BBC Worldwide Signs Planet Earth II Presales

LONDON: BBC Worldwide has landed presales for the highly anticipated landmark series Planet Earth II ahead of MIPCOM, in addition to securing a raft of deals across Central and Eastern Europe for other titles.

The six-part natural-history series, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, has been licensed to Radio and Television Slovakia (Slovakia), Telefonica (Spain) and TVP (Poland), along with Japanese broadcaster NHK, which will be an ‘in association with’ partner in Japan. The series will be aired on BBC Earth channels in South Africa, the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and Poland. These new broadcast deals join a roster of previous sales that includes SVT (Sweden) and DR (Denmark), and Mediaset, an “in association with” partner in Italy. A BBC Studios production, Planet Earth II is co-produced by BBC America (U.S.), ZDF (Germany) and France Télévisions.

Paul Dempsey, the president of global markets at BBC Worldwide, said: “The original Planet Earth set the standard for natural-history television, captivating a global audience of over half a billion people and selling to 240 territories around the world. Ten years on, Sir David Attenborough and the team return with, dare I say, an even more compelling insight into our natural world, taking viewers to places that simply haven’t been accessible until now.”

Meanwhile, BBC Worldwide signed a package deal in Hungary with state broadcaster MTVA that will see the entire back-catalog of popular British sitcom My Family being broadcast in English on the network, complete with subtitles. Spanning 335 hours, the deal also includes epic drama War and Peace and The Durrells. The acquisition of the key BBC Worldwide titles has been made ahead of the launch of a new documentary and drama channel in the country, M5.

Channel 1 Russia also confirmed its acquisition of the new season of Sherlock for 2017. The drama will broadcast in Russia simultaneously with the U.K. version.

Elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, a 200-hour deal has been closed with Viacom consisting of drama, comedy and factual-entertainment titles, including Top Gear and How Not to Live Your Life.

AMC Networks International Central Europe committed to a wide range of content for its channels spanning the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova. It will see 87 hours of natural-history, science, history, lifestyle and cooking titles being broadcast across Spektrum, TV Paprika and Spektrum Home. Programs featured as part of the deal include Rick Stein’s Long Weekends, Hemsley & Hemsley: Healthy and Delicious, Bargain Hunt, Shark, The Hunt and Colour: The Spectrum of Science.

Salim Mukaddam, the VP and general manager for CEE at BBC Worldwide, said, “We’re very much open for business in Central and Eastern Europe. The breadth and size of these deals reflects our commitment to the region as a whole. We’re delighted to be partnering with world-class broadcasters like MTVA, Channel 1, Viacom and AMC Networks International—Central Europe. We hope this will be the first of many announcements over the next few months, reflecting the range of partners and depth of our catalog.”