From red carpets to resident aliens and driving ranges, NBCUniversal’s SpinCo has given its first indication what its programming strategy might look like with the hire of Val Boreland as President of Entertainment.
Boreland will oversee programming for cable networks including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SyFy and Golf Channel as the Comcast-owned company spins off these assets into its own entity.
Boreland’s background – she is currently EVP and Head of Content Acquisitions, TV & Streaming for NBCUniversal – points to a mix of third-party acquisitions alongside original series.
She has overseen acquiring content for NBC, the cable networks and Peacock and was credited with the latter’s savvy acquisition of the streaming rights to hit Paramount drama series Yellowstone as well as its deal for John Wick prequel The Continental.
But she does also have original programming experience, as NBCUniversal was quick to point out in its announcement. Before joining NBCU, Boreland was EVP, Head of Programming & Production at Revolt, the music network launched by the now embattled Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2013. In that role, she oversaw all programming content and strategy, production, development, talent and music.
Before that, she was SVP, Programming at Comedy Central between 2005 and 2012 and VP, Programming at Lifetime for ten years.
The question that people in Hollywood are now asking is: how much original content will Boreland be overseeing and who will be buying it?
As it stands, USA Network has two on-air original scripted series: Resident Alien and The Rainmaker. The Alan Tudyk-fronted drama series recently moved from Syfy to USA Network for its upcoming fourth season.
Deadline understands that The Rainmaker, which is based on the John Grisham novel and film adaptation, is still set up at SpinCo-bound USA but could potentially move to either NBC or Peacock, which are staying at NBCUniversal.
The Rainmaker was USA Network’s first new scripted series order in some time and envisioned as the first of a number of “Blue Sky” shows that USA was planning to do before the spin-off.
With the cancellation of Chucky and the move of Resident Alien to USA, SyFy has been relying solely on Canadian scripted originals such as SurrealEstate and the upcoming Revival.
On the unscripted front, USA Network debuted The Anonymous, a competition series from The Traitors producer Studio Lambert, in August, although the show didn’t really make a name for itself over its first season.
E! has House of Villains, Snoop Dogg’s Fatherhood: Cori & Wayne’s Story and long-running series Botched, but its arguably Oxygen, with its focus on true-crime, that airs the most originals out of the SpinCo networks.
Series include Cold Justice, produced by Dick Wolf, which is heading into its eighth season this year alongside Prosecuting Evil, New York Homicide and Fatal Family Feuds, having last year launched new titles such as Deadly Waters with Captain Lee, the Below Deck captain, and had the 20th anniversary of Snapped.
Cori Abraham, who is SVP, Unscripted Development, Crime & Documentary, NBCUniversal Entertainment, is responsible for most of this programming and sources have talked her up as someone who could potentially join SpinCo.
But Abraham’s role – which covers all of its networks and Peacock – also highlights one of the other challenges of populating SpinCo with NBCU executives. Following a previous restructure, many of its top execs buy and develop programming across channels and services; for instance, Corie Henson oversees formats and competition series across the board including The Anonymous, while her lifestyle and reality counterpart Rachel Smith does too, so untangling some of this will be essential.
This is similar on the scripted front, where Lisa Katz, who is President of Scripted Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, oversees all scripted for the cable networks, NBC and Peacock.
As one insider put it, there won’t be a corporate “lift and shift”.
There’s also the question of studio; Universal Studio Group, which consists of Universal Television, UCP and UIS, will come under the purview of Donna Langley, Chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios. The split won’t be as drastic as that of 20th Television and Fox after Disney acquired the former and still produced shows for the former, largely because it will still be controlled by Comcast, but it will likely require some additional paperwork.
Sources have noted that Donna Langley, Chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios, and Matt Strauss, Chairman, NBCUniversal Media Group, are also expected to unveil new leadership plans so SpinCo CEO Mark Lazarus and his team may have to wait to see how that shakes out before figuring out their own strategy.