Inside The CW’s Unscripted Plans: Heather Olander Dishes On ‘FBoy’ Universe, New Funding Models, Reality Docusoap Weariness, Robots & Throuples

deadline.com:

Heather Olander knew she would be taking on a challenge when she joined The CW as its first Head of Unscripted Programming.

Former NBCUniversal exec Olander, who previously oversaw shows such as Temptation Island and The Biggest Loser at USA Network, joined the broadcast network in January after Nexstar acquired it and following the hire of Brad Schwartz as President of Entertainment. “If you take the idea of a broadcast network and completely transform it into something brand new, that’s massive,” she told Deadline.

The CW was moving to a new model; out were the majority of its youth-skewing scripted dramas and in were lower cost co-productions and a healthy dose of unscripted television – Olander says around 50% of the schedule will be unscripted.

She admitted there were “red flags all around” but that was one of the reasons that she took on the challenge, comparing it to moving from MTV to USA Network at a time where the network had no unscripted. “The types of shows that we’re buying in, and the strategy behind unscripted, is very much built around those challenges, which are dragging in a brand new audience, a broader audience and without unlimited marketing and production dollars, which is a song everyone’s signing across town.