ZDF makes a killing in Latin America

German distributor ZDF Enterprises has sold the original version of Scandinavian crime drama The Killing across Latin America following the success of the show on the BBC.

The company has sold the first two seasons of Forbrydelsen, which is produced by Danish public broadcaster DR, to Brazil’s Globosat and DirecTV Panamericana. The pay TV broadcaster covers markets across the region including Argentina, the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela and the US Virgin Islands.

This comes as the original, subtitled series was a smash hit for British public broadcaster BBC, which aired it on its digital network BBC4. The show consistently saw ratings above 500,000 viewers, often doubling the audience for its other imported hit, Mad Men.

Fred Burcksen, VP, sales, merchandising and coproductions, ZDF Enterprises, told TBIvision that it has been distributing the series for four years but has recently had a sales boost. “We were quite successful selling the series then the BBC picked it up and we’ve subsequently sold it to a number of new territories that we hadn’t sold to previously,” he said.

Burcksen adds that it is also in talks with Asian buyers to acquire the murder mystery.

The show is also airing in the States, where cable network AMC produced a local version with Fox TV Studios.

Forbrydelsen is currently in production for season three.