It was a festive evening at the E! Upfront press party at the Dream Hotel penthouse in New York city. As guests nibbled on veggie tacos and drank Veuve Cliquot Champagne, E! Entertainment President Suzanne Kolb presented the new slate. The show she was most excited About? “The Royals,” she told Cynopsis. “It’s scripted, which really expands our universe.”
E!’s pop culture-packed upfront slate included a Kardashian spin-off, the net’s first original series and more Rich Kids (and adults). The net boasted over 790 original programming hours in 2015, an increase of 14 percent versus 2014, and a record-breaking digital property, Eonline. “Across every platform, E! is more topical, trendsetting and up-to-the-minute than any other destination,” said Suzanne Kolb,
Among the highlights…
New reality series Escape Club sets twentysomethings in an exotic resort, while Botched depicts attempts to right plastic surgery gone horribly wrong. The net’s first original scripted series, The Royals, arrives in early 2015.
A raft of new specials includes Ryan Seacrest: Biggest Moments on the Radio (wt), premiering Wednesday, April 23 at 8p. Three half-hour Worst Thing I Ever specials, launching Wednesday, April 2 at 8p, count down disastrous celebrity decisions and 90-minute docu-event Men of the Strip follows the making of an all-male revue.
Among returning series, the latest Kardashian franchise entry is Kourtney & Khloe Take the Hamptons, with the sisters opening a pop-up store on the South Fork, launching this fall. Mother ship Keeping Up With the Kardashians premieres Sunday, June 8 while #RichKids of Beverly Hills gets a sophomore run in August 2014, as well as a spin-off in development, set in the Big Apple.
Thirteen other projects are also in development, including mini-series Gucci, based on an upcoming book by Patricia Gucci; DVF, a docu-series about fashion icon Diane Von Furstenberg; Lance Bass Wedding, a special chronicling the former boy-bander’s nups and reality show Pretty Young Things, following the drama of models in Manhattan.
“E!’s audience of trendsetters and super consumers are highly social and influential about their purchasing decisions with their friends, followers and family,” said Laura Molen, EVP, lifestyle advertising sales group, NBCUniversal. “We’re excited about enhancing our comprehensive 360 advertising initiatives by E!’s new programming schedule and the opportunity for advertisers to have our audience work hard for their brands.”
