Austria’s ORF Enterprises ends Mipcom with factual sales to Rai, Canal+, Arte

Austria’s Wild Heritage – One Country, Six National Parks

Italian pubcaster Rai and French pay TV operator Canal+ have picked up factual content from ORF Enterprises, the sales arm of Austrian pubcaster ORF, in deals agreed at last week’s Mipcom conference.

Content made by ORF’s in-house nature prodco Universum has proven popular, with Rai buying the documentaries Leopard Legacy and Water of Life – Wilderness, Whisky, Highlands.

German distributor Polyband has also bought Leopard Legacy along with Russia’s Revenant – The Return of the Siberian Tiger for DVD release, with both shows also being picked up by Belgian public channel RTBF.

Meanwhile, Canal+ has acquired two shows – Wild Caribbean: Rhythms of Life and The Canary Islands – for its Ethiopian audience.

Elsewhere, Germany’s WDR and French distributor Arte have bought Austria’s Wild Heritage – One Country, Six National Parks, with Arte also buying history one-off special Maria Theresa’s Vampire Hunter.

ORF has also secured deals for drama series, with Danish pubcaster TV2 buying a bulk package of select episodes of classic German detective series Tatort, which has been running since the 1970s.

Canal+ has bought Austrian crime series Soko Kitzbuehel for its French audience, while Polar Germany has taken the DVD rights to 20th and final season of the show.

Finally, viewers in Canada will be able to watch the Viennese animated series Rookie Robot Explores the World on the Canadian Knowledge Network.