News

German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 is looking to sell its production division Red Arrow Studios – the company that owns Bosch producer Fabrik Entertainment and The Circus producer Left/Right.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley is working with the media group on a “full divestiture” of the business, according to German media trade Dwdl.de. A deck has been sent to potential investors, which have until Friday September 13 to express their interest.

It marks a departure from current trends as most broadcasters and media groups are looking to grow their production and content units to fight falling advertising revenues and the threat of streaming services.

However, it’s believed that ProSiebenSat.1 may be willing to keep two subsidiaries; German production company Redseven Entertainment and multichannel network Studio71.

The move comes as a number of senior executives have left the business over the last twelve months. In February, Jan Frouman left as Chairman and CEO of Red Arrow Studios,...

Horror-comedy star (and Comic-Con royalty) Bruce Campbell has teamed with King Of The Nerds executive producers Craig Armstrong and Rick Ringbakk of 5X5 Media for a horror-themed, off-beat comedic competition series project. Tentatively titled Bruce Campbell’s Horrified, the series, which is being shopped to networks, is envisioned as a celebration of horror fans through a comedic and irreverent lens, similarly to the way TBS’ King Of The Nerds did it for people who…...

Iliza Shlesinger, the Season 6 winner of “Last Comic Standing,” has been tapped to host TBS’s upcoming “Separation Anxiety,” which is being billed as “a comedic, relationship-based game show featuring a unique twist that isn’t revealed to contestants until after they’ve played the game.” The series which has received a 14-episode order and will premiere in late 2015, is produced by 5×5 Media and Electus, which also produce “King of the Nerds” for TBS. 5×5’s Craig Armstrong, whose credits include “Survivor” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” is executive producing, along with Rick Ringbakk and Charles Wachter of 5×5 and Chris...

NBC is putting a twist on The Biggest Loser. The network has given a cast-contingent series order to The Weight for Love, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The series is based on an original format, with each hourlong episode centering on overweight couples who commit to separate for a long period of time in order to regain their health. They then reunite in an emotional reveal. Weight for Love hails from 5x5 Media and Warner Horizon Television. 5x5's Rick Ringbakk (The Amazing Race, Fashion Star) and Craig Armstrong (King of the Nerds, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) will executive produce

read more...

Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong return as hosts and executive producers of the competition reality series, in which contestants face challenges that test their intellect, ingenuity, skills and pop-culture knowledge for a $100,000 prize. The eight-episode third season will air in early 2015. The most recent second season of King Of The Nerds, designed as a companion of off-network hit The Big Bang Theory, averaged 1.5 million viewers and more than 1 million adults 18-49, with a median age of 35. “King Of The Nerds demonstrates the power of nerd culture by drawing not only a fervent fan base but also the youngest audience of any current TBS original,” said TNT and TBS head of programming Michael Wright. Executive producing with Carradine and Armstrong are Ben Silverman and Chris Grant of Electus and Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk and Charles Wachter of 5X5 Media; Electus distributes the show internationally. The renewal comes on the heels of...

Mike Darnell has hooked his first big fish at Warner Bros. Television. The newly installed president of unscripted and alternative programming and syndicated fare has made his first overall deal with  5x5 Media, formerly based at Electus. "These are really talented guys," Darnell tells THR, referring to Media co-founders Craig Armstrong and Rick Ringbakk. "There are a lot of executors out there but not a lot of idea guys. We're already going out with pitches next week." "The opportunity to team up with Mike Darnell, one of the true pioneers of this genre, is something we could

read more...

TNT has greenlighted Wake Up Call (working title), a successor to this summer’s The Hero. The new aspirational reality series comes from the same auspices – star/executive producer Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Electus. I hear TNT wanted to keep the aspirational theme of The Hero but in a close-ended format that would better showcase Johnson. In each episode, Johnson and his team will make a 4 Am “wake up calls” to a different set of everyday people who are facing enormous challenges in their lives and need help. TNT has ordered eight one-hour episodes for a 2014 premiere. Electus, 5×5 Media and 7 Bucks Entertainment are producing, with Electus’ Ben Silverman, Chris Grant and Jimmy Fox executive producing alongside Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk and Charles Wachter of 5×5 Media; and Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia of 7 Bucks. “We had a wonderful time working with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on The Hero, in which...

TNT given the go ahead on a new series which Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is starring in as well as executive producing. This comes after Johnson recently headlined TNT's The Hero. In Wake Up Call (currently a working title), Johnson will lend a helping hand to everyday people who are facing enormous challenges in their lives. TNT has ordered eight one-hour episodes of the show produced by Ben Silverman's Electus, 7 Bucks Entertainment and 5x5 Media. Silverman, Chris Grant and Jimmy Fox of Electus, Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk and Charles Wachter of 5x5 Media; and 7 Bucks Entertainment's Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia are executive producing Wake Up Call which is set to premiere in 2014.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is already one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and after Thursday's premiere of TNT's "The Hero," he'll add reality star to his resume, too. So how was the blockbuster action hero convinced to join the likes of Hulk Hogan, Gary Busey, and Bret Michaels in the reality TV genre? According to "Hero" executive producers Rick Ringbakk and Craig Armstrong, all it took was a phone call. "It was a phone pitch, actually," Armstrong, a former "Survivor" co-executive producer, told TheWrap. "And he just said, 'I'm in...

TBS has renewed King Of The Nerds, its successful freshman reality competition series hosted and executive produced by two of the stars of the movie franchise, Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong. On the show, competitors come together to face challenges that will test their intellect, ingenuity, skills and pop-culture prowess. Executive producing the series are Carradine, Armstrong, Electus’ Ben Silverman and Jimmy Fox and 5X5 Media’s Rick Ringbakk, Tod Mesirow and Craig Armstrong. King Of The Nerds, packaged by Buchwald/Fortitude, premiered in January with 2 million total viewers, more than 1.2 million adults 18-49 and 586,000 adults 18-34 in Live+Same Day. That was very close to TBS’ scripted series premieres behind Big Bang, including the recent TBS debut of Cougar Town (1.3 million adults 18-49 and 613,000 adults 18-34) at the fraction of the cost.

ABC has greenlighted Bet On Your Baby, an eight-episode primetime game show series to premiere in April. Hosted by Melissa Peterman, co-star of the ABC Family comedy Baby Daddy, Bet On Your Baby is produced by Ben Silverman‘s Electus and 5×5 Media, who together co-produce NBC’s Fashion Star and TBS’ King Of The Nerds. Each hourlong episode of Bet On Your Baby will feature five families with toddlers between the ages of 2 and 3 1/2. Each family will play a self-contained, individual challenge competing against themselves — not against other babies — as they try to correctly predict their offspring’s next move. At the end of the show, the five families return to play the college round for the chance to win $50,000 towards a college education for their child. “The concept of the show just appealed to me on many levels because as a mom I liked the fact that the kids...

Fashion Star is staying at NBC. The network has renewed the freshman reality series for a second cycle after its midseason run generated modest but steady ratings. Photos: Broadcast TV's Returning Shows for 2012-13 Season Created by Rick Ringbakk and produced by Ben Silverman's Electus, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth at Magical Elves and 5x5 Media, the series follows designers competing for a chance to sell their wares in three retailers -- Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, H&M -- which each have a presence at the buyers' table. Each episodes' winning designs are available online and in retailers immediately following their air

read more...

Ben Silverman’s Electus is teaming with Dwayne Johnson on TV and social media competition series The Hero. The show will lead a search for the next great hero by setting ordinary people on a high-stakes global adventure. Three teams will simultaneously be stationed on three different continents where they will face moral dilemmas testing their courage, leadership skills and self-sacrifice limits. The show was created by Craig Armstrong and Rick Ringbakk of 5×5 Media and Silverman. It’s exec produced by Electus, 5×5, Charles Wachter, Wme-repped Johnson and Dany Garcia. Electus International has worldwide distribution.

Now that nerds seemingly run the world, TBS is determined to find their leader. The cable network has greenlit the new unscripted competition series "King of the Nerds," which will premiere in early 2013. To host the show, TBS has recruited two of the stars of 1984's prescient "Revenge of the Nerds," Robert Carradine ("Lewis") and Curtis Armstrong ("Booger"). Ogre would not be pleased. Eight episodes of "King of the Nerds" have been ordered. The show's executive producers feature a who's-who of reality TV vets, with Ben Silverman ("The Biggest Loser"), Jimmy Fox ("Mob Wives"), Rick Ringbakk ("The Amazing Race"), Tod...

TBS picked up King of the Nerds, an eight-episode reality competition series hosted and executive produced by two of the stars of the hit movie Revenge of the Nerds, Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong. On the show, competitors come together to face challenges that will test their intellect, ingenuity, skills and pop-culture prowess. The nerds will first compete as teams before moving on to individual challenges, all with the goal of being named the quintessential master of all things nerdy. Executive producing the series are Carradine, Armstrong, Electus’ Ben Silverman and Jimmy Fox and 5X5 Media’s Rick Ringbakk, Tod Mesirow and Craig Armstrong. King Of The Nerds, packaged by Buchwald/Fortitude, is slated to premiere on TBS in early 2013. Electus International will distribute the series internationally.

A Very pregnant Jessica Simpson joined the rest of the talent and producers of Fashion Star at NBC’s TCA Winter Press Tour Friday.

The new series will spice of the reality competition market by searching for the next big brand in fashion. 14 unknown designers will compete to get their collections launched in Saks Fifth Avenue, H&M and Macy’s. Each of these clothing lines will bid on garments designed by the contestants. That means that each episode, a designer gets the chance to sell their clothes in stores.

Serving as host is former model Elle MacPherson and Nicole Ritchie and John Varvatos will join Jessica Simpson as a fashion mentors. Each week the designers that fail to sell their designs to one of the three stores will put up for elimination. The celebrity mentors will be able to save one of them from this fate.

I’m admittedly...

Cmt has greenlighted two new docu-reality series: Melissa and Tye: A New Reality starring Melissa Rycroft, which is executive produced by Ryan Seacrest, and I Love Jennie, starring Jennie Garth. Both have received orders for eight half-hour episodes for April premieres and will be showcased during Cmt’s portion of the upcoming TCA Winter press tour. Melissa and Tye: A New Reality (working title) is slated to premiere in April. It stars former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Melissa Rycroft, who rose to fame as a contestant on ABC’s The Bachelor and Dancing With The Stars. Now married to her hometown boyfriend with a 10-month-old daughter, Rycroft is moving to Los Angeles to pursue her Hollywood dreams while managing a long-distance relationship with her husband. I Love Jennie (working title) chronicles the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star’s move with her family to a seven-acre farm in the countryside of Central California,...

Melissa Rycroft and Jennie Garth are both getting reality shows on Cmt (not together though!). Projects starring the former Bachelorette and the Beverly Hills, 90210 star were just giving series orders by the network.

Rycroft will star with her husband Tye Strickland in Melissa and Tye: A New Reality (working title), which follows Rycroft moving to Los Angeles to pursue her Hollywood career while managing a long-distance relationship with her husband.

Garth, who is married with three kids, is taking the opposite route: She’s moving with her family from Los Angeles to a seven-acre farm in Central California. The title:...

New York -- Ben Silverman's multimedia studio Electus, part of Barry Diller's Iac, has struck an exclusive deal with 5X5 Media and the three co-founders of the production outfit specializing in unscripted formats.

Under the agreement, Electus will have exclusive distribution rights to all non-scripted content and programming produced by 5x5 Media, which will create and co- produce original projects across all platforms with Electus.

The 5X5 founders are Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk and Tod Mesirow. Each has served as producer for a number of hit television series such as "Survivor," "Amazing Race," "Extreme Makeover Home Edition," "Supernanny" and others.

5X5 Media says it has produced over a thousand hours of TV.