10 Stories You Should Know: 04/20/2023

Here are the global TV stories that should be on your radar

Here are the global TV and streaming stories that should be on your radar for Thursday, April 20th, 2023:

‘Rana Naidu’ Producer Locomotive Global Expands Slate Through Pacts With All3Media, Endemol Shine India (Deadline)
Currently riding high on the success of Netflix series Rana Naidu, Indian production outfit Locomotive Global is building out its slate through a string of deals with companies including All3Media and Endemol Shine India.

Forecast: Global Pay-TV Revenues To fall By $26bn (Advanced Television)
Global pay TV revenues peaked in 2016 at $199 billion (€181.6bn), according to the Global Pay TV Forecasts report from analyst firm Digital TV Research. Revenues will fall to $125 billion in 2028 – down from $151 billion in 2022. This comes despite the number of pay-TV subscribers remaining at just under 1 billion.

Showmax’s “The Billionaire’s Wife” Becomes Its Most-Watched Title In Ghana (Technovagh)
The Billionaire’s Wife is the third Showmax Original in Ghana, building on the success of the Shirley Frimpong-Manso drama ENO and the docu-reality series My Perfect Funeral, about Ghana’s unique funeral practices. Both titles were among the top 10 most-watched shows on Showmax in Ghana in 2022.

HBO Max Follows Finland’s Historic Female Cabinet For Documentary Series ‘First Five’ (Variety)
The streamer has unveiled the Finnish original “First Five,” which is billed as an “intimate” portrait of Marin and her headline-grabbing female cabinet. The project comes just weeks after Marin and her centre-left Social Democratic Party was defeated by the conservative National Coalition Party.

ITVX Premium, Apple TV+ Defy UK Streaming Market Cull (Rapid TV News)
The latest Kantar Entertainment on Demand (EoD) study on British streaming habits from January to March 2023 has found a quarterly fall in the number of video-on-demand (VOD)-enabled households that subscribed to at least one video streaming service.

Paramount+ Boosts Korean Content Slate With Original Dramas ‘A Bloody Lucky Day’ and ‘Queen Woo’ (The Hollywood Reporter)
Paramount+ revealed Thursday that it will be expanding its global Korean originals slate with the launch of two new series exclusively on the service in multiple regions around the world. Forthcoming K-dramas A Bloody Lucky Day and Queen Woo will be available on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Warner Bros. Discovery Expands In Uzbekistan (Broadband TV News)
Warner Bros. Discovery and Uzdigital TV have entered into an exclusive partnership in Uzbekistan. As a result of the partnership, which covers IPTV and cable, the Uzbek operator’s subscribers will have access to diverse premium content from Discovery, CNN, Eurosport, Discovery Science and Animal Planet.

Roku Expands Slate of Spanish Originals, Including Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Un Millón de Gracias’ (Variety)
Roku expanded its slate of Spanish originals, adding six new unscripted series from Latino voices and creatives including Jennifer Lopez, Juanpa Zurita and Jaime Camil.

The six new original series — “Carpe DM with Juanpa,” “Desde la Raíz,” “Serenata De Las Estrellas,” “La Divina Comida,” “Batalla en Abuela’s Kitchen,” “Un Millón de Gracias”— feature stars including Wilmer Valderrama, Belinda, Sofia Reyes and Michael Peña.

This Is Nice CEO Morten Mogensen To Exit Fremantle-Owned Nordic Group (TBIVision)
Morten Mogensen is stepping down as CEO at Fremantle’s Nordic group, This Is Nice. His exit comes four months after Fremantle restructured its senior ranks in Europe by creating two new regional CEO roles, with Benelux chief Georgette Schlick and Paramount Global’s Jaime Ondarza taking the positions.

‘Naked Education’ Complaints Near 1,300 As Anger Grows Over Channel 4 Parading Nude Adults In Front Of Children (Deadline)
The gloves are off for Channel 4’s Naked Education. UK media regulator Ofcom has received 1,297 complaints about the controversial body image show, as anger grows at a format that parades naked adults in front of young teenagers.