Endemol Expands Middle Eastern Presence

HILVERSUM, March 31:
Endemol has secured several new deals in the Middle East, including the Talpa
game-show format Divided receiving
a pick up from Abu Dhabi TV.

Divided, which will make its international debut at MIPTV,
has been acquired by Abu Dhabi TV to debut the first season of 26 episodes in
prime time this May. The network also picked up another Talpa property, Top
of the Flops, and will kick off
the 12-episode series in prime time this October. Talpa’s entertainment format M/F
has been picked up by MBC for a
12-episode run that will also launch in prime time this October.

Dubai TV has commissioned
13 episodes of Endemol UK’s The Kids Are All Right to launch in prime time in the first week of May.

Beginning in November, The
Manager will premiere on Rotana
Music Channel with nine weekly prime-time episodes running alongside daily
access shows.

Ziad Kebbi, the managing
director of Endemol Middle East, said: "We've enjoyed a sustained period
of growth since we launched our operation here last November and all the signs
are that this is set to continue. There is a real appetite for these kinds of
formats in the Middle East and having Endemol's global library of content
behind us puts us in an extremely strong position."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski