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2022: The Year in Factual - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A look back at the major stories from the factual business in 2022.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-04T15:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-05T14:43:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/2023-01-03-year-in-review.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/\",\"name\":\"2022: The Year in Factual - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-04T15:40:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-05T14:43:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/2022-the-year-in-factual\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2022: The Year in Factual\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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