START Scores Deals in the Baltics & Poland

December 15, 2021 Jamie Stalcup Top Stories
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Russian streaming service START has signed deals with TV3 Group in the Baltics and Polot Media in Poland.

The exclusive package deal with TV3 Group will bring several START programs to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, including the series The Vampires of Midland. The shows and films included in the deal will be featured on TV3’s SVOD service GO3 and channels TV3, TV3Film, TV3 Life and TV3+.

Other START series included in the deal are Addicted, A Good Man, Ms. Sweet, Fitness, Best Frenemies and more.

“We are very proud to partner with TV3 Group to bring our premium content to Baltic audiences,” said Daria Bondarenko, executive VP of sales and acquisitions at START. “There is a huge range of interesting, innovative and multi-genre content included that we know viewers will love. The TV3 Group is an excellent home for all the series, and we hope it would become a solid foundation for our future partnerships in the Baltics.”

Jevgeni Supin, manager of TV Beats Forum and NGO Black Nights Film Festival, said, “We are very glad that such a key player and long-time partner like the streamer START is executing the deal. We find it is very important for regional players to connect and to interact with each other on every level and as an industry event we are happy to contribute to that.”

START’s deal with Polot Media gives the Polish company the format rights to adapt the series Ms. Sweet. The comedy-drama follows a long-suffering housewife and mother with a gift for making delicious confectionary. When she throws her husband out, she must make ends meet with the help of her elderly father, teenage daughter and cranky sister.

Bondarenko said, “We are looking forward to how Polot Media adapts Ms. Sweet for the Polish market, as they’ve done a great job with Kowalsky vs. Kowalsky (an adaptation of a hit comedy series Ivanovs vs. Ivanovs).”

“We are very happy to cooperate with START; we are very excited about the format and already discussing future cooperation together,” said Tamara Aagten-Margol, CEO of Polot Media.