MIPCOM: The Week in Factual

FAST has been percolating as the key segment to watch for factual content distributors for a while now—a point proven by an abundance of news out of MIPCOM in Cannes last week. Autentic and Terra Mater Studios unveiled Terra Mater WILD, a joint nature and wildlife FAST channel. The channel features Terra Mater Studios’ blue-chip wildlife productions and select third-party wildlife and nature content. It will be available on Samsung TV Plus in Germany, Austria and Switzerland next month and expand to additional platforms. BBC Studios announced that its popular Top Gear FAST channel has rolled out on Pluto TV in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy. The service is already available on Pluto TV in Spain, the Nordics, the U.S. and Canada. Fremantle said it is launching the Jamie Oliver FAST channel for U.S. audiences on Pluto TV. Mech+ and Global Distribution Services partnered to launch a FAST channel on Freeview in the U.K. All3Media International is bringing three of its FAST channels—Gardening with Monty Don, Great British Menu and Fifth Gear—to Amazon Freevee. Blue Ant Media expanded its partnership with Samsung TV Plus, with deals for three of its channels to become available in additional territories.

Meanwhile, the demand for premium high-end commissions and returnable franchises remains. BBC Studios is riding that wave with titles from its acclaimed Natural History Unit, notably announcing a raft of presales for Planet Earth III at MIPCOM. Meanwhile, Fremantle clinched new deals on Whale with Steve Backshall, alongside Coco Chanel: Unbuttoned and House of Kardashian. Off the Fence saw traction with its history slate, including Secrets to Civilization. Passion Distribution partnered with ITV and Shearwater Media on the premium documentary JFK: The Home Movie that Changed the World. BossaNova Media notched up business across its slate, including history and true crime, with Channel 4, Sky, A+E Networks, CBS and UKTV in the U.K. Cineflix Rights scored deals from its stable of new and returning franchises, among them Holiday Homes in the Sun and Richard Hammond’s Workshop. And speaking of franchises, the company also unveiled a new deal with Scott Brothers Entertainment to add the latest Property Brothers show to its lineup, Don’t Hate Your House with the Property Brothers. A+E Networks expanded its collaboration with Germany’s Seven.One Entertainment Group by inking a multiyear volume deal that covers titles like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, Forged in Fire and The Curse of Oak Island. GRB Media Ranch closed a licensing deal with Côte Ouest (now part of Mediawan) for three titles from the Icons Unearthed series about pop culture franchises. Banijay Rights acquired the global distribution rights to two musical features involving the Emmy Award-nominated composer and rock maestro Ben Folds.

The realities of two ongoing conflicts—in Ukraine and Israel and Gaza—could be felt at the market last week. And filmmakers are indeed finding ways to bring an understanding of these current events to audiences across the globe. Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion is prepping a 45-minute special, One Day in October, about the Hamas attack on the music festival in Israel on October 7. That horrific day is also being explored in a new film from SIPUR, HOT Channel 8 and HSCC. And as the war on Ukraine rages on, Scenery, a joint venture with Banijay Benelux, is working with Sarah Jessica Parker’s Pretty Matches Productions for a feature-length documentary that follows a group of Ukrainian ballet dancers. “Front Row puts perseverance and the human condition on display against the punishing backdrop of war,” Parker said.

At a press conference as MIPCOM came to a close, RX Global’s Lucy Smith turned her attention to MIPTV in 2024, which runs from April 8 to 10, announcing that the weekend before the market’s kickoff would see the return of MIPDoc and MIPFormats. “We are rebuilding the biggest weekend in unscripted,” Smith said. “We will dedicate the pre-opening weekend to MIPDoc and MIPFormats through a program allowing content discovery, workshops, conferences, summits and screenings.”

Catch up on these stories and more on TVReal.com.