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German financier-distributor Night Train Media has bought factual indie Curve Media, the prolific UK producer behind Discovery’s Salvage Hunters and Line of Duty star Vicky McClure’s BBC doc series Our Dementia Choir.

Night Train was a number of interested investors after Deadline revealed over the summer that the indie was assessing options, appointing GothamStreet to explore.

BBC Studios used to have a minority stake in Curve and that stake has been bought out by Herbert L. Kloiber’s Night Train.

Run by former Cineflix execs Camilla Lewis and Rob Carey, Curve has developed a reputation over the years for producing respected high-volume factual and, more recently, premium docs. Other credits include the likes of Channel 4’s The Greatest Auction, Paramount+’s Hot Yachts and Sky doc The Scream.

Day-to-day management will remain with Carey and Lewis, who retain significant equity stakes in Curve.

Night Train said the...

Paramount+ has unveiled its U.K.-commissioned factual slate ahead of the streaming platform’s U.K. and Ireland launch on June 22.

“Our mission is to make Paramount+ the leading destination for unmissable television in collaboration with the U.K.’s storytelling talent,” said Ben Frow, Paramount’s chief content officer for the U.K. “These new commissions will join an abundance of original content on the service, as well as the pick of Paramount’s vast catalogue to create a compelling offering for viewers in the U.K. and Ireland.”

The new titles include:

“Hot Yachts” from Curve Media

A six-episode series set in South Florida taking viewers into the world of luxury yachts as a team of attractive and hard-partying yacht brokers seek to outdo each other. “Get ready for big characters, insane parties, huge deals and the ultimate Instagram lifestyle in this brand-new reality series,” reads the logline.

Exclusive: Salvage Hunters producer Curve Media is gearing up for new investment after appointing specialist advisory firm GothamStreet to explore its strategic options, we’ve learned. It’s understood the UK indie is expecting to double its revenues this year and wants to capitalize on its position in the factual market.

Dane Phillips of London-based advisory GothamStreet is overseeing the process and Deadline understands that he has spoken to several potential partners, as Curve considers a range of options. These could result in a strategic partnership, private equity investment, bank debt raise or a company sale, though the latter option isn’t thought to be favored.

The process is in the early stages but whatever path is agreed, Curve wants to ensure it can capitalize on its position in the burgeoning UK unscripted market, and that continued growth will be at the forefront of any agreement.

Curve’s turnover for...

Ahead of its summer launch in the U.K., streamer Paramount Plus has unveiled a raft of U.K. original unscripted commissions.

“Haunted” details the most terrifying paranormal cases in Britain and America, combining personal testimony with archive and dramatic reconstruction. It is produced by Story Films in association with All3Media International. Executive producers for Story Films are Peter Beard and Adam Hopkins, and the series producer is Laura Matthews.

“Rise of the Tech Titans” will chart the events that led to a group of founders being able to take their vision to stratospheric levels and reveal how their decisions would go onto shape how we live. It is produced by 72 Films, in association with All3Media International and Night Train Media. Executive producers for 72 Films are Mark Raphael, John Douglas and Annabel Hobley. Katie Hindley and Gagan Rehill are series producers, and will also direct. The series was also ordered by Pearl,...

Exclusive: Discovery has set a marker down for the UK ambitions of its streaming service Discovery+ by luring BBC presenter Nick Knowles to host a series that has echoes of hit Channel 4 show Grand Designs.

Knowles, who presents the BBC’s long-running home transformation show DIY Sos: The Big Build, will host Heritage Rescue for Discovery+. The 12-part series is produced by Curve Media, the prolific Discovery supplier behind shows including Salvage Hunters.

Sources have described it as Grand Designs but for historical buildings in need of restoration. Each episode features a different project, and Knowles will follow the restoration work, showing the results, and diving into the history of the building.

Deadline understands that production is underway and will continue through to fall 2021. The series hopes to showcase some of the UK’s most impressive landmarks and historical structures.

Heritage Rescue is likely to be among Discovery+’s most ambitious originals to date,...

Discovery’s UK and Ireland channel Quest has commissioned 161 hours of content from British producer Curve Media, which encompasses a fresh Salvage Hunters spin-off and new series Auction House (working title).

The producer will make 10-part series Salvage Hunters: Design Classics for Quest, which will follow antique expert Drew Pritchard as he indulges his passion for design.

This is in addition to Discovery ordering 45 more episodes of the original Salvage Hunters format, taking the franchise into its 18th series after it first launched in 2011.

Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars and Salvage Hunters: The Restorers have also been recommissioned for 15 and 60 more episodes respectively, while Quest is also taking another 20 installments of Salvage Hunters: Best Buys.

Finally, Curve has created new format Auction House for the channel, which goes behind-the-scenes of Derby-based auctioneers Hansons and follows staff as they value and sell items.

Simon Downing, Discovery’s head of factual and sports in the UK,...

Exclusive: A+E Networks UK is remaking hit U.S. show American Pickers for its free-to-air channel Blaze — and is basing the series in Ireland with a brand new cast of treasure hunters.

Irish Pickers will launch in March this year, with Curve Media producing a 10-part first season after A+E Networks licensed the British production company, which also makes Discovery’s Salvage Hunters, to adapt the U.S. version.

It marks a neat piece of symmetry, given Curve Media’s joint-ceo Rob Carey co-created the original American Pickers show for History in the U.S. through his old company Cineflix Productions. It has run for 21 seasons since launching a decade ago.

Dan Korn, vice president of programming at A+E Networks UK, told Deadline that Carey originally approached him with a talent pitch rather than plans to remake American Pickers, but the idea snowballed into Irish Pickers.

The show...