Zinc Launches New Label for Popular Factual

Zinc Media Group has established a new label, Red Sauce, to drive its growth in factual entertainment and popular factual.

The new unit will be led by program-maker and former BBC commissioning editor Tom Edwards as creative director. Edwards has worked across a number of successful factual shows, including, as showrunner for The House That Made Me (Nutopia for Channel 4), Mary Queen of Shops (Optomen for BBC Two), The Undercover Princes (Objective North for BBC Three and BBC One) and Wife Swap (RDF for Channel 4).

The label will also work with Zinc’s Branded Content Division (launched in June) to enable the company to bring innovative funding models to the table.

Greg Sanderson, director of television at Zinc Media London, said: “The launch of Red Sauce allows us to present a fresh, new popular factual proposition to the TV market, backed by fantastic new talent. As one of the market leaders in factual, we already have a strong portfolio of popular factual programming and are now ready to accelerate our move into factual entertainment. With this new single label, I want us to become a ‘go-to’ destination for popular factual and an emerging force in factual entertainment.

“Red Sauce is popular TV. As well as being distinctive and playful, it will make great TV for the broadest possible audiences, from digital-first, binge-factual to linear audiences. Alongside our other factual labels, this will bring all Zinc’s popular factual work from London and the Regions under one label, giving Zinc a single force behind factual entertainment in a way that hasn’t been possible before. We are currently reviewing which of our out-of-London production offices will house Red Sauce and will announce this later in the year.”

Sanderson added: “With 17 years in production and development for U.K. and U.S. channels and platforms, and six years in the commissioning world, Tom’s track record speaks for itself.  Not only has he series produced some of the U.K.’s biggest popular factual series, he has created new formats and ideas, worked with some of the country’s biggest talent, reinvigorated returning shows, and played a pivotal role in developing programming for some of TV’s most important factual slots. I can’t wait to get started working with him at the helm of this new label.”