CNBC adds LeBron format

LeBron James will host Cleveland Hustles

US business news channel CNBC has ordered two unscripted series, one of which will be fronted by basketball star turned entertainment producer LeBron James.

Cleveland Hustles will see the NBA player give local entrepreneurs the chance to help revitalise struggling neighbourhoods in Cleveland, Ohio.

It will be produced by LeBron’s right-hand man Maverick Carter’s production company, SpringHill Entertainment, alongside LA-based prodco Magical Elves.

Jim Ackerman, exec VP of primetime alternative at CNBC, said the series, which is due to air this summer, “speaks to the network’s entrepreneurial spirit.”

CNBC has also greenlit The Partner, which will feature businessman and investor Marcus Lemonis as he searches for people to help him run businesses that he has saved from the brink of disaster.

Lemonis currently fronts the CNBC series The Profit and the network claims the businessman has so far invested US$35m of his own money in companies featured on the show.

The Partner is produced by Marcus Lemonis Productions and Machete Productions, with Amber Mazzola and Lemonis executive producing.

The two shows follow another recent CNBC commission, the topical series Sustainable Energy, which will see analysts, business leaders and experts discuss humanity’s impact on the environment.

Produced by Creative Content and TIMA Film, the first episode will premiere on January 20 and will air monthly across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In Asia Pacific it will debut on January 23.