Viacom Strikes Format Deal With Korea's Something Special
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VIS, part of ViacomCBS Networks International, has struck a partnership to develop formats and shows with South Korea-based Something Special. The deal expands the corporation’s activities in Korea and the Asian TV markets.
Founded at the end of 2019 by Hwang Jin Woo, former president of CJ ENM, and Kim In-soo, former head of formats at SBS, Something Special pitches itself as Korea’s first-ever TV agency representing format producers.
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The deal gives VIS exclusive first-look rights to globally represent and co-develop up to ten of Something Special’s top unscripted and factual entertainment formats. These potentially span music competition, food and cuisine, game shows and reality shows.
Nickelodeon Set to Expand 'SpongeBob SquarePants' With 'Patrick Star' Series
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Brian Robbins walked into a meeting where executives were deciding whether kids-media giant Nickelodeon should pick up “SpongeBob SquarePants” for a twelfth cycle, and asked what he thought was a simple question: With so many characters populating the underwater city of Bikini Bottom, how come the network had never created any spin-offs?
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Fans will get to see another part of the always optimistic sea sponge’s world soon. The ViacomCBS unit has greenlit 13 episodes of a family-oriented comedy featuring SpongeBob’s pal, Patrick Star. “The Patrick Star Show” is slated to debut this summer, and will focus on a younger version of the character, who hosts a TV program and lives with his family. Bill Fagerbakke, the longtime voice of the animated pink starfish, will play the title role.
ViacomCBS Bets on Big-Tent Strategy for Streaming Growth With Paramount Plus
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ViacomCBS is going big in the streaming wars with a broadcast TV-inspired big tent strategy that will be anchored by legacy cable channel and programming brands.
On paper, the blueprint unveiled today during the company’s investor presentation for the March 4 Paramount Plus debut doesn’t sound like a path for success in today’s hyperactive media landscape. But little by little, ViacomCBS has already showed signs of making progress in the next iteration of television by its placing bets in familiar places.
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