UK version of Paramount+ to commission own dramas, factual shows

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 2h

The UK version of Paramount+ - due to launch in 2022 - will commission and premiere its own dramas and factual programmes.

The upcoming UK version of Paramount+ will have its own original drama series and factual shows, it has been revealed.

The subscription streaming service - operated by Channel 5 and MTV owner ViacomCBS - plans to launch in the UK and Ireland in 2022 through an initial distribution deal with Sky.

Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival today, Channel 5 head Ben Frow, who has also been made responsible for Paramount+ in the UK, said that the broadcaster is in the market for ideas for the service.

"We'll get a great pipeline of content from the US, Showtime, CBS content etc etc," he said, "and then we have a UK drama budget. And we are one of the only countries to have a Paramount+ factual budget. So we're starting to work on our Paramount+ factual slate - all ideas welcome."

Daniel Pearl, commissioning editor for factual, added in a subsequent interview: "We're looking to get ideas from the indies and commission right across the SVOD factual arena - so that will be anthologies, premium factual boxsets and there will be some feature documentaries.

"We haven't had the opportunity until now to commission and make premium factual shows, so that's where we're at.

"The stories need to be UK-resonant. This is for a UK audience, so the stories don't necessarily have to be set in Britain but they need to resonate for a British audience and they need to be broad."

Channel 5's deputy director of programming Sebastian Cardwell refused to be drawn on the budget for Paramount+ UK, meanwhile, saying: "If the idea's good enough, then we will go for it. It's as simple as that. We want the best content, because you have to have the best content to cut through with an SVOD."

Channel 5's own on-demand service, My5, is expected to co-exist as an ad-funded proposition alongside Paramount+.