BBC Worldwide Strikes NZ Sales

LONDON: Titles from BBC Worldwide’s drama, natural history and factual portfolios have been licensed to a number of New Zealand broadcasters.

The natural-history series South Pacific is now to air on TVNZ. The national broadcaster acquired two other productions from the BBC’s Natural History Unit: Yellowstone, about the national park that is one of the world’s last great wildernesses, and Nature’s Great Events, an eyewitness account of the dramatic wildlife stories behind the planet’s most breathtaking natural events. The new detective thriller Hunter was also acquired by TVNZ, as was Freefall.

The first season of Top Gear Australia joins the lineup of Prime Television. Further acquisitions from the network include new drama Heart and Soul, as well as the upcoming Doctor Who special The Waters of Mars and the as-yet unnamed Christmas 2009 specials. Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey will also air on Prime.

A further 247 hours of content from BBC Worldwide was sold to New Zealand’s Living Channel and its sister network Food TV, including the NZ premieres of titles such as Celebrity Fantasy Homes, Rhodes Across The Caribbean and Eating In The Sun.

“This is a terrific range of content that displays the diversity and appeal of BBC Worldwide’s catalogue,” said Robyn Campbell, BBC Worldwide Australia’s sales manager for NZ. “I know it will appeal to audiences all over New Zealand.”