After a bidding war, John Krasinski’s Some Good News, the feel-good web series is licensed to ViacomCBS.
CBS All Access, which will be rebranded this summer with more originals from across the ViacomCBS portfolio, will have the first window for the new episodes before they move to a number of the company’s networks.
While Krasinski will continue to be involved as an executive producer, he will not host the new episodes. A new host will be named at a later date, though Krasinski will have an on-air presence. It’s yet to be determined which of the ViacomCBS platforms will have the second window for new SGN episodes and whether the broadcast network will be involved. In addition to the new episodes, other shortform content that will live within the ViacomCBS fold will also be produced.
“I Could not be more excited and proud to be partnering with CBS/Viacom to be able to bring Some Good News to so many more people!” Krasinski said in a statement. “From the first episode, our goal was to create a news show dedicated entirely to good news. Never did I expect to be joining the ranks of such a historic news organization as CBS.”
CBS Entertainment Group president George Cheeks was instrumental in bringing Krasinski and SGN to the company. Cheeks, who previously spent decades at NBCUniversal, took over for Joe Ianniello in late March. This is believed to be one of his first major deals. The series will be produced in-house via Comedy Central Productions as the conglomerate will also have an ownership stake in SGN.
“Comedy Central Productions is excited to partner with John and bring his beloved Some Good News to audiences around the world through ViacomCBS’ family of brands,” said Chris McCarthy, Entertainment & Youth Group president.
During its run on YouTube, Krasinski self-financed and self-produced the weekly SGN episodes designed to spread, as its title indicates, some good news to audiences who are staying at home amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
