BBC First delivers Zee Café order

Sam Riley in SS-GB

India’s Zee Entertainment has agreed a programming block deal with BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) that will see shows from the latter’s drama-focused BBC First brand airing in the territory.

The BBC First block will launch on Zee Café throughout India from June 26, allowing viewers to watch shows such as Fleming: The Man Who Would be Bond, SS-GB and Doctor Foster.

Aparna Bhosle, business cluster head at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said the availability of “premium British content” had been limited in India but that this latest deal would “strengthen the channel’s proposition of the best of English-language television programmes to its fans.”

In Asia, the BBC drama brand has already launched in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, and as a block in Japan. It is also available in Australia, the Middle East, North Africa, Australia, South Africa, Belgium and the Netherlands.