On Monday, Meadowlark Media and Apple TV+ announced a multi-year, first-look deal for documentaries and unscripted series.
Back in September, Meadowlark’s John Skipper hinted at something like this happening. In an interview with Bloomberg, he discussed Meadowlark creating content to fill what he called “a void in world class non-event sports content.” He also said that companies (like Apple) would find it “more efficient” to buy content from third parties (like Meadowlark) rather than creating that content themselves.
I do feel like this is the most significant step Meadowlark has made this year, as much of the company’s previous forays into the news related to either personalities or podcasts coming under the Meadowlark umbrella. This, a first-look deal with a streamer, is a noteworthy progression for Meadowlark’s stated desire to create original video content. As that content starts coming to life, it’ll have a realistic landing point with Meadowlark’s Apple deal. That’s one prominent hurdle out of the way.
The documentary content that Meadowlark will produce is still somewhat hazy. Earlier this year, Dan Le Batard revealed that Adam McKay was talking to the company about projects, while Jemele Hill, Mike Schur, and Lynn Novick all joined as creative advisors.
