Xumo founder Colin Petrie-Norris launches Fairground AI-generated shows
Colin Petrie-Norris was a pioneer in the free, advertising television (fast) space as the founder of Xumo. Now he hopes to make a claim about the future of AI entertainment.
The new company of Petrie-Norris is Fairground Entertainment, a studio and streaming distribution service that is exclusively aimed at AI-generated TV series. He has collected a seed round of $ 4 million from a syndicate of investors led by Vian Technology, the programmatic advertising company that was one of the founders of XUMO next to Panasonic.
According to Petrie-Norris, Fairground is planning to debut the first wave of its original programming in the third quarter of 2025. The initial projects will contain ‘reforms’ of ‘iconic’ stories about the public domain, said Petrie-Norris-engaging with shows based on the Dracula and Robin Hood characters. He said that he is also in discussions with Studios about the official license of well-known IP to change into AI-based series. Certain genres lend themselves to AI-generated material, including animation, children’s content, horror and sci-fi, he added.
The mission of the company: to enable makers by telling original stories and combining human creativity with generative AI technology, said Petrie-Norris. For the first projects, Fairground offers financing to a group-chosen AI-makers, which use various generative AI platforms and tools. According to Petrie-Norris, the startup has more than a dozen AI-driven TV shows in different production stages.
“The entertainment industry is at a crucial moment, driven by the rapid progress of AI technologies that promise to redefine the creation of content,” said Petrie-Norris.
With Fairground, he said: “There will be a curiosity by consumers because it is not good if it is not good, they will not come back. At the end of the day we look for high-quality entertainment.”
Petrie-Norris previously founded Xumo in 2011, which offered dozens of free streaming channels. In 2020 he sold XUMO TV to Comcast in a deal that is said to be worth more than $ 100 million; Two years later, Comcast and Charter Communications Xumo adopted the name for their streaming joint venture, which includes the fast service that is now called Xumo Play.
Petrie-Norris said Fairground, which is located in Laguna Beach, California, currently has five employees.
Tim Vanderhook, co-founder and CEO of Viant Technology, said in a statement: “Fairground Entertainment shares our vision on innovation in the streaming of entertainment, aimed at the transforming power of AI VIANT technology was established together Xumo, so we know from first hand.”
Vanderhook was previously CEO of MySpace. Time Inc. Bought Vian (parent of MySpace) in 2016. He and his brother, Chris Vanderhook, bought the ownership of ownership in Viant from Meredith (that Time Inc. had acquired), and they took the company public in 2021.
