C4i Gets Go Ahead for Prime-Time Version of Time Team

LONDON, April 6: Channel 4 International (C4i), part of the Digital
Rights Group, has been given the green light for a prime-time version of the
British series Time Team, to air on PBS in the U.S.

Tentatively
titled Time Team USA, the six-episode
series will be co-produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and Videotext
Communications. Production is slated to begin this month, with national
broadcast set for 2009 or 2010. Graham Dixon, a producer for the British
series, will lead the American co-producers, and Tim Taylor for Videotext
Communications, the originator of the series in the U.K., will be executive producer,
along with David Davis for OPB.

The
archaeological show is now in its 15th year in the U.K. The series also airs in Australia on ABC and Canada
on TV Ontario, and has been sold to international broadcasters including Al Jazeera in the Middle East, Kanal
9 in Sweden, Talpa in the Netherlands, The Living Channel in New Zealand and in Germany. Time Team offers a mix of archaeology and entertainment, with
experts using the latest scientific equipment to reveal how we used to live.

Patrick Roberts, the VP of international sales for
C4i, commented, “Time Team has become
a recognised international brand over recent years—its popularity is on the
increase and we are delighted that PBS has confirmed its belief in the format
with this U.S. production. We also look forward to continuing to bring existing
and future series of the U.K.
version of Time Team to international
audiences.”

Taylor, the
creator and series producer of Time Team,
added: “Time Team as a format has
proved itself over the last fifteen years in the U.K.,
creating an entertaining and award-winning program that has also made an incredible
contribution to U.K.
archaeology with over 150 excavations on sites from the Royal Palaces to Hadrian’s Wall. C4i has done a fantastic job in taking
the show to international audiences and Time
Team on prime-time U.S.
television is a real and exciting breakthrough for us. In the U.S. there are an amazing number of
archaeological mysteries waiting to be solved and the archaeological heritage
is richer than many would guess. With the cooperation of the American
archaeological community we believe we will be able to make a series that is as
entertaining and revealing as we have done it in the U.K. In PBS and OPB we have ideal
partners to make this a success and make sure it reaches the widest possible
audience.”

—Kristin
Brzoznowski