"There was a gap in the market and no one was making these shows. "Merlin is a very global popular character who is English, like Harry Potter," he said. Silverman said that while Merlin - which has been licensed to 180 countries worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, France and Italy – was a "unique" case, he was open to other British shows.
MERLIN SEASON 6 CONFIRMED BBC SERIES
While British dramas, including Spooks and Doctor Who, have previously found American homes on cable channels such as BBC America and Sci Fi, it is almost unheard of for one of the big four US terrestrial networks to buy a UK series off the shelf, the last time being in 1978 when CBS broadcast The New Avengers. However, the snapping up of Merlin is being seen as a key milestone. Just last month, it was confirmed that Waterloo Road producer Shed Media would make Jerry Seinfeld's forthcoming new show for NBC, The Marriage Ref. The dominance of British content on NBC this summer is just the latest boost for British firms in the US.
MERLIN SEASON 6 CONFIRMED BBC TV
I really like a lot of the people who work in British TV and I have tremendous relationships with people in the UK market.
"I hired a Brit, Paul Telegdy, to work with us in some of these arenas and look at UK TV. It really does have a brilliant output creatively across everything from fashion to literature, to entertainment and theatre and ideas. "The UK is one of the most creative platforms in the world. "I have always had an interest in the global production business and UK production, and I have a particular affinity and connection with British TV," he told the Observer. Shine also happens to be the producer of Merlin. In February, he sold his production company Reveille to Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert, and her London-based production company Shine for a reported $200m. Silverman, a colourful and sometimes controversial figure who spent several years in London as a talent agent in the 1990s, helped bring British formats such as The Office, Survivor and Who Wants to be a Millionaire to US screens. The NBC schedule is being spearheaded by the Anglophile co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, Ben Silverman, who recently brought in a Briton, former BBC Worldwide executive Paul Telegdy, to head up the network's reality programming. Meanwhile, a fourth series of America's Got Talent, based on the UK format, kicks off on 23 June, hoping to pull in big numbers off the back of the huge coverage stateside of Britain's Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle. The network, home to shows including the US version of The Office and Heroes, will screen the series as part of a summer lineup that has a distinct British feel - currently airing is the American version of ITV's reality hit I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, while The Great American Road Trip, a new travel show from the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, will air in the next few weeks. The new telling of the Arthurian legend, starring newcomer Colin Morgan and featuring John Hurt as the voice of the Great Dragon, will air on NBC in a prime 8pm slot on Sundays from 21 June. The BBC1 drama series about the mythical wizard Merlin will make history this month when it becomes the first British drama to air on one of America's main television networks since The New Avengers more than 30 years ago.
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