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Cactus TV
Independent television production company, specialising in broad-based entertainment shows
Cactus TV specialises in broad based Entertainment, Features and Chat Shows. Since the company's inception in 1994 Cactus has produced 43 distinct titles in the UK, for 10 different channels, in the last year alone almost 300 hours were broadcast. The company's format catalogue is based on the creative talents of its Managing Directors Simon and Amanda Ross. Cactus' proudest achievements include producing the highest rated entertainment show on ITV for three years running and winning one of Channel 4's biggest ever commissions.
Company History
In May 2001 Cactus TV rocked the industry by directly signing Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan as part of an initial two-year production deal with Channel 4. This is one of the biggest single commissions by the Channel to an independent production company. Richard & Judy is transmitted live five nights a week, from Cactus' purpose built studios in Kennington. It attracts an average of 2.2 million viewers daily regularly reaching 2.6 million. The show has generated many exclusive stories, and enjoys a roster of high profile guests including regular appearances of Hollywood stars, and has been nominated for a Royal Television Society Award and an Indie Award. Richard & Judy's Book Clubs have enjoyed wide scale coverage and last year was credited with 26% of all book sales in the UK. R & J picks were No1 and No2 in the overall bestselling charts of the year. Amanda Ross who selects the books was named the most important person in publishing, and the show has won three special Awards for inspiring wider reading and expanding the book market.
Cactus has produced Saturday Kitchen for BBC1 since June 2006. The 90 minute live show is made and transmitted at Cactus Studios every Saturday morning. Cactus won the format from a tender, and installed James Martin as the new host. The lively format regularly gets four times the audience of it's rival on ITV. The omelette challenge within the show has become a cult hit, and the show attracts the world's top chefs. The Saturday Kitchen Cook Book was published in July 2007, and the second book is due out in April 2008. The show is commissioned until March 2009.
Cactus have enjoyed success producing large scale TV events and musical spectaculars including most recently, The British Book Awards for Channel 4, which achieves widespread critical acclaim and pick of the day in all TV listings. In 2007, the 4th year of the show, it was moved to a prestigious prime time Friday night slot. Music events include Sir Cliff Richard- The Hits I Missed and Songs of Bond, both for ITV1. Cactus TV's third annual production of The British Soap Awards was the highest rated entertainment show of 2001 on any TV channel, with a massive 53% share. It's also the highest rated independent production for Entertainment on ITV1. We created the event, and produced the TV coverage for four years until 2002.
Cactus quiz and game shows include a 19 show series of quiz format King of the Castle, broadcast in the UK on Carlton and sold to NBC in the US; It's Anybody's Guess, a 40 programme daily panel game series, Sports Anorak of the Year (2 series 64 shows), Incognito (BBC1 2 series 87 shows - Channel 2 Netherlands, 4 series); Intuition (ITV); Upshot (Anglia) and Morphit (BBC1).
For the youth market Cactus produced the funky current affairs discussion programme Mad For It, nominated for three RTS awards, and Off the Wall (Anglia). Other recent productions include Pop-elganger; For Your Ears Only, and The TV Set.
Cactus have made several series of comedy features including, In Search of Fame (BBC1); a consumer problem solving series How to Deal With (BBC1), and an info-tainment graphic animation series The Incredible Journey (BBC1). The company have made seven different series of lifestyle strands for BBC Daytime, and two travel series The Real America (BBC1) and Britain into Europe (BBC1). Cactus have also produced prime time chat shows; The Last Resort (Channel 4) with Jonathan Ross, and Rowland Rivron Bites The Bullet. Cactus produced a controversial debate show The Spirit of Diana: The Debate, for Living TV, the show doubled the channel's normal ratings for its slot. In 2005 Cactus made a ten part wine series for More4 as a spin off from the Richard & Judy Wine Club.
Cactus TV's strong reputation for delivering high quality programmes with low budgets helped win long running contracts with FilmFour and Channel 4 for interstitial programming. Foursite, our pop ups for film buffs, aired on Channel 4 for over two years.
With our state of the art studio facilities in Kennington we are extremely well placed in today's competitive market, to build on our reputation for making high quality programmes, on budget and on time.
Publications: The Richard & Judy Wine Guide November 2005, The Saturday Kitchen Cookbook July 2007. Saturday Kitchen Best Bites April 2008.
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Key Management
Amanda Ross
Managing Director
Simon Ross
Managing Director
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