This fall, Endemol Shine North Americain partnership with the Fox Television Stations will launch Page Six TV nationwide, aftertesting the magazine in a three-week preview last summer.
It’s the second syndicated effort by ESNA after the company produced The Steve Harvey Show, which was distributed by NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution out of WMAQ’s studios in Chicago. This fall, Harvey will move to Los Angeles to launch a new, celebrity-focused talk show to be produced by WME/IMG. Still, the Harvey experience has given ESNA perspective on the syndication marketplace.
“It’s a business that has been run by the same people for a long time,” says Abrego. “Bringing a new and fresh perspective to this business has been an advantage for us. We look at it as a lot of opportunity.”
Page Six TV is branded to the New York Post’s iconic gossip page, Page Six, which runs every day in the newspaper. The show will use some of its own talent—Carlos Greer, as well as editor Emily Smith and deputy editor Ian Mohr—and Page Six’s newsroom to break news and tell behind-the-scenes stories about the rich and famous, whether actors, athletes or people famous for being famous.
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“It will be very watercooler,” says Vivi Zigler, ESNA president, digital, brand and audience development. “It’s not just celebrities. It’s also any people that you might be talking about, anybody that everybody in the country is aware of.”
Other panelists include host John Fugelsang, Fashion Queens’ Bevy Smith and Variety’s Elizabeth Wagmeister. Actor and comedian Mario Cantone, who appeared during the three-week test, will be a frequent contributor, Zigler says.
So far, Page Six TV is sold to the Fox Television Stations, where it will air in news-adjacent time periods in double runs across the group. Further sales updates for the show are expected at the NATPE conference this week in Miami Beach, says Ken Lawson, Twentieth Television senior VP and general sales manager.
“It’s a fully synergistic project from the top down, including the New York Post, Page Six, Endemol Shine, Fox TV Stations and Twentieth,” says Lawson. “Page Six is a huge brand with a real opportunity to make an impact on television.”
