Tern Television Secures Raft of Global Sales

Tern Television, part of Zinc Media Group, has closed a raft of sales for 187 hours of content around the world.

Seasons one and two of The Children’s Hospital, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, were sold to broadcasters in Belgium, Poland, New Zealand, Africa and the Middle East, the U.S., Canada, Finland, Brunei, Australia and Thailand.

The broadcasters that picked up The Children’s Hospital are SBS Belgium, Idea Ventures (Poland), Sky Network Television (New Zealand), Discovery Networks (MENA), Digital Health Networks (U.S.), Quebec TVA (Canada), Alfa TV (Finland), RTB (Brunei), Network Ten (Australia) and True Visions Media Corp (Thailand). DOKBOX also acquired worldwide rights.

Inside the Zoo season one, showing the challenges, joys and complex logistics that staff face in caring for more than 3,000 animals at Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park, picked up sales in Greece and the Middle East (Tanweer Alliances), Great Britain (GoMedia), Thailand (True Visions Media Corp), China (iQiyi), Belgium (VRT), South Korea (Channel A) and Croatia (HRT, Croatian Radio Television). Season two was sold into Belgium (VRT), Thailand (True Visions Media Corp) and Estonia (Telia Eesti AS).

Denmark’s TV2 acquired seasons four and five of Emergency Helicopter Medics, the docuseries that tells the stories of the medics who save lives as they take A&E surgery to roads and hillsides across the U.K.

A Year to Save My Life: George McGavin and Melanoma, following biologist Dr. George McGavin as he embarks on a journey across the world to understand what the future holds for cancer treatment, was also popular. Sales were made for the one-hour film in Canada, South Africa, the U.S. (Digital Health Networks), Hong Kong (RTHK), Estonia (Telia Eesti AS), Israel (DocMovies), Thailand (True Visions Media Corp), Georgia (TRO Distribution); Spain (RTVE), Sweden (UR—Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company) and Finland (YLE). Additionally, Spafax Airline Network picked up the inflight rights and DOKBOX took worldwide rights.

The deals were delivered by Tern’s distribution partner TVF International.

Harry Bell, managing director of Tern Television, said: “Tern is known for its incredible access to human stories. Our work with organizations such as the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, the U.K.’s Air Ambulance service and Edinburgh Zoo have brought the most engaging stories to the screen and created an extremely popular range of returning series, popular with broadcasters around the world. These global sales demonstrate that returnable factual series can strike a chord in all corners of the world. We are proud to be an example of what indies from the Nations are able to achieve on an international scale.”

Will Stapley, head of acquisitions and partnerships at TVF, added: “There is a relatable quality and warmth to Tern’s work that appeals to audiences across the globe, irrespective of language or location, making their programming a perfect fit for the TVF International unscripted catalog. Their high-end factual programs are both entertaining and moving, making you laugh and cry— sometimes within the same scenes—and these shows have been welcome companions for millions of viewers around the world during the pandemic.”