ZDF Enterprises Lands Drama Package in Chinese SVOD Market

ZDF Enterprises and Finland’s Elisa have signed an agreement for the sale of over 100 hours of drama programming for the Chinese SVOD market.

The package includes Nordic noirs such as the Swedish political drama Blue Eyes, the Finnish smugglers’ drama Welcome to Texas, Sweden’s hit Thicker Than Water and Arne Dahl, based on the popular crime novels from author Arne Dahl.

Last summer, Elisa signed an agreement with China Broadcasting and Television Media (CBM, a subsidiary of China Broadcasting Network) to provide Nordic TV to Chinese cable households. Nordic TV is part of Elisa’s international entertainment business and based on subscriptions like Elisa Viihde, which includes Nordic movies, TV shows, documentaries, sports and entertainment programs.

Robert Franke, ZDF Enterprises’ VP of ZDFE.drama, said: “We are thrilled to be part of this exciting story. Nordic TV’s service was piloted to more than 10 million people last year and it was found that Chinese consumers are interested in Nordic content and willing to pay for it.”

Jussi Nyfelt, director of Nordic TV at Elisa, added: “Our objective is to provide Nordic TV to 245 million Chinese cable TV households by July 2019. We are elated to have some of ZDF Enterprises’ best drama series on board on this journey.”