TVP Polish Television, the largest public broadcaster in Poland, which constantly adapts its programming offer to the expectations of viewers and the demands of the domestic and foreign market, had a successful 2023 and is preparing to achieve great goals this year.
Polish Television’s international sales team was able to close several package deals in the LATAM and MENA territories, covering dozens of titles. Among its latest productions, the high-budget World War II espionage series ‘The bay of spies’, which premiered in January with more than 2 million views on TV, stands out. Also, the romantic comedy ‘The love buzz’, released in Polish cinemas and 14 other European territories on February 9.
TVP‘s catalog also includes the crime series ‘Profiler’, about a reputed police profiler facing her own trauma. Also, the costume drama series ‘Mathilde,’ about a rebellious young woman, daughter of a participant in the 19th century January Uprising in Poland. The six-episode contemporary comedy drama ‘We shall be living together’ focused on the Ukrainian community living in Poland after fleeing their home country because of the war. New drama titles include ‘Shattered games‘, which explores the history and influence of Poland on the game of chess in the early 20th century; and ‘Loonies‘, about a pair of thieves we meet the day they are released from prison.
‘Latin America is a territory of great potential for us. In 2023 we closed a package of more than 200 hours of series and feature films that includes TVP’s flagship productions such as the series “Wartime girls”, “Archivist” or “Our century”, as well as renowned feature films such as “The Butler” or “Karbala”. All programs will be dubbed into Spanish and Portuguese to adapt to the language localization requirements of the market,’ said Urszula Suszko, master chief executive, international sales at TVP Polish Television.
Additionally, TVP Polish Television is discussing the sale of format rights to its 13-season series «I’ll be fine». The series is a gentle comedy full of humor and emotions in which two worlds collide: that of ordinary people living from day to day and that of wealthy lawyers. The format rights for this series have already been sold to the territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
In recent years, the company has also developed unscripted formats that have been very popular with Polish viewers and are believed to appeal to international audiences as well. These are ‘Sanatorio de amor’ and ‘Camper‘, the latter title having been acquired by an agent in Uruguay.
‘There is a constant interest in our religious content, such as «Love and Mercy» and «Faustine». Last year, «Love and Mercy» was re-released in theaters in Puerto Rico. In addition, we also see great potential for our documentary catalog and its educational value, last year we sold a package of documentary titles to Mexico, including «Madres de alquiler», «Surrogates in Ukraine», «Lebanon-Explosion of Anger», «Wartime portraits» or «The Courier»‘ added Urszula Suszko.
‘We want to focus on our formats, both scripted and unscripted, especially «Camper». The format focuses on hard work, but there is also a lot of laughter and joy showing a caravan trip from the Polish coast to the mountains. On the 2,500-kilometer route, the participants fight against adversity and their own weaknesses and compete for a fantastic main prize. The participants in the program are couples of young influencers, tiktokers and YouTubers (5 people) with their companions: friends, siblings and fiancés’.
‘We see significant potential in this market for costume drama series such as, for example, «Moth haunting», produced last year, or the recent «Mathilde». With the recent increase in popularity of European dramas such as «Marie Antoinette» in Latin America, we believe that LATAM audiences are developing a strong preference for this type of content. This trend could be leveraged for pay-TV and SVOD platforms’ commented Suszko.
TVP Polish Television has a large volume of valuable documentary titles, focusing on well-established networks in the region, such as History Channel, A&E, Arte1 and Globo, so that its content is present. North America is a territory the company intends to develop in the future, as the United States is home to a huge Polish diaspora, and North American audiences are very interested in Polish history.
‘Our recent historical productions, such as «Filip», «The pilecki report» and «March 68», were sold for SVOD platforms in the U.S., so we believe this trend will continue in the future. Other territories are also developing, such as Asia, which is a challenge for us and where we want to continue to collaborate to be present with our content’ closed Suszko.
