Zenith Productions
Founded | 1984 |
---|---|
Defunct | August 2006 |
Headquarters | United Kingdom |
Products | Motion pictures, television production |
Zenith Productions (later Zenith Entertainment) was a British independent film and television production company. Zenith created content for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and UKTV, including a number of series such as Inspector Morse for ITV and Byker Grove and Hamish Macbeth for the BBC.[1] Through its subsidiary Blaze Television, Zenith produced the Saturday morning series SMTV Live and CD:UK for ITV featuring Ant & Dec. The company ceased trading in 2006.[1]
History
Zenith was established in 1984 as a subsidiary of
Ahead of an IBA directive that 25% of ITV programming would have to be provided by independents, Zenith was sold by Central to Carlton Communications in October 1987 for £6.3 million.[8] Zenith announced that they would planning on to become a separate independent production company, producing projects for not just Central, but for other networks and ITV franchisees, like Channel 4, while the British government is requiring the 16 ITV companies and BBC to commission an increasing quantity of independently produced material from outside suppliers.[9] Carlton sold a 49% stake to Paramount Pictures in 1989.[10][11] Carlton had also bought the game-show specialist Action Time, which it folded into Zenith as a separate division, although the two units continued to maintain separate identities.[12]
New productions included the series
1993–2006
Carlton took on the ITV London franchise in 1993 and was compelled to divest Zenith.[13] The profitable game-show subsidiary Action Time was sold to its management, with Carlton and Paramount each retaining a 15% holding. (The company was later re-acquired by Carlton in 2003, after rules on ITV production had changed).[12] The drama side of Zenith was more of a challenge, but eventually found a buyer in Portman Entertainment, headed by Victor Glynn. The company was initially merged with Portman's existing production arm, but was separated the next year.[14] Charles Denton left the company with the change of ownership;[15] Ivan Rendall, producer of Byker Grove, subsequently took over as managing director.
Drama series produced by the company included the
In 1998 Zenith merged with a city-backed investment and rights-ownership group, Television Enterprise & Asset Management (Team), and renamed itself Zenith Entertainment.[14][16] By 2000, with the continuing success of Byker Grove, SMTV Live and CD:UK, the company was producing 300 hours of television a year,[17] and was almost sold to United News & Media for £27 million. Instead, in 2003 the company was bought out by its management for somewhat less than £10 million.[18]
New Zenith programmes in this period included Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001) and 55 Degrees North (2004) for the BBC, the reality game show The Enemy Within (2002) for the BBC, and children's programmes The Ghost Hunter (2000) for BBC and the animated King Arthur's Disasters (2005) for ITV.
However, the company received a fatal double blow in 2006, when the
2016
In 2016, the rights to the Zenith Entertainment library were purchased by Simply Media TV. Additionally, it was reported in certain UK tabloids, that duo "Ant and Dec" had bought the outright IP rights for the entire run of Byker Grove, and SMTV Live - which they were both famous for.
References
- ^ a b c d e f
Jason Deans, End of the line for Zenith?, The Guardian, 30 August 2006
Jason Deans, Zenith goes into administration, The Guardian, 30 August 2006 - ^ Peter Fiddick, "Zenith and the art of film-making", The Guardian, 5 October 1984. From The Guardian archive, 1959–2003.
- ^ "British Central TV Aiming at U.S. Market with Prod Subsid". Variety. 4 April 1984. p. 68.
- ^ Madam Cyn rides again for Zenith. Dickson, Andrew The Observer P25; 26 July 1987;
- ^ "Zenith And Huston To Team On 'Dead'". Variety. 17 December 1986. p. 7.
- ^ Grantham, Bill (9 July 1986). "Zenith Prepping Pair Of Pictures With U.S. Backing; Rolling Soon". Variety. p. 7.
- ^ "Atlantic Entertainment Cements 3-Pic, $20-Mil Zenith Coventure". Variety. 4 November 1987. p. 27.
- ^ BFI Film and Television Yearbook, 1988
Duncan J. Petrie, Creativity and constraint in the British film industry, Macmillan, 1991; page 93 - ^ Guider, Elizabeth (7 October 1987). "British Zenith, Sold For $10-Mil To Operate Independently, Up Sales". Variety. p. 80.
- ^ Paramount's Zenith stake. by Lisa Buckingham The Guardian; 17 November 1989;
- ^ History of Carlton Communications, 1983–2002, Investis
- ^ a b Albert Moran and Justin Malbon, Understanding the global TV format, Intellect Books, 2006; p. 86
- Independent on Sunday, 21 February 1993
- ^ better source needed]
- ^ Biography of Charles Denton Esq., Debrett's People of Today online
- Broadcast magazine, 1998
- Broadcast magazine, 23 March 2001
- Broadcast magazine, 27 March 2003
- ^ Gordon Barr, Fond farewell to Byker Grove Archived 11 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Evening Chronicle, 11 May 2006
- ^ Jonathan Webdale, Zenith in talks over merger or sale, C21 Media, 21 June 2006
External links
- Zenith Productions at the better source needed]
- Zenith Entertainment at the better source needed]