Lionsgate launches a new alternative television division

Lionsgate is expanding in unscripted TV programming by launching Lionsgate Alternative Television, a new division which will combine the company’s unscripted brands under producer Craig Piligian, who was been appointed as the unit’s Managing Director.

The new division will combine the Pilgrim Media Group, Blackfin, Renegade, and Daisybeck Studios unscripted brands, as well as assets from Entertainment One, following Lionsgate’s acquisition of eOne at the end of last year for a purchase price of US$375 million.

The management team under Craig Piligian will be made up of executives like Pilgrim Media Group’s President and COO, Gretchen Stockdale; and Chief Current Officer and General Manager, Nicholas Caprio. Renegade’s leaders David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe will serve as Senior Executives on the management team.

“I am thrilled to announce Lionsgate Alternative Television’s extraordinary management team, comprised of the most influential non-scripted producers working in our industry today. In addition, our top-tier creative leadership team will supercharge our business, as Lionsgate becomes one of the largest independent unscripted production companies in the world,”  Piligian declared.

Among the unscripted franchises under the umbrella of the new division are: “Naked and Afraid,” “Street Outlaws,” “Wicked Tuna,” “The Yorkshire Vet,” “Ex on the Beach,” “Selling Sunset,” and “MILF Manor,” as well as limited series such as “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez” and “Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre.”

“The launch of Lionsgate Alternative Television marks another key milestone in the expansion of our global television footprint. As a major force in the non-scripted programming world, Craig is the perfect executive to take our unscripted operations to the next level,”  commented Kevin Beggs, Chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group and Chief Content Integration Officer.