At its Up Next event in London, the pay TV giant announced that it is preparing 80 original productions, 25% more than last year, and that it will increase its US series offer by 40%.
Sky UK, the UK division of Comcast-owned European pay TV giant, Sky, announced on Wednesday that it is preparing more than 80 original productions this year, 25% more than in 2019.
During its Up Next event in London, the company highlighted that it will have “more original series, more commissions and more investment”, as part of its mission of providing its customers with “the best of local content, in addition to the best of US TV”, adding that it will increase its offer of US content by 40%.
“In the 12 years that I have been leading Sky, I’ve never seen a selection as big as the one we will have on screen in the next year or so,” said Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch.
“2020 will be the best year for Sky in terms of content. We have more than 80 original series and 40% more shows from the US. We have new channels like Sky Comedy, Sky Nature and Sky Documentaries, which will be launched soon. And we are going to announce 10 new commissions today,” Darroch said during the event.
The 10 new Sky UK commissions include the second season of the comedy Intelligence (pictured above), the fourth from Urban Myths, the second from Cobra, the third from Brassic, the dramas You (working title) and The Tail of the Curious Mouse (working title), the comedies Bloods, Safe Space and Sweetpea, and the entertainment format Redknapps’ Weekend Warm Up (working title).
The new programming joins the original series that Sky already announced this year, including The Third Day (Jude Law, Naomie Harris), Breeders (Martin Freeman, Daisy Haggard), and The Trip to Greece (Coogan, Rob Brydon).
In addition, some of the highlights in terms of acquisitions for this season include The Plot Against America (Winona Ryder), The Undoing (Hugh Grant, Nicole Kidman), Run (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Natalie Dormer).
Sky has been increasing its catalog of original productions through the Sky Studios. In addition, last year the group announced that it would double its investment in original content by 2024 under its new owner, Comcast.
