Sky has acquired a 70 per cent stake in Love Productions, one of the UK's leading independent production companies. The investment forms part of Sky's strategy to grow a broad, international content business spanning broadcasting, production and distribution. 

Love Productions is a UK-based independent production company. Founded in October 2004 by Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie, Love Productions specialises in thought-provoking, entertaining television for the UK and international markets.  It has production bases in London, Bristol, New York and Los Angeles.

Love Productions has a proven track record of producing award-winning, ground-breaking programmes across a range of genres.  This includes hit formats such as Great British Bake-off and Great British Sewing Bee and agenda-setting documentaries such as Baby Borrowers, Famous Rich and Homeless, Benefits Street, Make Bradford British and My Last Summer. 

Love Productions will continue to operate as a distinct company under its new ownership structure. This means it will carry on producing programmes for all the major UK broadcasters, as well as creating new programmes and formats for sale around the world. Richard and Anna will continue to run the company with the current senior management team.

Sky's international distribution business, Sky Vision, will become Love Productions' distribution partner, representing all new finished programmes and formats and leveraging its relationships with leading networks and producers across the world.   Love Productions' current agreements with other broadcasters and distributors will remain unchanged.

Sky works with leading global content businesses in a range of different ways to drive growth in international content distribution and develop more high-quality programmes for its UK & Ireland customers. Sky Vision deals extensively with independent producers, sourcing programming for distribution, largely from the UK and US. It has development deals with a number of production companies including Ugly Brother Studios in the US; and in the UK with back2back productions and Roughcut TV. The investment in Love Productions is part of this strategy to grow a broad, international content business. 

Sophie Turner Laing, Managing Director, Content, Sky said: "This is a significant step for our growing international content business. Love is one of the UK's most innovative and creative independent producers with a track record of success across a range of genres, both in the UK and globally. Led by Richard and Anna, Love has a hugely talented team with exciting plans for the future. We are really looking forward to supporting them as they build on their relationships with different broadcasters throughout the industry and helping them to grow the business".

Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie, Joint Chief Creative Officers, Love Productions, said:
"We are extremely excited by the prospect of a partnership with Sky. We feel it's the perfect time to be working with a group who can help us realise our creative and commercial potential and fulfil all of our international ambitions for the Love brand. Love has always sought to be a pioneering company, launching new ideas and breaking new ground. Sky feels like a company of the future, full of dynamic and extremely creative leaders who will back our independent spirit and are keen to support all our future ambitions."

-ENDS-


For more information:
Sky
Robin Tozer
robin.tozer@bskyb.com
0207 032 0620

Biogs:

Richard McKerrow - Chief Executive and Joint Chief Creative Officer:
Richard McKerrow set up Love Productions in October 2004. He has conceived and executive produced many of Love Productions' critically acclaimed factual series and formats including the award-winning series The Baby Borrowers, Young Mums Mansion and Britain's Missing Top Model; the Famous Rich brand, Tower Block of Commons, Kidnapped By The Kids, The Great British Bake-Off, Girls Hit South Africa, Young Autistic and Stagestruck and more recently Benefits Street, Make Bradford British and My Last Summer.

The shows and formats have sold around Europe and the world and Richard executive produced an American version of The Baby Borrowers for NBC and The American Baking Competition for CBS.

His television career and the output he has created over 20 years was recently the focus of the prestigious Channel 4 interview at the Sheffield Documentary Film festival.  

Richard McKerrow began his career as a print journalist for The Nation magazine in New York. He also worked for Yorkshire Television in their Documentaries and Current Affairs department as a producer/director before joining Channel 4 in 1997 as a Commissioning Editor for Education. Before he started Love Productions, he was Creative Director and Managing Director of Maverick Television (2002-2004).

Anna Beattie - Joint Chief Creative Officer:
Anna Beattie is joint creative head of Love, with particular responsibility for Features. Together with Richard, she has devised and developed most of the company's series, more recently Executive Producing The Great British Bake Off, The Great British Sewing Bee and For the Love of Cars.

Anna Beattie began her career as a runner at LWT, before joining BBC Manchester's Youth department. In 1998 joined Channel 4's Features commissioning department. She was responsible for the first series of Grand Designs and Location, Location, Location and the highest rating series of Deals on Wheels and Driven, as well as archive singles. At Maverick Television she devised the C4 format Ten Years Younger and competition format Bollywood Star. She set up Love Productions with Richard in October 2004

About Sky:
Sky is the UK and Ireland's leading home entertainment and communications company.  Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services. 

Sky is the UK's biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.5 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News.   Around two-thirds of Sky's content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes.  More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week. Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi.

Sky employs 24,000 people, has annual revenues of £7.2 billion and is estimated to support a £5.9 billion contribution to UK GDP.  Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY). www.sky.com/corporate

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