BBCWW’s Showcase stays in Liverpool

BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) has agreed a deal that will see its flagship sales event Showcase remain in Liverpool until at least 2019.

The agreement means the world’s biggest single-distributor TV sales market will continue to be held at Liverpool’s Arena and Convention Centre for the next three years, with organisers of the 2016 event claiming it generated more than £1.5m (US$1.99m) in economic impact.

The sales market, held every year in February, attracts around 700 of the world’s TV and digital buyers.

Showcase, which has been held in Liverpool since 2012, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2016, having grown from its first outing that was held in a Brighton pub and attracted 25 TV buyers.

In related news, BBC2 will air a 1×120′ doc about the life of tennis star Serena Williams on Sunday. Serena, from Film45, is executively produced by Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights), directed by Ryan White (Good Ol’ Freda, Case Against 8) and distributed globally by FremantleMedia International.