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A British version of American comedy Saturday Night Live should be made in the United Kingdom for the first time under the plans that translate between the Sky diffuser and the American media group NBC.
Sky UK leaders will bring British distribution for the popular series, several people close to talks, who have recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in the United States, said.
The broadcaster confirmed the plans on Thursday, saying that SNL UK “will follow the same live and fast style which made the program a cultural phenomenon with emblematic hosts, musical guests and a basic cast of the driest British comedians”.
Sky is looking for more sureness for the United Kingdom to help compensate for the impact of the end of its exclusive agreement to show HBO programming, the network belonging to the discovery of Warner Bros, which ends next year.
Sky has concluded new offers to display HBO series such as Succession And The white lotus In the United Kingdom via the Warner streaming service, Max, which will be included in a Sky subscription at no additional cost. However, these emissions will also be offered directly to consumers on max and in commercial terms to compete with platforms.
A British version of Saturday Night LiveCreated by television producer Lorne Michaels in 1975, is rumor said for many years but has never been agreed. In the 1980s, a series entitled Live Saturday was broadcast on Channel 4, then on ITV in the 1990s. Although he was attached to the American show – helping to build the careers of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Rik Mayall, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie – There was no official link.
Media leaders consider the United Kingdom as a natural adjustment for Saturday Night Live Since it has a market established for current comedy shows and the comedy standing.
The creator of SNL Michaels is expected to be an executive producer for Saturday Night Live UK, in addition to continuing to produce SNL on NBC in the United States.
The agreement is the last sign of an increasingly close relationship between Sky and its American parent Comcast, the conglomerate of the media which also has NBC, which broadcasts the program in the United States.
Comcast acquired Sky in 2018 for around 30 billion pounds Sterling, but faced questions about the agreement in the years that followed, the British broadcaster was locked in a battle for viewers with Netflix and other American streaming services. Comcast took a stay of $ 8.6 billion on Sky in 2022, which he blamed for the “difficult economic environment” in Europe.
However, Sky worked closer to the commissioning and production of emissions with studios belonging to Comcast.
Last year, the British broadcaster ordered and co -produced THE Jackal dayThe British television series of spying thriller based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, with the Nbcuniversal streaming service, Peacock. It has become the launch of the original the most watched theater for the two broadcasters.
Sky and Peacock have also joined Lockerbie: A search for truth and Universal Pictures belonging to Comcast also holds the rights of WickedA musical that has been transformed into a film filmed in Sky studios in Elstree.
Apart from the broadcasting, Sky and Comcast collaborate on the development of the technology used in smart televisions.
