Discovery calls for medics in Sweden

LA SCREENINGS: Discovery Networks Sweden (DNS) is on the look-out for medical dramas and crime procedurals, following the cancellation of CSI and ahead of the launch of its OTT service.

Katarina Eriksson

Katarina Eriksson, director of acquisitions at DNS is here in LA with a shopping list for general entertainment channel Kanal 5, male-skewing Kanal 9 and female-skewing Kanal 11, as well as the soon-to-launch streaming service DPlay Sweden.

“US series are still well received on our channels, but of course it’s getting more and more difficult to launch new series,” Eriksson told C21, touting established series such as Grey’s Anatomy and The Big Bang Theory as the ones working best for DNS.

“I’m curious to see if there are any good medical dramas out there that I can buy, since Grey’s Anatomy is getting old. There hasn’t been a good medical drama out for a while,” Eriksson added.

The exec is also hunting a crime procedural that can replace CSI, which has been cancelled by CBS after 15 seasons, and sit alongside spin-off CSI: Cyber, which was renewed for a second season last week.

Discovery Networks International (DNI), which acquired SBS Nordic from Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 Group in December 2012 for US$1.7bn, has now dropped the SBS brand from its group of channels in Sweden, which previously went under the SBS Discovery Media banner.

DNI is now gearing up to launch DPlay, its online platform offering content from across its Nordic channels on-demand. It will also launch later this year Norway, Finland and Denmark, where it already available in beta mode.

Eriksson said that because of the high broadband penetration and levels of illegal streaming and downloading of series in the Nordics, it is vital that DNS has digital rights to the programming it acquires.

“Flexible deals are very important, as we want to be able to provide our viewers with a proper catch-up service,” Eriksson added, while expressing concerns of the European Commissions plans to abolish geo-blocking.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how that all pans out. If it happens, it would make doing deals with the US companies almost impossible,” Eriksson said.

The EC recently clarified its position on the issue of copyright infringement, saying that it does not want to change “the principle of the territoriality of rights.”