‘Love Island’ Moves From CBS To Peacock With Two-Season Order
The sexy singletons are heading to Peacock.
Love Island, the dating format based on the British smash hit, is moving from CBS to Peacock. The NBCUniversal streamer has given the series, which comes from ITV America, a two-season, 80-episode order.
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It comes after the youth-skewing series ran for three seasons on CBS.
Although it’s not unprecedented for unscripted formats to move networks – American Idol, for instance, moved from Fox to ABC – it is still unusual, particularly for a show that had not been canceled at its original home.
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Deadline understands that for the show to move forward, CBS required the format to be retooled given its prevalence on its summer schedule. With the network unwilling to commit to the same number of episodes, producers ITV America took it out and landed a bumper order with NBCU.
The show will begin on Peacock this summer with a season shot in California. It’s not clear whether host Arielle Vandenberg and narrator Matt Hoffman will remain on the show.
The streamer promised that “multiple episodes” will debut “weekly in real time” as a new group of singles search for love in a beautiful villa.
It has also said that the contestants will compete in “naughtier” games and “steamier” challenges.
The series is produced by ITV America’s ITV Entertainment and based on a format owned by ITV Studios and Motion Content Group. It is based on the ITV2 hit, which has spawned seven seasons since it was retooled in 2015.
Love Island was always a tricky show for CBS; the first season performed moderately and was brought back for a second season, which was postponed as a result of Covid-19. It was subsequently moved from Fiji to Las Vegas with a third season filmed in Hawaii. While it brought in a younger audience for the network, it never replicated the success of its British counterpart and may well be better suited for a streaming service.
CBS itself has had recent history of taking on a show from a previous network; it ran Tiffany Haddish’s Kids Say the Darndest Things, which previously aired on ABC, for one season with no plans for it to return.
The network has also been bolstering its own unscripted pipeline; Deadline revealed Tuesday that it had ordered musical spectacle-turned-game show Superfan and it has Come Dance With Me, exec produced by LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell coming up alongside its staple of evergreen shows such as The Amazing Race, Big Brother and Survivor.
“As we continue to make Peacock a destination for must-watch original programming, partnering with a global powerhouse like ITV enables us to build on their internationally beloved formats to attract all new fans to the platform,” said Susan Rovner, Chairman Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
Jenny Groom, EVP Entertainment Unscripted Content, added, “Love Island is a highly addictive dating format that is primed for a streaming service like Peacock where we can push boundaries and bring viewers steamy and dramatic twists. The series took pop culture by storm after the UK format found fans across the world, and we are thrilled to be able to bring an all-new version to Peacock this summer anchoring our unscripted slate.”
“This really is an unprecedented deal for an unscripted brand,” said ITV America CEO David George. “Peacock and NBCU are the perfect home for Love Island because of their strategy to grow the show, utilizing the greater NBCU television portfolio and other platforms to help propel the series. That dedication, coupled with a two-season commitment on Peacock, sealed the deal. We’re incredibly excited to elevate the show through a bold new collaboration.”
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