ORF-Enterprise closes Mipcom deals with Disney, Canal+, Samsung and GSN

Tatort: Vienna is the long-running Austrian iteration of German police drama Tatort

Vienna-based distributor ORF-Enterprise has sealed a string of international licensing deals from last week’s Mipcom, including first-time sales to The Walt Disney Company in Portugal and to Canal+ for Austria.

Armin Luttenberger

The sales cover Europe, North America and Asia, and span broadcast, streaming, FAST, home entertainment and onboard platforms. The distributor, which is the distribution arm of Austrian public broadcaster ORF, said the licensed content spans Austrian fiction, established crime brands, premium factual programming from ORF Universum and selected catalogue titles.

Disney has acquired a slate of 10 Tatort: Vienna television movies for Portugal. Canal+, meanwhile, has licensed an extensive fiction package for Austria, including Kafka, Weber & Breitfuß, nine seasons of Four Women & a Funeral, The Curious Case of Gerti B, Backwoods Crimes, all three instalments of In the Shadow of Fear, Lights Out, Kottan’s Investigations and Kaisermühlen Blues.

GSN, the company behind Walter Presents, has taken seasons 18 to 20 of crime series Soko Kitzbuehel for the US and Canada, and Austrian-Portuguese drama Jones for the UK and Ireland. Mainstream Media has taken The Nosy Brothers and a 26-episode Tatort: Vienna package for crime channel Der Krimikanal, and Samsung TV Plus has selected a package of titles including The Nosy Brothers, Old Money, The Kebab Incident, Polt and Dave for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

On the factual side, Portuguese public broadcaster RTP has acquired a package led by season one of Glambitious, along with premium factual titles including Superfish – Wild Salmon, Mission Sea Otter – Saving California’s Kelp Forests and Zealandia – The Hidden Continent. Italy’s Rai has renewed Beauty & Despair – Austria’s Empress Sisi.

Furthermore, Canal+ Polska has selected Connemara – Ireland’s Savage Beauty and Mission Sea Otter, while Canal+ in France has acquired both instalments of Vanishing Kings – Lions of the Namib and Russia’s Revenant – The Return of the Siberian Tiger.

RTBF in Belgium has picked up Mission Sea Otter. PTS in Taiwan has bought a wildlife and travel package, and National Geographic Channels has taken Alpine documentary Vertical Worlds – Between Abyss & Refuge, after acquiring Java & Bali – The Element of Surprise and Guatemala – The Sacred Animals of the Maya. High View has bought a selection of mountain documentaries and Germany’s BR has added festive production Zauberhafte Weihnacht.

“New customers are discovering our fiction, established partners are expanding their commitment with blue-chip factual, and proven library titles are gaining fresh relevance on thematic and FAST services,” said Armin Luttenberger, head of content sales international at ORF-Enterprise.

CEO Matthias Seiringer said the sales have a wider significance: “For ORF-Enterprise, international sales are both an important growth driver and a meaningful contribution to the global visibility of Austria’s creative industry,” he said.