Italian, Southest Asian Deals for ITV Global

CANNES: While ITV Global Entertainment closed a deal with NBC Universal Global Networks Italy for more than 100 hours of drama fare, a range of agreements were concluded across Southeast Asia by its dedicated Hong Kong office.

The package for NBCU will air on Hallmark Channel in Italy, and includes all 11 seasons of Agatha Christie’s Poirot and all four seasons of Agatha Christie’s Marple. Three seasons of the crime drama Rosemary & Thyme are included as well, along with 13 hours of the original 1981 television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s critically acclaimed novel Brideshead Revisited.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s MediaCorp acquired the 20×30-minute series Dinner Takes All for its English-language entertainment channel, Channel 5. MediaCorp also went for the sitcom Mind Your Language for its new Okto channel, which specialises in kids, arts and user-generated content.

ITV Global concluded further deals in Singapore with IPTV-VOD operator Singtel, for its MIO TV service, for seasons one through three of Hell’s Kitchen USA, while cable channel operator MegaMedia licensed a package of factual-entertainment programming, including Trinny & Susannah Undress and Driving Mum and Dad Mad.

Two separate sales deals in Thailand have also been secured. One with cable and satellite platform operator UBC True Visions, which took on the likes of Bonekickers, Brainiac and Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo. Another was sealed with the terrestrial television station Bangkok Broadcasting (also known as Channel 7), which acquired The Pinky & Perky Show for its afternoon children’s programming block. Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Astro in Malaysia snapped up a large package of drama, reality and kids’ titles, including programs like Nanny 911 and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, for its TVIQ channel, and Government broadcaster RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) bagged two seasons of the factual show Planet Science and entertainment series Britannia High.

In Vietnam, TK & L took on a 28-hour package, featuring titles such as Rough Air, Proof of Lies and Wide Awake for broadcast on terrestrial station Ho Chi Minh TV. Vietba Media went for TV movies like Thicker than Blood, Locusts: Day of Destruction and Widow on the Hill.

ITV Global also landed two pan-Asian deals. The licensed the first season of Hell’s Kitchen starring Marco Pierre White to regional cable and satellite station Asian Food Channel, and Discovery Asia bought Built from Disaster for its pan-Asian feed of the Discovery Channel.

James Ross, the regional director for Asia at ITV Global, commented, “We’re very pleased to announce a further extensive lineup of sales to our many clients here in Southeast Asia. This region is a significant market for us, with strong interest being shown by platform operators of all kinds across each genre, particularly in the latest selection of our key drama and reality titles, as well as renewed requests for documentaries and movies.”