Sky Vision to Rep U.S. Prime-Time Series BattleBots

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LONDON: Sky Vision has acquired the global finished program and format rights for the hit U.S. Sunday night prime-time show BattleBots.

The 6×1-hour first season launched on ABC in summer 2015 and is available to acquire immediately via Sky Vision. The 11×1-hour second season will be available later in 2016.

BattleBots follows 48 of the world’s biggest, fastest and strongest homemade robots, selected from hundreds of entrants worldwide, as they battle against each other in a knock-out tournament to be crowned overall champion.

Sky Vision will be looking for partners at MIPTV for a new European production hub. BattleBots is also making its BattleBox, currently being used in California for the filming of the new ABC series, available for international broadcasters.

The rights for BattleBots have been acquired from Whalerock Studios and BattleBots Inc. Sky Vision represents the title in all territories, excluding the U.S.

Barnaby Shingleton, the director of entertainment and factual at Sky Vision, said: “The team at Sky Vision is incredibly excited to be representing a show with the iconic status of BattleBots. There is a huge following for the U.S. tournament globally, and the production values of the ABC show are second to none, making this very much the market leader in robot entertainment. This is a real treat for broad family audiences.”

Edward Roski, CEO of BattleBots, Inc., said: “We can’t wait to bring the sport of professional Robot Combat to the world. Our goal has always been to turn BattleBots, which is world’s only prime-time robot fighting format, into a global sports/entertainment property. Sky Vision is the perfect partner to help us achieve this. We look forward to thrilling audiences worldwide, as we are already doing on the ABC network, and inspiring the next generation of builders, inventors and makers.”

Chris Cowan, the head of unscripted television at Whalerock Industries, the co-producer of the series, added: “BattleBots is the ideal property for today’s audience as it sits at the intersection of three of the most powerful entertainment trends in the current cultural zeitgeist: sports, gaming and technology. We can’t wait for the world to witness the power of head-to-head robot combat in its purest form.”