NBCUniversal is joining with broadcasters in France and Germany
to create original television shows in the vein of "Law &
Order" and "House."
The agreement between Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal International
Television Production, Germany's Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and
France's TF1 is seeking to address a shortage of traditional
police, medical and legal dramas, known as procedural shows, coming
out of the U.S.
Once the bread-and-butter of U.S. broadcast networks' lineups,
procedural shows such as NBC's "Law & Order" and CBS's "CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation" have taken a back seat as of late to
serialized dramas such as ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" and
Fox's "Empire," which are essentially evening soap operas.
Serialized dramas are also popular on streaming services such as
Netflix and Amazon, which have become eager buyers of broadcast and
cable shows such as AMC's "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" and CBS's
"The Good Wife."
However, procedurals are more popular overseas than serialized
programs and are easier to sell. That is, in large part, because
individual episodes stands on their own and don't have to be viewed
as part of a bigger story. That helps procedural shows do better in
repeats than serialized dramas. Plus, the simple plots in
procedurals tend to travel better than the often over-the-top,
American-centric story lines that dominate prime-time soaps.
The international market is key for U.S. TV studios and
production companies seeking to bolster growth as their domestic
business slows down. And the decline in traditional dramas has been
noticed overseas.
"My feeling is that Americans only want to make First Class
series, but we still need Business Class and Economy," Rudiger
Boss, who oversees program acquisition for Germany's
ProSiebenSat.1, said in an interview last year.
As part of the co-production partnership, the group will produce
up to three new dramas over two years. Financial terms of the deal
weren't disclosed.
The initiative will also be good news to writers and producers
in the U.S., which is where the shows will be made. "There is an
incredible talent pool of procedural writers and producers in the
U.S. For some time now they have had few outlets for their ideas,"
JoAnn Alfano, executive vice president of scripted programming for
NBCUniversal International Television Production, said in a
statement.
Among U.S. TV studios, Universal Television has always been a
prolific producer of procedurals. It is behind the "Law &
Order" franchise and produces "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago P.D.,"
which air on NBC.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
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