Channel Five Inks Exclusive Deal with Warner Bros.

LONDON: Channel Five has secured an exclusive deal to acquire a range of new and continuing series and blockbuster films from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.

Channel Five picked up the exclusive terrestrial and digital rights to the third season of the hit drama The Mentalist. Five USA will exclusively air the undercover police drama Dark Blue, from Jerry Bruckheimer Television. Fiver has slated Human Target.

Also for the fall schedule, Channel Five bagged Blade: The Series, based on the hit movie triology, to air on Five USA. The network also picked up a film package that includes the terrestrial premieres of 300, Beowulf, 10,000 BC and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Further films headed to the network include The Matrix trilogy, The Last Samurai, The Perfect Storm and Miss Congeniality.

Channel Five’s managing director of digital channels and acquisitions, Jeff Ford, said: “I am thrilled to have secured this wide-ranging deal for Channel Five. I am delighted to welcome back the critical and ratings smash The Mentalist for another season. The addition of Dark Blue and Human Target strengthens our burgeoning slate of quality offerings on the digital channels. Plus, the movie lineup is an exciting mix of terrestrial premieres and blockbuster films for all the family.”

Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, the president of Warner Bros. International Television, added: “We are always looking to place our programming on the right networks where they can thrive and connect with viewers. You don’t have to be a mind reader to know the best continuing home for The Mentalist is Channel Five, where they have contributed to this show becoming one of the most popular U.S. series being telecast in the U.K. today. The commercial appeal of shows like Dark Blue, Human Target, Blade and these selected top feature films also make this programming perfectly suited to be telecast and succeed on Five’s family of channels.”