Nine to visit Planet Earth II

Australian commercial channel Nine Network has acquired local premiere rights to Planet Earth II, which scored huge ratings for the BBC in the UK this week.

The BBC Studios Natural History Unit-produced series took 9.2 million viewers on its premiere on Sunday, making it the biggest-rating natural history programme in the UK for 15 years.

The original Planet Earth debuted ten years ago, and is one of the most influential wildlife shows of recent times.

“Ten years after launch, Planet Earth still stands as a landmark natural history series, the first to be filmed in high-definition,” said Nine programme director Hamish Turner. “We’re thrilled to have secured this stunning sequel coming to Nine in 2017.”

The 6x60mins Planet Earth II is a coproduction of BBC Studios NHU, BBC America, ZDF, Tencent and France Télévisions. Using new camera techniques, remote recording and aerial technology, the show features animal behaviours never before observed by humans.

“This is a spectacular series that has all the wow-factor of the original Planet Earth, with the added benefit of new technology to capture the scale of our planet and get close to its animals in a way that was not possible ten years ago. Nine will be able to offer viewers a real treat with this series.”

The BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, is selling the series. “This is a spectacular series that has all the wow-factor of the original Planet Earth, with the added benefit of new technology to capture the scale of our planet and get close to its animals in a way that was not possible ten years ago,” said BBCWW Australia and New Zealand’s director of content sales, Irene Read.

BBCWW ANZ restructured its sales team recently, with Read overseeing an enlarged business that also includes head of content sales Deborah Tod and format sales manager Sam Stacey.