ViacomCBS throws Big Fish back

Live PD was postponed and then cancelled by A&E

ViacomCBS is severing ties with MGM-owned US prodco Big Fish Entertainment as the fall-out from the death of George Floyd continues across America.

Big Fish is the production company behind Live PD, the A&E series which followed US police forces in real time every Friday and Saturday night. The series was postponed and then cancelled by A&E last week as protests against the police continued to flare up across the country.

Although not a ViacomCBS show, the company has chosen to severe ties with Big Fish on other programmes following the revelation that another black man, Javier Ambler, had been killed in police custody in Austin while filming for Live PD was taking place, but the footage had been erased and never aired.

Big Fish was involved in a number of shows for ViacomCBS-owned cablenet VH1 including Cartel Crew and the Love & Hip Hop franchise. These will now be taken in-house by the broadcaster.

In a statement, ViacomCBS said: “We have decided to end our relationship with Big Fish Entertainment and will be producing our shows in-house at this time. We thank Big Fish for their past contributions and wish them the best.”

Live PD had been a genre-defining show for A&E and was recently renewed for a further 160 episodes. It proved a ratings juggernaut in the usually quiet Friday and Saturday night slots on the channel and sparked a spate of live factual shows and formats across A+E Networks cablenets and those of its rival factual broadcasters.

The show’s success saw Big Fish Entertainment acquired by MGM in June 2018.

ViacomCBS-owned Paramount network has also cancelled Cops, its own police ride-along obs doc, which is one of the longest running shows on US television.