FME Sells 300 Hours of Programming to Latin America

LONDON, January 24: FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has
racked up approximately 300 hours of programming sales to Latin America ahead
of NATPE next week.

DIRECTV and the pan-regional TNT have picked up The Brit
Awards 2008. Performances already confirmed
for the awards show are Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Leona Lewis,
The Kaiser Chiefs, Mika and Mark Ronson.

Also in the music-entertainment genre, terrestrials Surinam
and St. Lucia will take up the international feed of American Idol. The pan-regional Sony channel has also picked up
the seventh season for the sixth consecutive year of broadcasting.

On the factual front, Mexico’s Canal 11 picked up a suite of
documentaries produced by Atlantic Productions, including Hannibal: Enemy of
Rome, Herod: Behind the Myth, Spartacus: Behind the Myth and The Mysterious Death of Cleopatra. Ecuavisa has also picked up a package that includes
The Mysterious Death of Cleopatra, The Sphynx Unmasked and Science Times. Additionally, Infinito has acquired the
eco-documentary series Big Ideas for a Small Planet and Brazil’s TV Escola has secured Story
of 1.

Meanwhile GloboSat and Sky People & Arts have picked up
the second season of Janice Dickinson
and the fourth season of Project Runway, respectively, from the company’s lifestyle catalogue.

Other deals during the past month include Telefe’s
acquisition of Hole in the Wall; Chile’s
Megavision’s pick-up of an additional 50 episodes of Three’s Company; and Ecuavisa acquiring Mr. Bean.

“I am very
pleased to be able to offer Latin America a range of programming and formats
which work so well on a local level,” said Sheila Aguirre, FME’s VP of sales and development for Latin America and
Hispanic U.S. “FME has
such a diverse range that it is possible to find something to suit every
audience.”

FME’s CEO,
David Ellender, commented: “I am immensely proud of our recent sales in Latin
America in such a short space of time. I am once again assured that the
packages and formats we offer internationally are capable of travelling the
world over. This aside, Sheila Aguirre has done a tremendous job of showcasing
the programs which suit Latin American tastes and individual broadcaster
schedules.”

—By Ned Berke