Talent Television

Talent Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of Talent Group plc, is expanding its production division appointing Adam Hayes as its new Head of Production and Jo Spencely as Development Producer.

Adam joins Talent TV with an extensive background in the independent production sector. Most recently he worked at Brighter Pictures where he oversaw the company's programming output with shows such as Get a New Life, My Worst Week and the Cruel series for Trouble. Previous credits include The Word, Have I Got News for You, Whose Line is it Anyway, Badass TV and Last Chance Lottery.

In his new post, Adam will oversee and manage all production at Talent TV across the company's portfolio of programming as well as working with the creative team and producers on new developments. This appointment reflects Talent TV's commitment to grow and expand into new areas of programming for both the UK and international markets.

Talent's current production slate includes, Test the Nation, with the tenth Special now in production with BBC One, a second series of Best of Friends for CBBC, a second Test the Nation event for TV Asahi in Japan and three documentaries for Japanese state broadcaster NHK.

Jo Spencely is also joining the growing team at Talent TV as Development Producer in the entertainment department. Reporting to Talent's Head of Development David Sankey, Jo will originate and develop new format ideas for a range of UK and international broadcasters.

Jo joins Talent from Carlton where she headed the entertainment development team working on variety of shows including Today with Des and Mel and Guinness World Records: 50 Years, 50 Records. Prior to this she was at LWT where her gameshow Since You've Been Gone was piloted in both the UK and US. At LWT, Jo worked on shows as diverse as Prickly Heat, Extreme Magic - Extreme Danger, Audiences With Rod Stewart and The Bee Gees, as well as directing Simply Red - Hot in Mexico for ITV1. She began her TV career on TFI Friday.

Tony Humphreys, Managing Director of Talent Television, said: 'Adam and Jo both have a fantastic track record in production and development and we are delighted that they are joining us at such an important period of growth for the company. We have every confidence that their considerable talent and experience will help further strengthen our production division.'

For further information:

Janet Balmforth/Aimee Norman
Blueprint PR
+44 (0) 208 868 0511
janet@blueprintpr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

Talent Television (part of Talent Group plc) is a leading independent UK format creator and producer of innovative television, video and interactive programming. The Company's reputation for prime-time entertainment programming is unrivalled. The "Test the Nation" series for BBC1 is now well established as a scheduling event which combines the excitement of live network television with state-of-the-art interactive television and web technology. Subjects covered so far include "The Nation's IQ", "Relationships", "General Knowledge" and "The End of Year Test". Talent was also a pioneer in reality television with "The Villa", which was first produced in 1999 for Sky One.

Talent Television also has strong ties with major Japanese broadcasters and indie production companies, having produced several HDTV documentaries for both NHK and TV Asahi networks. And, last October, the "Test the Nation" format was successfully launched on TV Asahi, in association with Japanese indie TV Man Union.

Talent Kids, the children's division, was established last year to develop high quality, innovative programming for kids. Its first commission was for the Disney Channel, with "Inside Clyde", an original adventure game show, the first 13 x half-hours of which was screened earlier this year. This was followed by a breakthrough reality entertainment format for 6-11 year olds called "Best of Friends". Produced for CBBC, the first series of 15 x half-hours appeared on The CBBC Channel in March 04.