Viacom Partners With Facebook, Shows Include ‘Geordie Shore’ Spin-Offs

Viacom’s digital content studio is partnering with Facebook to make a slew of Watch shows internationally, including spin-offs of MTV brand Geordie Shore.

Viacom Digital Studios International, the global arm of Viacom Digital Studios, will make short-form Facebook Watch shows in the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Asia and the Americas under the deal.

It is part of Facebook’s collaborations with digital publishers, through which it is matching them up with Facebook influencers to create shows for Watch, the social media giant’s video-first destination.

In Europe, Viacom Digital Studios International will make spin-offs of MTV UK shows for Watch. In Geordie More and Geordie OGs, members of the Geordie Shore cast will reflect on the most recent episode with special guests. The shows launch on Tuesday.

Facebook is also lining up a Watch show based on MTV reality format True Love or True Lies?, titled More Love and More Lies. It will feature the winning couple from the first season reflecting on their victory and looking ahead to the new series.

Just Tattoo of Us is the other brand to get the Facebook treatment, with JTOU: What Was I Inking? (working title). It will launch on November 18.

All three Watch shows, which will consist of 10-minute episodes, will be localized into multiple European languages including for Germany, Spain and France.

Viacom Digital Studios International is also making four shows for Facebook Watch in the Americas, including stand-up comedy series Portugal Realengo, featuring vlogger Rafael Portugal. Local indie Porta do Fundos is co-producing.

Viacom Digital Studios International will also make eight shows in Asia, through a partnership with MTV Asia. Four of the series will premiere later this year, while the remaining four will be developed in 2020. The first batch includes studio celebrity format 5 in 5 and Positive Inking, which explores Thailand’s vibrant tattoo culture.

Brendan Yam, senior vice president of Viacom Digital Studios International, said: “By partnering with Facebook, we are harnessing the power of our globally recognized brands and IP and leveraging local talent and production capabilities to drive engagement with digital-first audiences around the globe.”