Web Therapy is moving online homes.
The digital series is transferring from L Studio, an online hub created by Lexus, to YouTube network StyleHaul for its fifth season. StyleHaul, which focuses on women’s fashion and beauty content, will also make previous Web Therapy seasons available to watch on YouTube and the StyleHaul website. FremantleMedia, which has a multiyear development deal with StyleHaul, will handle the international distribution.
“Web Therapy has had proven success with an online audience and has had a terrific, wildly successful television experience,” StyleHaul CEO Stephanie Horbaczewski tells THR. “It’s a privilege to work with Fremantle and Showtime on it.”
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Web Therapy, from Kudrow and producing partners Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal) and Don Roos, stars Kudrow as Fiona Wallice, a therapist who conducts her sessions via web chat. Showtime began airing an extended version of the series, made up of multiple digital episodes and new content, in 2011. The cable series returns for a fourth season on Oct. 22.
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“Lisa, Don and I are thrilled to continue our tradition of a multiplatform approach to our passion project, Web Therapy, with a new partnership with StyleHaul,” Bucatinsky said in a statement. “We love how this new home … will mean exposing the series to a whole new audience.”
The acquisition is part of StyleHaul’s expansion into original content, which chief content officer Mia Goldwyn has spearheaded since joining the company in April from Paramount. The network’s first original production was The Crew, a 10-episode entertainment talk show developed with FremantleMedia.
Goldwyn says she will look to add additional original programming to StyleHaul over the next few months using a “three-pronged approach” that includes premium scripted series, projects involving StyleHaul’s network of 4,200 creators and branded content.
The StyleHaul YouTube network has more than 140 million total subscribers, and the company is looking to leverage that fan base for the upcoming Web Therapy season. Caspar Lee, a YouTube star with more than 2.4 million subscribers and one of the hosts of The Crew, will guest-star on an upcoming episode of Web Therapy.
Goldwyn says the integration with one of StyleHaul’s biggest talents creates “a uniquely different value proposition for our audience.”
Horbaczewski adds that although Web Therapy isn’t a show about fashion or beauty, it’s still a good fit with StyleHaul’s predominantly female audience.
“There isn’t actually a lot of longform content about fashion and beauty,” she says. “It would be very narrow for us to only look at those types of programs. We’re really looking for programming for this community.”
Watch the trailer for the upcoming season here:
