Warner Bros. Television Group has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Shed Media, the company announced today.
One of the UK’s largest independent production and distribution companies, Shed has operations in both the U.K. and the U.S. Shed Media will remain an independent production company, while its distribution operation, Outright Distribution, will be folded into the Warner Bros. International Television Production unit, also based in the U.K.
Shed Media is comprised of Shed Productions, Ricochet, Twenty Twenty, Wall to Wall, Shed Scotland and Shed US, and is responsible for more than 2,000 hours of programming, including “Supernanny,” “Waterloo Road,” “Footballers’ Wives” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” The company’s productions have been honored with several awards, including BAFTA and Emmy Awards, as well as an Oscar in 2009 for Best Documentary Feature for the film “Man on Wire.”
Shed Media also owns and fully exploits the rights to its extensive program library worldwide, through its in-house distribution company, Outright Distribution. Outright will be incorporated into the operations of Warner Bros. International Television Production (which was created last year), where its employees will join WBITVP’s in continuing to sell the format rights for programming from Warner Bros. Television, Warner Horizon Television, Telepictures Productions and Shed Media to international broadcasters worldwide.
Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. International Television, said, "Today marks a significant first step in the strategy we announced a year ago. The acquisition of a majority stake in one of the top multi-genre production companies in the U.K. will establish a foundation for future expansion into other countries."
