EXCLUSIVE: Damian Lewis' spy documentary series is heading to the Smithsonian Channel. The network, which is a joint venture between CBS Corporation's Showtime and the Smithsonian Institute, is on the brink of closing a deal for Damian Lewis: Spy Wars (w/t). Deadline understands that top brass are keen to keep the…

UPDATED with AT&T’s response. Another cable network group is facing a potential blackout on AT&T platforms, including DirecTV. A month after Viacom was able to hammer out a new carriage agreement with AT&T after very tough negotiations, averting a blackout, A+E Networks find itself in a similar position. In an…

Wrestling legends “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Booker T, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels will be profiled in five two-hour documentaries under A&E Network’s Biography banner as part of a deal with WWE Studios. The iconic WWE superstars will be profiled with new and archival interviews and…

President George W. Bush opened the A+E Networks upfront in New York with an elaborate plug for upper-case History (the network) and lower-case history (the discipline). The 43rd U.S. president never mentioned President Donald Trump by name. But he critiqued “America first policies” and treatment of immigrants. He…

A&E Network has set a four-part special on Garth Brooks under the umbrella of its mainstay Biography franchise and also greenlighted competition series Top Dog, a canine showcase from the team behind Live PD. Garth: The Road I'm On (working title) is slated to air in the fourth quarter of this year. It will highlight…

As part of A+E Networks’ suite of upfront announcements, History said it is teaming with Sylvester Stallone to develop the drama series The Tenderloin (working title). The show comes from A+E Studios in association with Balboa Productions. Stallone, who has seen a career resurgence in recent years thanks to the Creed…

History has green-lit nonfiction series The UnXplained (working title), which is hosted and executive produced by William Shatner. It has also slated new docudramas about George Washington and food, and brought back In Search Of and Evel Live for second go-rounds. The announcements were made during the A+E Networks…

EXCLUSIVE: A+E Networks has promoted UK executive Dan Korn to oversee its free-to-air channel Blaze as the U.S. cable giant eyes international expansion for the brand. Korn joined A+E as Vice President of Programming in October 2016. He will now assume the role of head of Blaze in addition to this role and will…

Channel 4 has ordered a UK version of Ghost, a moving documentary format where terminally ill people deliver a message to their families from beyond the grave. The series is based on the A+E Networks format Voices From the Grave that is in development for A&E by Simon Andreae's Naked TV. The British broadcaster has…

A+E Networks is teaming with Los Angeles-based PPI Releasing for the U.S. syndication launch of its Emmy-winning reality series Intervention. One-hundred-seventy-five episodes of the series will be launched into syndication at NATPE 2019 in Miami for the U.S. 2019-2020 broadcast season. The deal was announced Monday…

Pay-TV broadcasters in the UK, including Sky and UKTV, have spent more than £1B (US$1.3B) on original, homegrown content for the first time. A report from the Commercial Broadcasters Association (COBA) highlighted that multichannel broadcasters invested £1.1B in in UK production in 2017, the first time that the sector…

A+E Networks has promoted Steve Ascher to Senior Vice President, Production & Development of A+E Originals, from his VP role. Ascher launched A+E Originals just over a year ago. The full-service unscripted content creation company produces premium unscripted series, specials and documentaries across the A+E Networks…