DRG to Acquire Zeal’s Format Business

LONDON, June 14: Digital Rights Group (DRG) has reached a
deal to acquire Zeal Television’s event and format distribution division, which
will be rebranded as Zeal Entertainment.

Backed by IMAC, Ingenious Media’s venture fund, DRG was
established this year to make strategic acquisitions in the television
distribution sector. To date it has acquired a controlling stake in Portman
Film and TV.

Zeal Entertainment will continue to run as a division within
DRG and will particularly focus on expanding its format catalogue. As part of
the deal, Zeal Entertainment will also take on DRG’s format rights portfolio,
which includes the newly re-vamped This Is Your Life.

Funding from DRG has already helped Zeal Entertainment to
acquire the international distribution rights to Big Group’s Fashion Rocks event, which is produced for Channel 4, and to the
new musical game show format Singing Bee, which has been commissioned by ITV and NBC. “This is terrific news
for us in planning the next phase of our growth,” said Andrea Jackson, Zeal
Entertainment’s managing director. “DRG have ambitious plans and we are
delighted to be a part of them. In today’s market, you need strong financial backers
and this puts us in a great position to target the best ideas coming out of the
independent production sector.”

The acquisition does not include Zeal’s specialist music
distribution, branded-content and U.S. production business, which will continue
as a separate entity and run by Peter Christiansen in London and Miami.