Pumpkin Film, TVNZ among APAC buyers of 1,000 hours of content from ITV Studios

David Tennant as Alexander Litvinenko in ITV miniseries Litvinenko

Broadcasters and platforms across the Asia-Pacific region have acquired more than 1,000 hours of scripted and unscripted programming from ITV Studios, including three-part drama Nolly, comedy favourite Schitt’s Creek and upcoming miniseries Litvinenko.

Pumpkin Film in China, Now TV in Hong Kong and New Zealand’s TVNZ have picked up ITVX original Nolly, which comes from writer Russell T Davies and is produced by Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street Productions.

Japan’s TFC/Star Channel and Thailand’s TrueVisions have licensed BBC One drama Vigil, with the latter broadcaster also picking up three seasons of ITV crime series The Bay and half-hour Canadian comedy Schitt’s Creek.

In India, Viacom18 has picked up four-part ITVX drama Litvinenko, starring David Tennant as murdered Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko, ahead of its premiere on December 15. BookMyShow Stream has acquired the TVoD rights to Litvinenko in India, in addition to Karen Pirie, Our House, Bancroft, Pembrokeshire Murders, A Confession, Endeavour, Grace and Murder in Provence.

TVNZ has also licensed relationship drama You & Me and coming-of-age drama Tell Me Everything, I in addition to The Walk-In, The Dry, Tom Jones, season two of The Tower and season four of The Bay.

ITV Studios announced the deals ahead of the Asia Television Forum, which kicked off on Wednesday in Singapore.

In Australia, Viaplay Group has acquired seasons one and two of US drama Hunters and Swedish crime thriller Jordskott for Viaplay Select on SBS On Demand. SBS On Demand has also acquired The Dry, while ITV drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat has been pre-sold to BritBox Australia.

On the natural history side, wildlife series A Year On Planet Earth has been picked up by Now TV in Hong Kong and PTS in Taiwan. Other deals saw Korea’s KBS acquire Mother Nature and Singapore’s Mediacorp license The Wild Landscapes of China and Attenborough’s Global Adventure.

Elsewhere, three-parter Alan Carr’s Adventures with Agatha Christie has been acquired by TVNZ, Australia’s Seven and Taiwan’s PTS, while TVNZ has picked up HMP: Behind Bars and The Murder of Logan Mwangi and Sky New Zealand has acquired The Prince’s Master Crafters.

In addition, ITV Studios has renewed its output deal with Korea Telecom for an eighth year. The deal, which covers scripted and unscripted, includes The Bay, Grace, The Tower, The Museum, Bump and Great Barrier Reef: Next Generation.