Sky Deutschland is stepping back from original scripted programming from next year, in a move which will see the dissolution of its drama commissioning team.
A memo sent to staff by Devesh Raj, chief executive of Sky’s DACH (Germany, Austria & Switzerland) territories, outlined that Sky Deutschland will cease to produce any new scripted Sky original series from 2024.
Sky Deutschland will proceed with scripted titles currently in production and post-production, with those in development or pre-production placed into “turnaround”, Screen understands.
Series unaffected by the announcement include post-apocalyptic Helgoland 513, Public Affairs, World War II epic Das Boot S4, and Die Wespe (The Wasp) S3. High-profile titles such as four-series period crime drama Babylon Berlin will not return, while supernatural crime Der Pass (aka The Pass or Pagan Peak) was always set to end after its third series.
Recently announced titles which will not be moving forward at Sky include Frankenstein Untold, a reimagination of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel, historical drama Huntsville AL, and cooking-focused family drama Garten Eden and hospital-set dark comedy Krank Berlin.
The Sky Deutschland scripted team, which includes vice-president of scripted Tobias Rosen, director of development Frank Jastfelder, and recent additions senior exec producer Julia Rappold and exec producer Stella Flicker, will be remaining with the business to see their respective shows through. It is understood there will be a phased departure over the coming months, with the team ultimately disbanded by the end of the year.
Raj said the reasons behind the decision were focused on “building a sustainable business in DACH” and cited the rise in expense for making scripted programming aligned with shifts in priorities for Sky’s business and audience behaviour and tastes.
“Since we pushed into this space, the entertainment industry, content landscape and viewer behaviour have rapidly evolved – as has Sky’s business,” he wrote. “Also, during this time, the cost of producing scripted content has continued to rise, in part driven by the emergence of myriad new streaming providers, making it harder for drama series to cut through.
“As we continue to focus on building a sustainable business in DACH, we have to make tough choices on where to spend our investment to ensure we provide value to the business, and our customers.
“As Europe’s leading direct-to-consumer media and entertainment company, we know our customers well. Though we remain incredibly proud of our scripted Sky originals to date, we are also confident that as the best provider of premium, acquired content, an unmissable range of sports and all the best entertainment apps, aggregated into one industry-leading platform – Sky Q – together with our streaming service WOW we are well positioned.”
Sky Deutschland has been in the original scripted game since 2015 with major international titles including 20th-Century-set dramas Babylon Berlin and Das Boot and recent German-English-language series Munich Games.
A spokesperson for Sky Deutschland reiterated what Raj said in his memo and added: “We’d like to thank all our partners and colleagues for their significant contribution to producing Sky originals over the past few years.”
Variety first reported the story.
ARD, Beta Film and partners reaffirm commitment to Babylon Berlin
In light of Sky’s news today, Beta Film, ARD Degeto, and X-Filme - the other broadcast and production partners on Babylon Berlin - have reaffirmed their commitment to a fifth series of the drama.
A spokeswoman said: “ARD Degeto, X Filme, and Beta Film commission the development of the fifth season of the international hit-series Babylon Berlin.
“The 40-hour series, sold by Beta to more than 140 territories, has celebrated a sweeping success all over the world with more than 55 million digital views on Germany’s ARD mediathek alone. The fourth season will be broadcast on ARD this fall.”
This story was first published by Screen’s sister title Broadcast
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