FX and The New York Times Are Starting a News Show With Hulu
The home of Russian spies, mutants and horror stories is heading into the real world. FX has partnered with The New York Times for a new weekly news series that will also stream on Hulu after its initial airing.
Aptly dubbed The Weekly, the new series from The New York Times and producers Left/Right marks the former’s first attempt at TV news, and has a minimum 30-week order set to begin later this year. The series is described as “a narrative documentary news program that includes one or two of The Times’ biggest and most important visual stories each week,” while Hulu will stream new episodes the day after their initial airing on FX. There will be no host, as outlined in the synopsis:
The Weekly will be a narrative documentary news program that includes one or two of The Times’s biggest and most important visual stories each week. Viewers will be with those stories and the reporters as the show brings them to life. Much as The Daily podcast has taken a narrative approach to news that introduces listeners in a new way to host Michael Barbaro and reporters like Mike Schmidt, Maggie Haberman and Rukmini Callimachi, The Weekly will find the stories behind the headlines that would otherwise be left on the cutting room floor.
Reporters from The Times will act as guides to their own reporting. Viewers will see them chasing their stories, watch as they conduct their interviews, and generally have the sense of being along for the ride. There won’t be a host. The whole idea for this show, what makes it unprecedented, is that the layers that separate viewers from New York Times journalism will be eliminated. For generations, on the biggest stories of the day, the TV news programs have generally followed The Times, using its front page as a guide, bringing on its reporters, after the fact, to share insight into their journalism. This show will be different. The Weekly will set the agenda, just like The Times has always done.
Said FX:
The New York Times is synonymous with excellence and FX is honored to be chosen as their partner on what will be the first entry for both organizations into the weekly TV news business. A free press is vital to the health of our American democracy. The Weekly will give viewers compelling stories about the courage and commitment New York Times journalists bring to seeking out and reporting the truth. We also want to thank our partners at Hulu on this deal and the team at Left/Right.
This isn’t the first time news-themed programming has entered the mainstream, as Showtime maintains a healthy documentary focus with series like The Circus or upcoming Times docu-series The Fourth Estate. Can FX make an ongoing news series work? Will Netflix be next?
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