Talk about shaking things up. VH1 Replaces Production Companies for Basketball Wives + Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood.
Read on to find out what is going on with VH1 hit series Basketball Wives + Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, the word is Viacom has new shows in the works…
CelebNReality247.com has learned that two of VH1’s longest running franchises – Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood and Basketball Wives are losing their original production companies.
When it comes to Love & Hip Hop Hollywood, Viacom-owned cable network has removed Eastern TV. As for, Basketball Wives, they just lost Shed Media USA.
According to Deadline, Viacom is replacing them with other production outfits as it looks to take these shows in a new direction.
Basketball Wives, which follows the wives of NBA stars including Shaunie O’Neal, who created the show and was married to Shaquille O’Neal. It has run to over 150 episodes on VH1 across the original series and an LA-based spin-off. It is thought that VH1 hopes the move to revitalize the format will lead to further spin-offs. Shed Media, however, will remain to continue to receive an exec producer credit on the show and will have its production company logo on the show going forward.
Meanwhile, Eastern TV, which is run by CEO Toby Barraud and President Stefan Springman, will no longer be involved in producing Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood but will still be responsible for producing Love & Hip Hop: New York, Love & Hip Hop: Miami and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.
The franchise, which has over 300 episodes, has been one of the network’s biggest hits, helping make it the number one non-sports cable network on Monday primetime and with four of the top five unscripted spots in 2018. Mona Scott-Young and her company Monami Entertainment will remain on all versions of the franchise.
VH1 has already invited new producers to come and pitch for these shows as it looks to take them in a new direction.
We have heard that the changeup has nothing to do with the launch of the new MTV Studios.
The nascent production unit was officially launched earlier this summer with MTV President Chris McCarthy and head of programming Nina L. Diaz. Last week, it scored a deal with Facebook to reboot The Real World with Bunim-Murray and is in talks on a number of other titles.
