How to Sell a TV Show: From Pitch to Distribution Deal

25+

Years selling & distributing unscripted TV

28+

Networks & streamers we’ve sold to

15+

Countries across our format & international deals

How the TV Marketplace Works

Selling a TV show means moving it from an idea or a finished piece of content into the hands of a buyer who will pay to air it, license it, or commission more of it. That buyer is almost always a network, a streaming platform, or an international broadcaster — and the vast majority of what they acquire arrives through a production company or distributor with an established relationship, not a cold submission from an unknown producer.

Buyers run on commissioning cycles: they set genre and budget priorities for a given season, take pitches against those priorities, and greenlight a small fraction of what they hear. Distribution works on a parallel but separate track — once a show is finished (or nearly so), it can be licensed directly to a buyer without going through a development process at all, because there is nothing left to develop.

Which track applies to your show — development or distribution — depends entirely on how far along it is. The rest of this guide walks through both, in order: packaging your pitch, finding the right buyer, getting in front of them, and what happens once they say yes.

The Pitch Package: Deck, Sizzle Reel, One-Sheet

Every pitch rests on three assets, and buyers rarely take a meeting without at least the first two:

Pitch deck — the written treatment: logline, format, key talent or characters, episode structure, and comp shows (existing series that prove the audience exists). See our full pitch deck guide. Sizzle reel — a short proof-of-concept video that shows tone and talent before a full episode exists; see our sizzle reel guide. One-sheet — a single-page leave-behind a buyer can review after the meeting, without needing you in the room to explain it.

For a finished or near-finished show, the one-sheet becomes the primary selling document — here are three real examples from MY Entertainment’s current catalog, live on this site today:

Want the full step-by-step process for building your own pitch package? Read how to pitch a TV show or see the full pitch overview.

How to Get in the Room

Even a sellable show with a strong package goes nowhere if it never reaches the right person. Three paths get you there:

TV markets. Industry markets and conferences (MIPCOM, NATPE, RealScreen Summit, and similar events) exist specifically to connect buyers and sellers — but they require existing relationships or a delegate badge to be useful, not just attendance.

Agents and reps.A talent or literary agent can open doors for a concept still in development, but few agents actively represent unscripted formats through to a distribution deal — that is typically a production or distribution company’s function, not an agent’s.

Partnering vs. going direct.Networks overwhelmingly prioritize pitches that arrive through a production company or distributor with a track record — an unsolicited pitch from an unknown producer rarely reaches a commissioning editor’s desk. A partner with active buyer relationships in your genre is, in practice, the fastest way into the room. See TV production company and TV distribution company for what that partnership looks like with MY Entertainment.

The Submission Process

MY Entertainment reviews every submission for genre fit and production status before pitching it to buyers. What we look for:

A show summary (what it is, format, episode count, run time), your pitch deck or one-sheet, a sizzle reel or screener if one exists, and, for finished content, a completed submission release. Concepts still in development need a strong logline and format — access and talent, if attached, strengthen the pitch considerably.

If the show is a fit, we pitch it to the right buyers among our network and streamer relationships and manage the resulting negotiation — development deal or distribution deal — on your behalf.

From Option to Greenlight

For a concept still in development, a sale rarely happens in one step. It typically moves through: an option (a buyer or partner secures exclusive rights to develop and pitch the show for a defined period), a pitchto the buyer’s commissioning team, a pilot or presentation if the buyer wants to see it in motion before committing, and finally a greenlight — a commissioned series order.

Unscripted formats generally move faster through this pipeline than scripted development — a strong sizzle reel can sometimes substitute for a full pilot, and commissioning decisions can happen within a single buying cycle rather than years-long option renewals. A finished or near-finished show skips this pipeline largely intact, moving straight to the distribution-deal conversation covered next.

Distribution Deals 101

Once a show is finished (or a development deal has produced one), what you sell is no longer a concept — it is a license. Every TV distribution deal turns on the same handful of terms:

• Territory — which countries or regions the buyer can air the show in.
• Exclusivity window — how long the buyer holds exclusive rights before they can revert or be re-licensed.
• License fee — what the buyer pays for the right to air it.
• Rights type — broadcast, streaming, digital, and format (remake) rights are each separately negotiable.
• IP ownership — a distribution deal licenses the right to air your show; it does not transfer ownership. You keep creator credit.

For the full breakdown of each term and how negotiations typically proceed, read our dedicated guide: TV Distribution Deal — How to Get TV Distribution →

Selling Internationally

A show that sold domestically is not done selling. International distribution means licensing the finished series to a broadcaster in another territory, or licensing the format — the underlying structure — for a local-language remake with local talent.

MY Entertainment structures international and format deals through offices in Toronto and London, across 15+ countries, and can arrange co-production agreements for markets that prefer local production over a fully licensed import. Read more on international distribution.

Frequently Asked Questions