Granada International in Japanese VOD Deal

LONDON, March 29: The Japanese video-on-demand company Gakken Index has secured the broadband VOD rights to more than 400 hours of Granada
International programming and will supply that content, branded Granada
Broadband, to all major IPTV services in Japan.

Titles included in the
deal, among others, are Agatha
Christie’s Poirot, The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,
Sharpe, Inspector
Morse, Prime Suspect, Cracker, Tales of the Unexpected and The Worst Witch. In addition, Gakken Index will also create
digital versions of masters of the programming, market the service and create
Japanese versions of new shows to launch on IPTV servers.

Gakken Index was
established by Gakken, a leading educational content and publishing company and
Index, an IT and mobile phone technology and solution servicing company.

Nadine Nohr, the MD
at Granada International, commented: “The global VOD market is an exciting
opportunity for our extensive programming portfolio. To protect all our
client’s interests we have to ensure that the deal works on a number of
significant levels and we are thrilled to be dealing with Gakken Index, which
has its roots in two long established and well-regarded companies in Japan. We
are particularly pleased to have our own brand—Granada
Broadband—which will allow IPTV customers to choose our programming
knowing that it has a high pedigree.”