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Once again ZDF Enterprises has recorded outstanding sales figures at MIPTV. International program buyers at this trade event displayed particular interest in the well-established quality of documentary films produced by ZDF and ZDF Enterprises. Rights for extensive documentary packages were purchased, for example, by YLE in Finland, RTE in Ireland, the Danish DR TV and the French channel TF1. National Geographic Channel snapped up broadcasting rights for the docu-drama "Stauffenberg - The True Story" in Great Britain and for "Abora - Lost on the Atlantic" in the USA, while the Science Channel USA acquired "The Day of the Cyborg". The sales drive "1939/1989", presenting a comprehensive selection of contemporary history programs to mark the anniversary of both the outbreak of World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall, saw The History Channel securing the rights to "The War of the Century" and "The SS" for Britain and Australia; the Discovery Channel also concluded deals for a whole range of contemporary history documentaries from historian Guido Knopp's production department, to be aired in Britain. However, children's programs also attracted a huge amount of interest, with live-action series proving particularly popular. "The Elephant Princess" was sold to NRK, Mega TV Chile, SVT, TV2, TVE, VRT/Ketnet and NPO/Zapp. The rights for the third series of "H²O - Just Add Water" were snapped up by Nickelodeon in Britain, Spain and Portugal and by RTI/Mediaset in Italy, VRT/ Ketnet in Belgium and NPO/Zapp in the Netherlands. Broadcasting rights for the first two series and reruns of this popular program were acquired by Antena 3 for Spain, SIC for Portugal and TV2 for Denmark. And further sales agreements will see the pre-school animation series "Fun with Claude" being shown by NRK in Norway and SVT in Sweden. The most significant deals concluded in the sphere of fiction see a TV movie package sold to TF1, the series "The Air Rescue Team" to the Spanish broadcaster Cuatro, the action series "Hamburg Dockland" to Antena 3 and RTI/Mediaset, the Danish police series "The Killing" to SBS TV in Australia, the telenovela "Julia" to RAI and the family series "Here Comes Kalle" to RTI/Mediaset. Christian Massmann, Head of International Program Sales at ZDF Enterprises, is extremely content: "Even in times of crisis ZDF Enterprises is a reliable partner with a consistently high supply of top quality programs at its disposal." |
