FremantleMedia Forms First-Look Deal With Random House

Will develop scripted programming based on Random House's books

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/25/2012 12:07:57 PM

FremantleMedia and Random House have agreed to a new partnership that will have FremantleMedia develop scripted programming based on the trade-book publisher's stable of fiction and nonfiction books.

The first-look deal with be housed under Random House Television, the newly created TV arm of Random House Studio, which will be run be Jeffrey Levine. Levine will be based in FremantleMedia's Los Angeles offices, and will report to Peter Gethers, president of Random House Studio.

David Ellender, global CEO of FremantleMedia Enterprises, said, "This is a hugely exciting coming together of two companies in the Bertelsmann family. As one of the world's most successful book publishers with a global roster of admired authors, Random House is the perfect partner for FremantleMedia as we continue to develop and expand our slate of world-class scripted content for international audiences. We warmly welcome Peter, Jeff and the entire Random House Television team, and look forward to working with them to develop high-quality television projects with wide appeal."

FremantleMedia and Random House are both companies of Bertelsmann AG.