Asian Deals for NGTI

LONDON: A number of deals have been signed by National Geographic Television International (NGTI) with broadcasters in Asia, including KBS in Korea and RTM of Malaysia.

KBS went for the blue-chip wildlife show Dam Beavers, Freaks of the Sea from Shark Bay Films and Aquavision TV Productions’ Mother Warthog and The Last Lioness. CCTV of China also picked up Freaks of the Sea and The Last Lioness.

RTM took on a package of more than 50 hours of programming, including Watercolours, Dangerous Companions and Honeybadgers Raising Hell. Further titles included in the deal were Cheetahs Against the Odds, Elephants of the Kilimanjaro, Australia: Land of the Parrots, Vanishing Dragon, Koalas of Kangaroo Island: A Race Against Time, Humpbacks: From Fire to Ice, Relentless Enemies and Eye of the Leopard. RTM also acquired a number of National Geographic Television-produced series, including Catastrophe, Mega Bridges, Seed Hunter and The Burning Season.

More than 30 hours of science and history programming was sold to Truecorp TV in Thailand. This included When Weather Changed History and NGT productions such as Science of Men, Virus Hunters, Stress: Portrait of a Killer and Perfect Child Mummies. TVB of Hong Kong, meanwhile, snapped up Kingdom of the Cobra and Machu Picchu Decoded.

Joanna Rowley, NGTI’s regional sales director for Asia, commented: “The Asian territories have always been passionate about high-quality natural history programming and the latest NGTI catalogue readily fulfills this demand, with excellent blue-chip wildlife productions from both NGT and the increasing number of independent producers with which we work around the world.

“MIPTV was a very successful market for us, with Asian broadcasters being very complimentary about our new program slate. Titles such as Machu Picchu Decoded, Dam Beavers and Mother Warthog, which feature new discoveries, beautiful photography and interesting characters, have proved especially popular for buyers looking to fill challenging family slots.”