BBC Worldwide Scores Scripted, Factual Programming Sales

LONDON: At this year's BBC Worldwide Showcase, the company has announced sales for a slew of scripted and factual series, including Sherlock and Hidden Kingdoms, to various broadcasters around the globe.

The third season of Sherlock has become available on Youku and BesTV in China. In Japan, WOWOW snapped up season one of A Young Doctor's Notebook, Fleming and the third season of DCI Banks, while NHK went for Sherlock's third season and Unlocking Sherlock. Also in Japan, AXN Mystery has taken the second seasons of Father Brown and Ripper Street, as well as season three of Death in Paradise. KBS in South Korea licensed Atlantis, while TVB in Hong Kong purchased the rights for A Young Doctor's Notebook.

Atlantis is also headed to Foxtel's FOX8 in Australia. Two seasons of Call the Midwife are slated to begin airing on D8 in France. In Italy, Mediaset picked up the first three seasons of Sherlock, along with The Paradise and Call the Midwife as part of a 200-hour package, while Rai took the first three seasons of Luther and season five of Misfits. Zon in Portugal went 22 hours of programming that includes Burton and Taylor, Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond and A Young Doctor's Notebook, among other titles. Germany's Degeto signed up for season three of Sherlock, as well as The Challenger and Quirke.

In Russia, Domashny scooped up 63 hours of drama, including Ripper Street, The Paradise and Luther, while Georgia's Imedi inked its first fiction package deal with BBC Worldwide. Other scripted sales include Atlantis and Burton and Taylor to NTV in Turkey; all three seasons of Luther and Atlantis to OTE in Greece; and Fleming and Sherlock to Israel's HOT. In addition, Al Jazeera's Children Channel has committed to the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, the eighth season of Doctor Who and the Doctor Who Christmas 2013 special The Time of the Doctor.

Paul Dempsey, the president of global markets for BBC Worldwide, stated: "In the last five years, and more recently in Asia, we've seen a significant increase in sales of British drama overseas, partly fueled by the overwhelming success of titles such as Doctor Who and Sherlock. Buyers are realizing that U.K. content can really provide an alternative to U.S. fare as audiences recognize the quality of British dramas for their high production values, unique British culture and humor, as well as the creative ideas."

On the unscripted side, BBC Worldwide has placed Hidden Kingdoms with Turkey's NTV, Spain's Canal Plus, Uzbekistan's National Television and Radio, Korea's KBS and Japan's WOWOW. Monkeys Revealed was presold to SVT in Sweden and WOWOW, which also went for Countdown to the Rains, 24 Hours on Earth and four productions from the Natural World strand for their BBC Earth programming block.

In Sweden, SVT snapped up Wild Brazil and prebought Lands of the Monsoon, Wild Alaska, Wild Patagonia and Wild New Zealand. Spain's Canal Plus prebought Lands of the Monsoon, Wild Alaska, Wild Patagonia and Wild Brazil, the latter of which is also headed to National Television and Radio of Uzbekistan and WOWOW. Additional factual sales see Discovery France acquiring the 20th season of Top Gear; HRT licensing 120 hours in the genre; and Australia's Foxtel A&E channel signing up for Life Below Zero, including the first two seasons and The Thaw.

Mark Reynolds, the director of factual content for BBC Worldwide, said: "Audiences everywhere appreciate great, well produced stories about the world they live in so it’s no surprise that factual is a hugely popular genre for broadcasters in every region.

"At Showcase this year we have a fantastic range of new content to premiere to our clients which will be presented by top talent such as Dan Snow (Operation Grand Canyon with Dan Snow), Dominic Monaghan (Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan S2), Michael Mosley (Infested) and Neil Oliver (Coast) who will be interviewed by Natalie Humphreys, BBC's controller of factual and daytime. Joining Steven Johnson (How We Got to Now) at our Science Premiere will be Greg Foot, Dom Byrne and Fran Scott, the presenters of Factomania while Mike Gunton (Creative Director, NHU) will host the Natural History premiere featuring the producers of Life Story (Tom Hugh-Jones and Rupert Barrington) and John Downer (Dolphins: Spy in the Pod)."