Shows From Kevin Costner, Bradley Cooper, and Janet Jackson in the Works at A+E Networks, as Company Leans Into Talent Partnerships in Upfront Push

A+E Networks, the owner of cable brands like A&E, History Channel and Lifetime, is leaning into star power in its 2023 upfront push, touting more than 2,500 hours of programming, and a cadre of notable names both in front of and behind the camera.

“Our goal within this media evolution is to meet audiences wherever and however they consume content, by working with great worldwide storytellers to develop and execute their vision,” A+E Networks CEO Paul Buccieri said in a statement. “Over the last four years, we have been on a journey to expand our production capabilities in both scripted and factual, and we’ve established key relationships in the talent management space as well as continued creating compelling content across our brands to further meet the needs of our valued partners and viewers.” 

In fact, those relationships have become a critical piece of the company’s own evolution.

“One of the things that we’ve quietly — or not-so-quietly — done is, we have these investments stakes now in Range Media Partners and Propagate … so we have access via those investments to like 3,000 individual talent behind of and in front of the camera,” A+E president of ad sales Peter Olsen tells The Hollywood Reporter. The company is now “trying to put those investments into action and then [figure] what it means for us as a producer and maybe what it means to us longer term with our marketing partners, because we think we can bring talent to the table in those discussions as well.”

Among the shows on the company’s 2023 slate are Kevin Costner’s The West for History, which the Yellowstone star will both host and executive produce (historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is also EP’ing). The eight-episode docuseries will “transcend the clichés and myths of the ‘Wild West’ to capture the diverse, complex characters and untold stories that defined the era and continue to shape our country today,” per the company.

And Kearns Goodwin will also EP alongside Bradley Cooper a series called FDR, profiling America’s 32nd president, while Morgan Freeman produces and appears in Black Patriots: The 761st Battalion, about the first Black tank unit to serve in World War II.

Other History projects include a docuseries about the New York mafia called Five Families, EP’ed by Michael Imperioli of The Sopranos, and The Unbelievable With Dan Aykroyd. And in 2023 the company will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. in 2026.

At A&E, Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer will star in Kings of BBQ, about the duo trying to build a BBQ product empire, and an expansion of the Biography franchise to focus on legends of hard rock like Bret Michaels and Alice Cooper.

At Lifetime, there is a follow-up planned to last year’s Janet Jackson doc called Janet Jackson: Family First, following her reunion with the Jacksons and a new tour. There is also a TLC documentary in the works that will see T-Boz and Chilli telling the story of the group in their own words.

The company also announced a deal with Keyshia Cole to star in a biopic about her own life and Kelly Rowland returning for another installment of the Liddles franchise.

On the food programming front, the company is also planning shows with talent like Rachael Ray and “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro.

A+E, which counts The Walt Disney Co. and Hearst as joint owners, does not have a subscription streaming service of its own (it does operate some branded FAST streaming offerings), and has leaned into its role as a content arms dealer. It programs its own channels, but also sells content to other streaming services and TV networks.

Olsen says that the current fractured media landscape, combined with an uncertain macroeconomic environment, is making for an unusual upfront.

“I’ve been in this business thirtysomething years. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a time where there was less unanimity on what’s the right move, and where things are going,” he says of conversations with marketing partners. “It is a very kind of bespoke, ‘you tell us your challenge and we’ll try to solve it’ because there is absolutely zero consensus on most of the major topics, and that’s, I think, to be expected during this time of huge change.”

Olsen says that in conversations with marketers, he is emphasizing that “there is a way to partner with us and reach more people across all these various touchpoints” and that he hopes they “value everyone we reach and understand that, you know, we’re doing our best to keep getting our content in as many places as possible. And ultimately, that’s kind of good for the ecosystem, if you think about it.”

Olsen says that when looking at the ad-supported streaming landscape over the last few years, “I think it’s probably been more overpromise and underdeliver than vice versa.”

“So we are trying to kind of get across the message that you can change along with traditional partners. We’re all changing, you don’t have to leap to all the new entrants per se,” he adds. “So I think there’s a little bit of a recognition of steady customer service mindset partners like ourselves. it’s hard to make good television content. It’s hard to put it out in a way that’s ad-supported. It sounds like an easy thing to do, but it’s not.”

The company is betting that flooding the zone with star-driven content on TV, streaming and podcasts can help it navigate choppy waters for the entertainment business.