E! ENTERTAINMENT EXTENDS "THE SOUP" HOST JOEL MCHALE THROUGH 2016
Deal Extension Includes McHale Continuing as Host Of Emmy-Nominated Series and Network Retaining First Look Agreement With Comedian's Free Period Productions Company
Los Angeles, CA - October 30, 2014 - E! Entertainment announced today that "The Soup" host Joel McHale will continue to keep fans laughing over the best moments in pop culture with an extended agreement through 2016. The actor and comedian will remain at the helm of the Emmy-nominated live, comedy show, which has been on the air for over a decade. Additionally, McHale's production company, Free Period Productions, will continue its production development deal, in which he will give the network first look rights to ideas for non-scripted series.
"Whether he is entertaining the audience with the best worst of the week or offering up a fresh hit of pop culture on the production development front, McHale is a valued fixture at the network for both his industry know-how and comic relief," said Jeff Olde, EVP Original Programming and Development, E!. "On behalf of the network and fans of 'The Soup,' we can't help but smile as we look forward to more years of comedy with McHale.'"
"I'm thrilled to be working at E! for two more years hosting 'The Soup,'" said McHale. "Although I narrowly beat Mitt Romney out for the job in a number of states, I'm confident that I can keep up the same quality of humorous observation of shows like "Naked Dating" and "Bad Girls Club Season 12 Reunion Part 2" that the American people age 18-49 have come to expect and deserve. Thank you E!, Comcast Universal, and the entire Dallas Maverick organization."
Emmy-nominated "The Soup" is a weekly satirical look at reality television and all things pop culture, airing at 10 p.m.ET/PT Wednesdays on E! Equipped with his sharp wit, eye for bad reality television and ability to make every awkward TV moment hysterically epic, Joel McHale brings "The Soup" viewers the most outrageous clips from the boob-tube, complete with plenty of commentary of his own. Produced by Wilshire Studios, "The Soup" began airing LIVE this past summer and year to date, the series reaches nearly 9 million (8.7 MM) unique viewers each month and remains the networks most DVR'd show on the network, as half of its audience watches it time-shifted.
McHale is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham.
About E! Entertainment
E! is the only global, multiplatform brand for all things pop culture. The network is currently available to 98 million cable and satellite subscribers in the U.S. Eonline delivers breaking entertainment news and in-depth coverage on television, movies, music, celebrities, fashion, beauty and lifestyle. One of the fastest-growing, most influential digital properties, Eonline is a leader in online video and mobile and a leading entertainment brand across social. Popular E! programming includes core franchises, "E! News," "The Soup," "Fashion Police" and "True Hollywood Story," as well as the network's popular series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," "Total Divas," "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" and "Botched." Additionally, E!'s "Live from the Red Carpet" signature events keep fans connected to their favorite stars on pop culture's biggest nights. E! is a network of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience.
About Wilshire Studios
Wilshire Studios develops and produces engaging and innovative non-scripted, original programming across the media landscape for domestic and international distribution. For E! Entertainment, Wilshire produces E!'s signature "Live from the Red Carpet" series which provides in-depth coverage of Hollywood's biggest nights, plus the popular reality series "Giuliana and Bill" and "Ice Loves Coco," and the long-running docu-series "True Hollywood Story." Wilshire Studios also produces original series and specials such as "Women We Love" for Esquire Network and "The Nerdist" for BBC America. For GSN, Wilshire produced 300 episodes of the dating game show "Baggage." Wilshire Studios is a division of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.
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