It was just before the pandemic, in 2019, when the two broadcasters strengthened their first partnership, whereby they joined forces to develop and produce non-scripted historical fact content with the quality that identifies them.
The first of these was One Planet: Seven Words, from BBC unit Natural Studios, the highly acclaimed 7-part documentary series that audiences of both networks were able to enjoy in their respective countries.
Other works followed: Death in Paradise, Frozen Planet II, A Perfect Planet and The Green Planet; in addition, the first scripted co-production between the two companies, The Chelsea Detective, received critical acclaim across Europe and Germany, reaching an audience of 2.4 million, 2% above ZDF‘s average market share.
In that sense, both companies once again join creative forces to extend this fruitful alliance.
‘The impact of the strategic partnership between BBC Studios and ZDF in recent years has been remarkable, with award-winning titles like Frozen Planet II and new scripted commissions like The Chelsea Detective only made possible with that initial backing’, comments Nick Percy, President of Global Markets at BBC Studios.
Meanwhile, the content director of ZDF, Nadine Bilke, specifies that the renewal of this alliance follows the company’s strategy of opening up to co-production with key players in the field of broadcasters. ‘Since 2019 we have been working together on extraordinary, high-quality productions that enrich the ZDF programming and inspire viewers. We are delighted to be able to continue and further expand this cooperation with BBC Studios’.
Another important point that both executives advance is that this new agreement also expands the first option in pre-sales and acquisitions in the BBC Studios catalog of scripted content and all the events that are available in Germany. Confirmed pre-sales include Kingdoms from BBC Studios‘ Natural History Unit and first-run exclusives from Make Me Famous and Mood, as well as free TV premieres of This is Going to Hurt and The Outlaws for ZDFneo.
‘This renewal is a win for audiences not just in the UK and Germany, but also internationally, as partnerships like this with shared editorial values allow us to deliver more ambitious, premium programming’, adds Percy.
The multi-year agreement, in addition to maximizing non-scripted content, will also focus on joint development of fictional television content, with both companies working on scripts from across BBC Studios’ portfolio of content. This is a natural step after ZDF‘s first co-production with AMC Network‘s Acorn TV for The Chelsea Detective, instructed under the initial partnership with BBC Studios, whose already in the work on a second series.
