BBC Studios, the commercial arm of U.K. public broadcaster BBC, has acquired Voltage TV, an unscripted production banner whose credits include Inside the Factory for BBC Two, DNA Journey for ITV and The British Tribe Next Door for Channel 4.
The company is also currently in production on documentary series The Fake Sheikh for Amazon Prime and is also “involved in its first scripted project with a feature film in development with Lighthouse Film and TV about Prince Andrew’s infamous Newsnight interview.”
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The BBC’s main commercial arm has a long-standing relationship with Voltage TV, founded in 2013 by Sanjay Singhal and Steve Nam.
“The indie has produced a number of high-impact and returning factual series for all the main U.K. broadcasters – and is in production with streamers, including Netflix and Amazon Prime,” BBC Studios said. “The deal, which is the first of its kind to go straight to 100 percent, signifies renewed investment in unscripted indies by BBC Studios which will complement BBC Studios Productions’ award-winning factual and factual entertainment production brands, such as The Natural History Unit, Events Production, Factual Entertainment Productions, The Documentary Unit and The Science Unit.”
Said Ralph Lee, CEO of BBC Studios Productions: “We’ve admired Voltage for a long time, which is why when the opportunity arose we moved quickly to acquire the business outright. The breadth and quality of their slate is a perfect complement to BBC Studios Productions factual entertainment and factual brands.”
Said Singhal: “I started at the BBC as a trainee exactly 30 years ago. Then, it was producing programs that were world-beating – and it still is. I’m delighted that Voltage has found a home in an organization that champions risk-taking and shares the huge creative ambition we have in the coming years.”
Added Nam: “When BBC Studios approached us, it just felt a natural fit, and I’m a firm believer in gut instinct. Our distribution relationship with BBC Studios dates back to the launch of Voltage and we look forward to continuing to flourish through their impressive global reach.”
As part of the deal, BBC Studios agreed to buy out a minority stake in Voltage that Channel 4’s C4 Growth Fund has held since 2015.