Ballers: existing Sky Atlantic scripted comedy will move as a result of Bennett’s planned double channel launchBY JOANNA TILLEY
Sky UK and Ireland managing
director of content Zai Bennett is
adding two genre channels to his
entertainment portfolio and has
outlined ambitions for Sky Studios to
become a major in-house supplier.
The new Sky Crime and Sky
Comedy channels are a direct
result of Sky’s takeover by
Comcast, and stablemate NBC
Universal will be a key supplier
of their content.
True-crime channel Sky Crime
will launch in October, with the
bulk of its programming coming
from NBCU-owned Oxygen, sup-
plemented by shows from HBO;
while Sky Comedy will offer NBC,
HBO and Showtime content from
February 2020.
The launches will result in some
existing shows moving to a new
home. US scripted comedy that
airs on Sky Atlantic and Sky 1 such
as Ballers and Insecure will move to
Sky Comedy, while non-scripted
shows on Sky Witness – including
Golden State Killer, Unmasked,
Inside Evil and How I Caught The
Killer – will move to Sky Crime.
Sky Comedy will be acquisitions-
only, while Sky Crime will order
around 50 hours a year of original
content. Bennett said: “I don’t
want indies to think these channels
are massive commissioning oppor-
tunities as Oxygen has hundreds
of hours of programming and we
have 70 hours of new content
ready to go [from the likes of
Sky-owned Jupiter and Woodcut
Media]. But if you make high-end
crime content with a British bent,
then do speak to us.”
In June, it emerged that Sky
will ramp up its spend on original
programming to £1bn a year by
2024, which Bennett said will
dovetail with the ambition to grow
Sky Studios as a signifi cant in-
house producer. “I’d hope that in
four years, half our shows come
from Sky Studios,” he said. “We
haven’t set a target, but we will
ramp up our Sky Studios originals.”
However, Bennett stressed that
the indie sector still has a huge
opportunity to win business, even
with up to half of Sky’s content
coming from Sky Studios in the
medium term.
Sky Atlantic is looking to
commission between 10 and 12
originals per year. “There will be
an uptick in Sky Atlantic dramas
with a unique British feel, such as
Save Me,” said Bennett.
“We want at least one ultra-
British piece every quarter so we
can build up a cadence to the
channel. Then there will be six
more international pieces like
Tin Star, and a couple of big
critical pieces.”
Following the ratings and critical
success of Chernobyl, Bennett said,
Sky received a surge in pitches
about historical disasters, resulting
in the broadcaster temporarily
closing submissions. He said a
lot of love and detail – combined
with the right timing – had helped
Chernobyl’s success, and that its
popularity does not mean Sky is
looking for more of the same.
Along with the boost to Sky
Atlantic and Sky 1 drama, Bennett
is aiming to increase Sky’s comedy
originals from six to eight a yearto 16 over the next four years.
“If we do that, we would surpass
the BBC as the biggest maker of
original comedy in the UK,” said
Bennett. “We are looking for
shows with a local feel for Sky 1
that are either half-hour, laugh-
out-loud comedies or hour-long
comedy-drama.”
Sky’s increased spending will
focus on scripted, but Bennettsaid its non-scripted slate will
remain steady. He acknowledged
some of its programming had
been hit and miss – “Carnage was
a really good show but I think it
would have been better as a tea-
time format on BBC1 or ITV” –
and said Sky’s audiences are
looking for comedy-entertainment
“with an adultness to it”.
Finally, Bennett said Sky
is ready to navigate the next
generation of global streaming
services. He revealed that Sky
is heavily involved with NBCU’s
planned streamer, with a number
of projects in co-development,
but said he is uncertain as to
whether Warner Media’s upcoming
HBO Max will affect its existing
co-production and pipeline
deal with HBO.
“We have a really strong rela-
tionship with HBO and I hope that
continues,” said Bennett. “But we
are not wholly reliant on it and that
is a big reason why we are doubling
our investment in getting more
original dramas on Sky Atlantic
and Sky 1. Other than Game Of
Thrones, our originals are our
biggest shows by a country mile.”I’d hope that in four years,
half our shows come from
Sky Studios. We haven’t
set a target but we will
ramp up our originals
ZAI BENNETT
SKYbroadcastnow.co.uk 23 August 2019| Broadcast | 5
NEWS & ANALYSIS
Sky boosts channel portfolio
Zai Bennett adds comedy and crime and tips Sky Studios to become major in-house force