HBO and Axios Team up for Docuseries on 2018 Midterm Elections

Axios, the politically-focused digital outlet, is teaming with HBO to deliver a series of documentaries during the 2018 election season.

The series, titled “Axios,” pairs Emmy-winning documentarian Matthew O’Neill (“Baghdad ER”) and Perri Peltz (“Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro, Sr.”) with Axios journalists as they explain the latest big stories in business, technology, and politics.

“The world needs new, smarter ways to better understand the dominant personalities and definitive trends changing politics, business, technology and our lives,” said Axios CEO and co-founder Jim VandeHei in a statement. “We see this combination of HBO, Axios and award-winning storytellers as a powerful way of bringing clarity and meaning to the most consequential topics.”

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The company and HBO did not share financial terms of the deal.

Axios co-founder Mike Allen — whose Washington connections made him a must-read for politics-obsessed readers while at Politico — will be one of the journalists featured in the new series. The outlet, launched in 2016, has made a name for itself by pushing its brief posts, which often come in at less than 200 words, which it says it delivers with “smart brevity.” Ahead of joining with HBO, and after a $20 million cash infusion last fall, Axios has expanded its coverage with long-form reporting.

The Axios show will add to HBO’s slate of current events-focused shows. Bill Maher and John Oliver both host weekly shows that blend comedy with politics. HBO has also worked with Vice Media to produce a nightly news show, and inked a deal with Crooked Media, the outlet formed by ex-Obama staffers, to produce a political talk show this fall.