ZDF

Walter Presents heads down The River

On-demand service Walter Presents has acquired rights to new Norwegian drama The River in the UK, US and Australia. Canal+ in Poland, ZDF in Germany and Yandex in Russia have also bought the 8x60mins series, which UK-based DRG launched at MIPCOM last year. The River is based on real events and set in a close-knit […]

ZDFE merges factual and entertainment under Rückauer

ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) has consolidated its factual and entertainment wings under doc chief Ralf Rückauer. ZDFE.entertainment and ZDFE.factual have now merged to become ZDFE.unscripted. Rückauer, who previously led factual, is in charge of the merged division, with entertainment boss Sylvia Brucker remaining focused on that genre within the bigger group. This comes after ZDFE’s long-serving […]

ZDFE packaging ‘envelope-pushing’ drama

Germany’s ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) is working with LA’s Rosa Entertainment to package an “envelope-pushing” drama from Jason and Chris Thornton. The commercial arm of German pubcaster ZDF has pre-bought The Incorruptibles, and will handle international distribution. Rosa’s Sidney Sherman is executive producer, alongside ZDFE’s Robert Franke and the Thornton brothers, who are both writer/directors. The […]

ZDFE chief Coridass to exit after 25 years

ZDF Enterprises president and CEO Alexander Coridass has resigned after a quarter of a century with the German sales operation. Coridass was one of the co-founders of ZDFE, the sales arm of German pubcaster ZDF, in 1992. He will leave at the end of the year, with Fred Burcksen and Stephan Adrian replacing him as […]

ProSiebenSat.1 wants new PSB regime & funding

German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has called for public funding to be made available to commercial networks to support public service broadcasting that can “reach a larger number of young people”. Proposing what it described as Medienordnung 4.0 – or ‘Media Regulations 4.0’ – the broadcaster said that it hoped to prompt a discussion about the realignment […]

Hulu to stream ZDF ballet time-travel drama

US streaming service Hulu had acquired exclusive VOD rights to Find Me in Paris, the time-travel-meets-ballet drama from ZDF and Cottonwood Media. The series, which comes from Ride co-creators Jill Girling and Lori Mather-Welch, will premiere in the US on the broadcast-backed VOD service as a result. Hulu has been making headlines in the past […]

ZDF buys into UK indie World Media Rights

ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) has made its first investment in the UK production market, taking a 32.5% stake in factual-focused World Media Rights (WMR). Adjacent to the deal is a board restructure at Blacks Ops producer WMR, with David McNab (above right) and ZDFE VP of corporate and portfolio strategy Tanja Meier-Sieden joining existing members. Veteran […]

Deal round up: Fremantle pitches in with Tent City

FremantleMedia North America has scored a production deal with US prodco Tent City Entertainment, to-line news in today’s round up. The deal will see FremantleMedia’s US arm working with Tent City co-founders and former LMNO Productions execs Lori Rothschild Ansaldi and Lisa Bourgoujian (pictured) on true crime programming. LA-based Tent City is known for shows […]

German pubcasters miss Discovery Olympics deal

German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have failed to secure a deal with Discovery to air coverage of the Olympic Games from 2018-2024. Discovery will make coverage of the games available free-to-view on its Eurosport channel. The broadcaster said that its Eurosport 1 channel in Germany would offer the country “every moment of national importance” on […]

Broadcaster streaming services beat Netflix, Amazon

Streaming services from broadcasters and pay TV operators are giving Netflix and Amazon Prime Video a run for their money in France, Germany and the UK, according to new research. Data from research house App Annie analysing monthly active users shows YouTube is the most popular destination for video streaming in the three major European […]