The New York Post has launched a new entertainment division focused on scripted and unscripted television.
Veteran TV producer Troy Searer has joined the news organization as president of New York Post Entertainment. He will oversee efforts to develop projects for cable, streaming, broadcast and emerging platforms, tapping into the Post’s store of intellectual property and its newsroom resources.
“It’s a real opportunity,” Jesse Angelo, CEO and publisher of the Post, told Variety. “There is so much hunger for original television content for differentiated IP, for storytellers that have voice, and we have those things. We were able to show some success with ‘Page Six TV’ and show that we could swim in these waters, and we wanted to take it to the next level. We have a couple other deals in development, a couple other projects that we’re working on, and I just realized the time had come to get somebody to head up these efforts out of Los Angeles and take it to the next level.”
The launch of New York Post Entertainment follows the successful premiere last year of Endemol Shine North America’s “Page Six TV,” based on the Post’s signature gossip section. Hosted by Bevy Smith, Variety‘s Elizabeth Wagmeister, and the Post’s Carlos Greer, the entertainment-news program was renewed in January for a second season.
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New York Post Entertainment will look to expand the news organization’s television reach beyond the syndicated daytime space.
“We are focused on scripted and unscripted,” Angelo said. “There’s 200 years of New York history to tell on the scripted side. In unscripted, there’s an entire spectrum of documentaries, docu-series, and docu-soaps.”
Searer has produced series for A+E, VH1 and TLC through his own production company, Tijuana Entertainment. He most recently served as executive producer for Discovery’s “Manhunt: Unabomber” and is exec producing DiscoveryID’s “Betrayed.” Searer will work closely with with Warren Cohen, the Post’s New York-based vice president of video.
