Could famous tourist attractions such as the London Eye and Sea Life Aquarium get their own TV shows?
This is part of a plan that follows a new partnership between Brent Montgomery’s media company Wheelhouse and Merlin Entertainment.
Under the deal, announced on Thursday, Wheelhouse and Merlin will own various worlds in Merlin’s portfolio, including Alton Towers, Chessington’s World of Adventures and Warwick Castle, as well as the London Eye and Sea Life. We plan to develop an “original entertainment” program inspired by the attractions. The companies said the programming being developed “will span a wide range of genres, including reality, documentaries and game shows.”
Merlin owns more than 140 attractions in 23 countries, more landmarks than any other entertainment destination company. Meanwhile, Wheelhouse produces original series for Netflix, Hulu, and Max, as well as various cable and broadcast networks in the United States. Before launching Wheelhouse, Montgomery was CEO of ITV America, the company behind international hits such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Queer Eye,” and “Alone.”
“Currently, guests must visit us in person to enjoy the immersive experiences of our 140+ theme parks and attractions in 89 cities around the world, but our goal is to bring joy, create connections, and… “We had 62 million guests visit us in 2023,” said Merlin CEO Scott O’Neill. “Through creative innovation and storytelling, our partnership with Wheelhouse allows us to bring new dimensions to our stories, characters and IP on the world’s largest platform of television and entertainment programming. , who understand and love our brand as much as we do. Our partnership helps us create entertaining TV shows that highlight iconic landmarks from our diverse experiences. .”
Glenn Hugill (Deal or No Deal, The Mole), Wheelhouse’s chief content officer and president of the company’s UK division, will drive and oversee Wheelhouse-Merlin’s direction.
“We are thrilled to be developing new programming around Merlin’s world-famous and iconic attractions and are keen to deploy the full creative and business capabilities of Wheelhouse in this partnership. ,” Montgomery said. “This is what we built his Wheelhouse for, and the possibilities with Merlin are endless. We’re excited to get to work.”