BBCS Poland & Baltic’s Telia Eesti strike TVF deals

US & China: When Titans Clash

Broadcasters across Central and Eastern Europe have picked up a raft of factual programming, following a slew of deals inked with UK-based distributor TVF International.

Lithuania’s LRT, Estonia’s ERR, Ceska Televize and Poland’s TVN are among those to have acquired anniversary doc 9/11: Escape From The Impact Zone (1 x 45-minutes), which was produced by Testimony Films for the UK’s Channel 5.

Meanwhile, in Poland, pay-TV operator Canal+ Polska took a 4K package and history titles including Underwater Universe Of The Orda Cave (1 x 49-minutes) produced by NHK, A Slow Odyssey: The Great Wall Of China (1 x 90-minutes) from Heart & Soul Films and Asia’s Ancient Civilisations (4 x 48-minutes) from Mediacorp. Meanwhile, another Mediacorp’s production, US & China: When Titans Clash (4 x 48-minutes), was picked up by National Geographic Channel for Poland, Hungary and Romania.

Elsewhere, BBC Studios snapped up Channel 4 commissioned Jimmy’s Big Bee Rescue (2 x 45-minutes) from Red Sky Productions for their BBC Earth channel in Poland and Polsat acquired a package including Mediacorp’s Deciphering Japan (4 x 48-minutes) and Japan From Above (2 x 52-minutes) from Tokyovision.

Also in Poland, Idea Ventures licensed more than 50 hours of health and food programming, including Tern TV’s Inside The Children’s Hospital (16 x 30-minutes), The Healthy Food Guide (10 x 23-minutes) produced by Top Shelf productions and Active TV-produced The Food Files (45 x 23-minutes).

In Central Europe, telecoms firm Telia Eesti licensed more than 60 hours of wildlife programming including Jimmy’s Big Bee Rescue (2 x 45-minutes), Spring At Jimmy’s Farm (4 x 45-minutes) and Autumn At Jimmy’s Farm (4 x 45-minutes), all produced by Red Sky Productions for Channel 4. The package also featured wildlife series Animal Instincts (8 x 60-minutes), produced by NHK Enterprises for NHK.

Serbian pubcaster JMU Srbije acquired a package of 60 hours of content for RTS Science Channel including Eco-Eye: Sustainable Solutions (30 x 25-minutes), and Channel News Asia commissions Coming Clean About Green (3 x 46-minutes), Chasing Scarcity (2 x 48-miinutes) and The Longest Day (4 x 48-minutes). It also acquired arts one-off Can Art Stop a Bullet (1 x 60-minutes) produced by Australia’s F- reel Productions.

Meanwhile, DOX TV licensed documentary series and singles including TV Burabha’s The Snake Master (26 x 45-minutes), true-crime special The Big Boss: A 21st Century Criminal (2 x 47-minutes) from Channel NewsAsia, and investigative one-off The Boeing 737 Max: What Went Wrong? (1 x 47-minutes) produced by Arrow Media for Channel 4.

“Our activity in Central Eastern Europe has remained strong and steady throughout the year,” commented Serafina Pang, TVF international’s senior sales executive for Central Eastern Europe. “Despite challenging circumstances as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are delighted that TVF International’s programming continues to connect in the region, on multiple channels and viewers across CEE and beyond.”