FX has landed the rights to a series with The New York Times called “The Weekly,” the network announced on Wednesday.
The network has committed to a minimum of 30 episodes, with the series scheduled to premiere later this year. Hulu will air the episodes a day after they air on FX. The series will be produced by The New York Times and Left/Right.
Styled in the same vein as the paper’s podcast, “The Daily,” the weekly, half-hour series will spotlight one or two of The Times’ top visual stories and the go behind-the-scenes with those stories’ reporters. “The Weekly” will not have a host, instead using The Times’ reporters to act as a guide as they report their own stories. Sam Dolnick, an assistant managing editor at the paper, will oversee “The Weekly” on behalf of The Times’ newsroom.
“The New York Times is synonymous with excellence and FX is honored to be chosen as their partner on what will be the first entry for both organizations into the weekly TV news business,” said FX Networks CEO John Landgraf. “A free press is vital to the health of our American democracy. ‘The Weekly’ will give viewers compelling stories about the courage and commitment New York Times journalists bring to seeking out and reporting the truth. We also want to thank our partners at Hulu on this deal and the team at Left/Right.”
“The Weekly” will not be the first documentary series to air this year that will spotlight the reporting at The Times. Later this month, Showtime will premiere Liz Garbus’ “The Fourth Estate” series, which looks at paper through the lens of covering the Trump Administration.
“Our ambition with ‘The Weekly’ is to bring the authority and excellence of New York Times journalism to the largest possible television audience. Partnering with FX and Hulu together for distribution represents an entirely new and uniquely powerful way do just that,” said Meredith Kopit Levien, The New York Times Company’s chief operating officer. “The leadership at each of these organizations demonstrated real enthusiasm for The Weekly and for work of The Times. We are incredibly excited to work with them, and with our production partners at Left/Right, to make millions more people spend much more time with quality, original journalism.”