TCB Media Rights Adds Essential’s Factual Catalog to Library

TCB Media Rights has inked a deal to represent some 55 hours of new and existing factual-entertainment programming from Sydney-based Essential Media and Entertainment.

Among the Essential titles included in the deal are Gourmet Farmer, now in its fourth season on SBS Australia, and the new digital series #Shelfie with Dan Hong, which won two categories at this year’s Australian Online Video Awards. The addition of the Essential catalog to TCB Media Rights’ portfolio brings the number of new hours set to launch at MIPCOM 2017 to 250-plus.

TCB’s MIPCOM slate will feature 36 brand-new shows spanning the factual and factual-entertainment spectrum. Highlights include ITN Productions’ documentary series easyJet: Inside the Cockpit, which offers unprecedented access to the high-pressure pilot-training scheme at the U.K.’s fastest-growing airline; Spirit Level’s Wartime Crime, a docudrama series about people who took to a life of crime during World War II; Blizzard Road’s DesertCollectors, set in the “Wild West” goldfield of Western Australia; and MediaWorks’ property renovation show Slice of Paradise.

TCB Media Rights’ managing director, Kate Llewellyn-Jones, said, “The Essential catalog dovetails beautifully with TCB’s existing portfolio, adding a new and fresh seam of quality factual entertainment to our slate. We see this deal as a great opportunity to forge ties that bind with one of Australia’s most prolific and talented production companies.”

Essential’s Chris Hilton added: “We’re confident TCB is the best distributor to market and support our extensive factual-entertainment catalog around the world and look forward to expanding our new working relationship.”