ITV on factual-finding mission

MIPTV: UK commercial broadcaster ITV is looking for non-scripted factual entertainment series to fill pre-primetime slots on two of its digital channels, female-skewing ITV2 and male-skewing ITV4.

Sasha Breslau, head of acquired series at ITV, picks up scripted and non-scripted series for ITV1 and its digital sister networks ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4.

She told C21 in Cannes that her focus was on finding content to run on ITV2 and ITV4 at 19.00 and 20.00.

She said: “ITV2 is a mix of acquired and home-grown scripted and non-scripted series. We have America’s Got Talent, X Factor USA, Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and Love in the Wild, which play alongside shows like Celebrity Juice.

“It skews a bit more female and we’re looking for factual entertainment series for 19.00 and 20.00. For scripted series, we’re waiting until the LA Screenings in May.

“Any acquisition just needs to feel very on-brand – fun, entertaining and well produced with lovely production values. We have The Real Housewives franchise from Orange County and New York playing in daytime, and we’re looking at maybe taking some more.”

On ITV4, the network is the home of movies and sports events such as the Tour de France, the French Open and Indian Premier League cricket. Acquired series include Quantum Leap and the original Batman series, starring Adam West.

Breslau said the network is also looking for factual series in the 19.00 and 20.00 slots, to complement current programmes including River Monsters, Border Security USA and the six-part Whisker Wars, which will return for a second season later this year.

“It was a really quirky little series about competitive beard and moustache growing,” said Breslau of the latter show. “It’s character-based and would appeal to men. But women wouldn’t be put off by it.”

Whisker Wars was also desirable as its title helps to make the ITV4 stand out on the EPG, she said.

Meanwhile, flagship channel ITV1 “doesn’t buy a whole lot of anything,” Breslau said. “It commissions most of its own content. Occasionally there is something like Planet’s Funniest Animals or The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, which air in daytime.”

However, ITV3 recently aired Danish crime drama Those Who Kill, produced by Miso Film, which Breslau admitted was “a bit of a departure” from its usual content, which is dominated by UK dramas including Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders and Poirot.

“We have dabbled in US series but the thing that is our bread and butter on ITV3 is great classic British drama,” she said.

“Those Who Kill was a departure and was an interesting experiment for the channel. We were happy with the ratings. It got people talking about ITV3 in a different way. It was nice to have people saying, ‘There’s this new show on ITV3.'”

However, she added there were no fixed plans to bring further foreign-language content to the network.