MediaWorks Secures Heroic New Shows

MediaWorks TV today announced a new agreement with US studio NBCUniversal, securing programming for both TV3 and Four that first was reported here. 

This deal gives MediaWorks TV exclusive New Zealand broadcast rights to:

• Heroes Reborn, the highly anticipated reboot of the hit sci-fi series;
• State of Affairs, starring Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) as a CIA analyst and top advisor to the President of the United States (played by Alfre Woodard); and
• Traffic-like action drama series Odyssey.

The new arrangement also includes a significant first-run and library feature package, including Despicable Me 2 and Fast & Furious 6.

“This deal secures some of the very best new dramas from this year’s LA Screenings for TV3 and Four audiences,” MediaWorks TV director of programming Mark Caulton says.

“It is fantastic news for the company, our viewers and our clients.

“Heroes Reborn was green-lit straight to series, and is expected to debut in the US in 2015.

“The original Heroes was a hit for both NBC and TV3 and we expect to bring the new series to New Zealanders soon after its US premiere.

“Our audiences will also enjoy Katherine Heigl’s political drama State of Affairs; the exciting thriller/action series Odyssey; and at the other end of the spectrum, the provocative new relationship drama Satisfaction.”

Odyssey follows an intertwining international conspiracy that explodes when three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide – a female soldier, a corporate lawyer and a political activist.

It stars Peter Facinelli (Nurse Jackie, Twilight franchise) and Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies).

Satisfaction explores modern marriage at its midpoint and asks the question, “What do you do when having it all is not enough?” by delving into a couple’s shocking and unconventional choices.

In the first episode, the husband discovers his wife ‘in flagrante’ with a call boy and becomes a gigolo himself when he receives a call on the male prostitute’s phone.

Surprisingly, MediaWorks also has picked up Chicago PD, a Dick Wolf police drama spun off the fire station drama Chicago Fire that TV3 dropped after only one season.

Some of the new NBCUniversal content will screen on TV3 and Four this year, such as Motive (which premieres September 3), with the rest launching as part of MediaWorks’ new-season line up in 2015.