New French, Latin American Deals for ITV Global

LONDON: ITV Global Entertainment has sold several drama series to France 3, as well as a package of TV movies to Turner Broadcasting System Latin America.

France 3 snapped up the murder mystery drama series Lewis, an ITV Studios production that will air during the channel’s new Sunday night primetime line-up. The deal includes seasons one, two and three for a total of 12 2-hour episodes. The French broadcaster also went for Touch of Frost starring David Jason and the new hit Canadian crime thriller Murdoch Mysteries, based on the novels by Maureen Jennings.

Frédéric Prallet-Dujols at France Télévisions—which previously took Agatha Christie’s Marple and Agatha Christies Poirot for France 2 —said: “We are very proud to show Lewis on France 3. The French public very much enjoys the typical atmosphere created by British crime thrillers. To launch the series we have organized a special promotion with the opportunity to win a two day trip to London. So everything is in place for Lewis to conquer a large audience.”

TBS Latin America, meanwhile, acquired a package of ten Hollywood TV movies from ITV Global for its general entertainment and documentary channel Infinito.

These include Driven to Succeed, about the life of Martha Stewart, Million Dollar Murder, a crime thriller based on a real-life murder, plus Eights Days to Live and Life Is Not a Fairytale, among others. ITV Global is set to premiere a number of new movies at MIPTV, among them Crimes of Fashion: Killer Hair and Mrs Washington Goes to Smith.