Global merchant bank The Raine Group has contributed a “significant financial investment” to Ben Silverman’s indie studio Propagate Content, Propagate announced Wednesday.
The funds will be used to “accelerate the company’s growth globally,” including expanding into Latin America, Asia, India and the Middle East in 2018, through a combination of new ventures and acquisitions.
The investment, the amount of which was not disclosed, makes Raine a principal investor in Propagate alongside A+E Networks. As part of the deal, Raine co-founder Joe Ravitch, who heads Raine’s entertainment practice, will join Propagate’s board.
“Over the past few years we have seen massive shifts in the media industry that have changed the way production companies have traditionally done business,” said Silverman and Owens in a statement announcing the deal.
“The world of media and technology continues to evolve rapidly, and we want to have the capital and partners in place to help us grow even faster allowing us to continue to deliver premium content to audiences around the world. Nancy Dubuc and the team at A+E Networks have been fantastic partners, and Joe Ravitch and the team at Raine bring incredible experience and access. We are thrilled to have such best-in- class partners that will help us climb to new heights.”
“We see the future of storytelling as global, and Howard and Ben have a great record of approaching the world that way, building and distributing multinational formats with great success,” Ravitch said. “We are delighted to partner with them to help bring their groundbreaking content to viewers across multiple platforms around the world.”
Headed up by Chairman & Co-CEO Ben Silverman and Founding Partner & Co-CEO Howard T. Owens, Propagate has 17 series in production and 40 projects in development at multiple networks and streaming services.
The studio is best known for its Apple TV reality series “Planet of the Apps” starring Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk and will.i.am.
Other projects include “Lore,” produced in partnership with Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment for Amazon Prime, “Up and Vanished” in development at Oxygen, and “Sword and Scale,” which will play on a to-be-announced streaming service. The company was founded in 2015.
The Raine investment was negotiated by Scott Smith, Megan Woodford, Norman Greenberg and Ansgar Simon from Covington & Burling and Ziffren Brittenham for Propagate. Mike Meyers, Ken Siegel and Bennett Reed from Reed Smith, and Resham Ramchandani from A+E Networks’ Legal Department negotiated on behalf of A+E Networks. Stephen Amdur from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Glen Mastroberte from Latham & Watkins negotiated on behalf of Raine.
17 TV Winners and Losers of 2017, From 'This Is Us' to the Silence Breakers (Photos)
Boy, 2017 was something -- wasn't it? While plenty has been happening in the "real world" over the past 12 months, the show continues to go on for TV. Well, not every show. When it comes to television, the winners and losers are pretty easy to define, though 2017 was such a screwy year sometimes they intertwined. Here is the breakdown for who conquered the airwaves and what crumbled in ratings.
Winner: NBC -- Once-again, NBC is the year's broadcast TV ratings winner. This win makes it four years in a row atop the key 18-49 demographic, and the fifth No. 1 finish of six years. And before you argue that's all due to "Sunday Night Football" and The Olympics, 2017 marks the third year in a row NBC has finished first -- or tied for No. 1 -- in entertainment-only programming. So, there.
Loser: ESPN -- Wins have been tough to come by at the Worldwide Leader in Sports these days. From ESPN's Bristol, Connecticut vantage point, cord-cutters are killing the once-mighty business: ESPN has laid off hundreds of employees in just the past six months to mitigate some of the damage. (Mis)Management there also fumbled a partnership with Barstool Sports, which was still somehow better than they handled Jemele Hill's Twitter activity.
Winner: Cable News -- By never shutting up about "fake news," Donald Trump has contributed to very real TV ratings growth at CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. Though the POTUS loves himself some "Fox & Friends," perennial Twitter trend "Morning Joe" has arguably made the most of the new platform given to its platform.
Loser: Megyn Kelly -- NBC News made quite a coup when it lured Megyn Kelly over from enemy Fox News Channel. Here's the problem: Kelly hasn't earned her reported $15 million-plus yearly salary for the new employer. "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly" mostly didn't work, and her "Today" show takeover has basically been a bust every time she's without a sexual misconduct accuser.
Loser(s): Sexual Harrassers (and the Shows/Networks/etc. That Employ Them) -- Here are just some TV stars and executives accused of sexual misconduct in 2017: Kevin Spacey, Jeffrey Tambor, Bill O'Reilly, Matt Lauer, Mario Batali, Roy Price, Charlie Rose, Mark Halperin, Louis CK, Jeremy Piven, Chris Savino, Ken Baker, Matthew Weiner, Mark Schwahn, Nick Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Geraldo Rivera-- OK, we're running out of room. It was a lot of guys.
Winner(s): The Silence Breakers -- OK yeah, so we stole that term from Time. Good enough for their cover, good enough for our gallery. The point is, some of this year's biggest winners are those who came forward to speak out against this year's biggest losers. Props to Reese Witherspoon, America Ferrera, Hilarie Burton (pictured), Anna Faris and Terry Crews -- to name just a few -- for sharing their own personal stories about being victims of Hollywood's sexual misconduct problem.
Winner: HBO -- You're more than a little liar if you say HBO didn't own premium cable this year. Boasting an impressive lineup of new and returning series ("Big Little Lies," "Game of Thrones") and a landslide victory at the Primetime Emmy Awards (10 wins, thank you very much), it's clear the network was living its best life in 2017. Of course, HBO could be on track to crush the next couple of years as well, with the return of "Westworld" and the final season of "Game of Thrones."
Winner: Stephen Colbert-- Turns out the guy from "The Colbert Report" really should love Donald Trump. Just as soon as the 45th POTUS was inaugurated in January, Colbert took late-night's total-viewer crown right off of Jimmy Fallon's head. He hasn't looked back since, and is now coming for the "Tonight Show" host's stranglehold on the key 18-49 demographic.
Loser: NFL -- TV Ratings for NFL games are down year over year again. Considering 2016's terrible declines, this year's high single-digit drop-off is really bad news for the National Football League. And then there's that whole kneeling for the national anthem thing -- that sure got the country heated, didn't it? Yeesh.
Winner: "This Is Us" -- The story of the Pearsons' heartbreaking loss continues to be NBC's gain. The success of the sophomore season of "This Is Us" has forced a spike in tissue sales (possibly?) and viewership. The series is one of just six that are up in Nielsen ratings in 2017, compared to their prior season. Cool Emmy, Sterling K. Brown.
Loser: "Still Star-Crossed" -- A win just wasn't in the cards for this short-lived ABC series, which was 2017's lowest-rated new show for the calendar year. Across its seven-episode first (and last) season, the medieval Shondaland drama, averaged 1.36 million viewers and a 0.3 rating in the key demo. Also, more than half the episodes aired on Saturdays during the summer. So, yeah.
Winner: "The Good Doctor" -- ABC ruled the opposite end of the ratings spectrum too, dropping its new series "The Good Doctor" this fall. The medical drama starring Freddie Highmore (who just grabbed a 2018 Golden Globes nomination for his performance as Dr. Shaun Murphy). The show's freshman season has done so well it's grabbed the No. 1 slot in ratings for a new program in the 2017 calendar year.
Loser: "Marvel's Inhumans" -- "What even is this?" was what some viewers (definitely not any here) wondered when ABC's new Marvel Cinematic Universe series came to town this fall. Between the bizarre IMAX rollout, weird wig CGI, and bad ratings, "Inhumans" was a mess. The strangest thing about the show? It's yet to be officially cancelled.
Winner/Loser: "The Walking Dead" -- "The Walking Dead" just won't die. While the AMC series has seen a double digit decline in ratings in 2017, it is still the No. 1 show on cable. There's definitely something there that's keeping it alive, even if its main characters continue to get whacked with a tricked-out bat.
Winner: USA -- The network, not the country, obviously. USA is expected to finish 2017 as the No. 1 cable entertainment network in total viewers for a record 12th straight year and is in the mix in the 18-49 demo. But that race is too close to call right now. WWE's "SmackDown" going live last summer, not to mention the success of the Jessica Biel-led "The Sinner," have made USA the place to be in 2017. Again, the network, not the country.
Winner: "Big Bang Theory" Universe -- While this CBS staple has been ruling the small screen for years now, it really went to the head of the class in 2017. With the successful launch of prequel series "Young Sheldon" (which is TV's No. 1 new comedy -- "Will & Grace" is higher, but that's technically a returning comedy) and "Big Bang Theory" hanging tough in the No. 1 slot for comedy overall, the brainiacs over at the Tiffany Network have plenty to brag about.
Loser: Fox -- If we couldn't make a case for Fox having a bad year before Dec. 14, then we definitely can now. While the network has three shows with the worst audience declines from last year ("Empire," "The Exorcist," and "Lethal Weapon") and ranks fourth in entertainment-only programming for 2017, the biggest problem for Fox comes courtesy of Disney. The Mouse House just struck a deal to buy 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion, meaning the network literally is about to lose its studio. And then there was "A Christmas Story Live."
We can't even venture a guess as to who will reign supreme and fall from grace come the end of 2018. TV is a fickle thing, and if 2017 taught us one thing it's that anything is possible.
Almost no one thinks it was a great year — but here’s how things stacked up on the small screen
Boy, 2017 was something -- wasn't it? While plenty has been happening in the "real world" over the past 12 months, the show continues to go on for TV. Well, not every show. When it comes to television, the winners and losers are pretty easy to define, though 2017 was such a screwy year sometimes they intertwined. Here is the breakdown for who conquered the airwaves and what crumbled in ratings.