CMCSA Comcast Corporation

By Shalini Ramachandran 

BuzzFeed and Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal are unveiling new original series under development, the companies' first joint television productions since the formation of their partnership nearly a year and a half ago.

The companies said the first of the shows will be a "crime investigation docu-series" -- akin to Netflix's "Making a Murderer" and HBO's "The Jinx" -- based on investigative reporting by a BuzzFeed News reporter, Katie J.M. Baker. The series will trace the case of Jessica Chambers, a Mississippi teenager who was mysteriously burned alive in December 2014.

The companies said BuzzFeed News' reporting uncovered developments around the unsolved case and helped make Ms. Chambers' death "one of the most-talked about stories on the internet" -- a big draw for NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, the division of the entertainment giant that struck the deal, helped bring in Joe Berlinger, the Academy Award-nominated director of true-crime documentaries like the "Paradise Lost" trilogy, to direct the new series.

The docu-series is the companies' first television development deal since NBCUniversal invested $200 million in BuzzFeed in August 2015, an effort by the TV giant to infuse its programming for the traditional TV world with the prowess of a digital media darling well-versed in reaching young audiences.

"The two apparently competitive worlds of linear and digital actually kind of need each other," said NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Chief Content Officer Jeff Wachtel, in an interview. "BuzzFeed is great at finding material and incubating and we have expertise at taking things to market."

As the two work to produce more shows together, NBCUniversal's channels like NBC, USA or Oxygen will get first dibs, but BuzzFeed and NBCUniversal executives said their co-productions could also be sold to other rival cable outlets or streaming services.

BuzzFeed's head of development, Matthew Henick, said the still-unfolding story of the Jessica Chambers case made the series an attractive bet. "This is the perfect example of how BuzzFeed can extend the life of its content -- be it serious journalism or entertaining videos -- beyond the original social platforms where it was created," he said.

BuzzFeed, which according to a person familiar with the matter is eyeing a potential 2018 initial public offering, is seeking to diversify its sources of revenue and tap into the still-enormous pool of TV money.

Like other digital-media companies, BuzzFeed has run into some headwinds. NBCUniversal invested another $200 million in the startup last year, valuing BuzzFeed at $1.7 billion. The essentially flat funding round signaled some turbulence at BuzzFeed.

After revenue fell short of its original expectations in 2015, BuzzFeed's growth got back on track with its internal targets last year. In a year-end memo to employees, BuzzFeed Chief Executive Jonah Peretti said revenue grew more than 65% in 2016.

The tie-up with NBCUniversal was designed to, among other things, help BuzzFeed grow by expanding into television and film, which require much larger investments than online video.

To that end, NBCUniversal's unscripted production arm Wilshire Studios is also developing two other reality series off BuzzFeed content. One involves the "Try Guys," a popular BuzzFeed group known for stunts like wearing "boob weights" for a day. The other, called "Mom vs. Chef," is a cooking reality show that has gained traction online pitting mothers against professional chefs to make everyday foods like spinach.

In a sign of the big plans it has for a television version of "Mom vs. Chef," NBCUniversal has signed on Lee Metzger, the producer of NBC's hit singing competition series "The Voice."

The two companies are also in early stages of discussing scripted series together.

The relatively long wait in bringing these projects to fruition illustrates just how tough the television business can be, and BuzzFeed and NBCUniversal acknowledged the growing pains of bridging their very different digital and old media cultures.

"In BuzzFeed's world, they have an idea and two days later they are shooting and putting it up immediately," NBCUniversal's Mr. Wachtel said. "In the linear television world, things happen in months."

Still, he said the partnership overall has been very positive, though "everybody would like it to move faster."

Mr. Henick said it was important for the companies to strengthen their bonds in other ways first, through their joint coverage of the Rio Olympics and more recent tie-up to co-sell ad packages that could include space on each other's properties.

"Once we got comfortable with each other," it became easier to discuss broader deals, he said. "TV is not digital; it takes a little bit longer to do."

Write to Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 14, 2017 13:14 ET (18:14 GMT)

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024