BBC Worldwide Announces New HD Latin American Deals

LONDON, August 30: BBC Worldwide Americas has sold a range
of high-definition titles to TV Azteca in Mexico and the pan-regional Latin
American network People & Arts.

TV Azteca took 17 titles, for a total of 30-plus hours that
will begin rolling out on the Mexican broadcast outlet this year. They include
the factual titles Planet Earth and
Galapagos; the docudramas
Blackbeard —The Real Pirate of the Caribbean, Krakatoa and
Supervolcano; and the music and arts titles
Aida, BBC Proms and Classical Destinations.

People & Arts acquired the BBC drama series Hotel
Babylon. Peter Weil, the SVP of content at
Discovery Networks Latin America/Iberia, remarked, “Hotel Babylon is exactly the type of fast paced, emotionally
charged drama that audiences in our region love. We can’t wait for People +
Arts viewers to become familiar with the characters. We are confident they will
be hooked on this unique and very entertaining show.”

BBC Worldwide will be looking to further expand its Latin
American business at BBC Showcase Latin America in Rio de Janeiro, from
September 17 to 19.

Jose Sanchez, BBC Worldwide’s director of television sales
for Latin America, commented, “HD programming is in increasing demand across
the region. It is no longer just the future, it is the present. Latin American
audiences are becoming more widely equipped with the technology and we are in a
position to supply broadcasters with the kind of outstanding programming that
they rightly demand in order to experience this whole new level of home
entertainment. I’m looking forward to sharing our vast catalogue of over 400
hours of HD and standard definition titles across all our programming genres at
our event in Rio next month.”