TV group owner Raycom Media and ITV Studios announced a groundbreaking deal for a new weekly, first-run hour lifestyle series with the working title “America Today.”
ITV Studios will produce the series which will initially air exclusively on Raycom stations around the country, with distribution then to other stations.
The production deal was announced Tuesday by Paul McTear, President & CEO for Raycom and Paul Buccieri, CEO of ITV Studios.
America Today is described as “a unique hybrid of national and local content, focusing on lifestyle, health and finance issues that Americans deal with every day.” According to McTear, the series “will speak to a new generation of viewers who want programming that helps them lead better lives.”
“I am delighted to be working with Raycom under a new model which allows us to produce compelling programming for Raycom, but which we believe also has appeal for wider local audiences,” said Buccieri.
The initial production agreement calls for 52 hour episodes, airing once a week on the Raycom stations, including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memphis and West Palm Beach, with an intended launch date in October 2010.
Raycom owns and/or operates 47 television stations in 36 markets and 18 states. Its stations cover 12.6% of US television households.
ITV Studios is the US-based production entity of ITV Studios in the UK. Its titles include “Nanny 911,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “First 48” and the upcoming NBC series “Prime Suspect.”
