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Host With The Most

After playing the host of “Kaun Banega Crorepati,” the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in “Slumdog Millionaire,” Indian star Anil Kapoor will be the new host of “Bigg Boss Ott,” a Hindi-language adaptation of the “Big Brother” format. The third digital edition of the reality show will commence June 21 on billionaire Mukesh Ambani‘s JioCinema Premium streamer. The first season was hosted by Indian media personality Karan Johar and the second by Bollywood star Salman Khan.

“‘Bigg Boss Ott’ and I are a dream team. We’re both young at heart; people often say – jokingly – that I’m reverse ageing, but Bigg Boss is – seriously- timeless. It feels a bit like going back to school, trying something new and exciting,” Kapoor said. “Unscripted reality has something for everyone – laughter, drama, and surprising twists, and I can’t wait to bring my own flavor to it.

Spanish production giant Atresmedia has appointed Miguel García to head its international sales department. García joins Atresmedia from Mediapro, where he has been The Mediapro Studio’s international sales manager for Latin America, the U.S. and Mena for the past five years.

Prior to his time at Mediapro the Madrid native held various positions at Mediapro Group’s Imagina International Sales in the company’s distribution offices. He has also worked for Grupo Editorial Vocento and Spanish broadcaster Rtve. In addition to his private sector work, García is also a professor at Madrid’s prestigious Ecam school where he teaches in its master’s program for distribution and audiovisual business.

“I am very excited about joining this team,” García told Variety. “Atresmedia has a great catalog that we want to continue showing to the world. The Atresmedia Series seal has proven to be a guarantee of quality and success both nationally and internationally.

Atresplayer Premium, the pay TV platform of Spanish media conglom Atresmedia Group, is dipping its toe into true-crime docuseries production with “Besos Marvin.”

Produced in-house by Atresplayer, the five-episode docuseries tells the story of Patrick Nogueira, a young murderer who shared his crime through WhatsApp with his 17-year-old best friend Marvin Enriques.

The events took place in the summer of 2016 in Pioz, a small town in the province of Guadalajara, in Spain’s Castille-La Mancha region.

When the bodies of a Brazilian couple, Marcos and Janaína, and their two young children, María Carolina and David, were found, a police investigation concluded that the murderer was Patrick, a 19-year-old nephew of the family, but the case took on a new dimension when it was discovered that on the night of the crime the young man talked via WhatsApp with his friend Marvin.

That chat circulated among the gang, a group of...

Spain’s Borja González Santaolalla, who co-penned Jaume Balagueró’s movie “Way Down,” and Ángel Agudo, a scribe on Atresmedia’s “Luimelia,” have boarded the family TV series project “Harrogate Detective Agency” as its director and co-scribe respectively.

Inspired by Agatha Christie novels, the TV series project has been created by C.J. Navas and Juan Galonce at Alicante-based outfit Fuera de Series Producciones.

“Harrogate” is a eight-episode, 25- minute series that narrates the summer mystery adventures of three little sisters at their widower grandfather’s house.

It features among five TV short-form series projects that will be pitched on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at Conecta Fiction, the international TV industry event whose fifth edition runs onsite in Pamplona Sept. 13-17. The event’s conference strand panels will also be available online.

Set in Cabezo de Oro, a town in Spain’s Valencia region, the series tells how the three sisters discover...

Last year’s release of the Atresplayer Premium pay TV platform involved stepping up Atresmedia’s bet on original TV content production, particularly in fiction series.

Part of its transformation process from traditional broadcasting group to a digital content producer, Atresplayer Premium is giving the group a new distribution window for Spain and the rest of the world.

With a remarkable presence in Spain and Latin America, Atresplayer Premium’s subscribers number has grown significantly from 140,000 at the end of last year to 253,000 in June.

“It’s clear that direct-to-consumer is the way to go. Atresplayer Premium will continue growing in 2021,” says María Rúa Aguete, executive director at research company Omdia.

“Atresplayer shows three different types of programming: Linear broadcasting of the group’s TV channels, previews of programs that will later release on free-to-air, and originals,” explains José Antonio Antón, director of programming, content and digital at Atresmedia.

With Atresplayer Premium,...