The UK’s ITV Studios Global Entertainment has signed a multi-year output deal with Tencent, under which the Chinese internet giant will license more than a 100 hours of programming annually from ITV.
Shows covered by the deal include Golden Globe award-winning drama Dancing On The Edge; recent series of detective dramas Endeavour and Murdoch Mysteries, and comedy Miranda. Directed by Stephen Poliakoff and produced by the BBC, Dancing On The Edge is about a black jazz band in London in the early 1930s.
ITV also inked a separate multi-year deal with Shanghai Media Group for more than 120 hours of programming annually, including reality TV shows Hell’s Kitchen USA and Dancing On Ice. Meanwhile, China’s Sohu Video took Sundance Channel drama Rectify from ITV.
UK TV programming is proving extremely popular with Chinese audiences who are accessing content through online video sites – especially dramas such as Sherlock and Downton Abbey, which are both top-rating shows on Youku Tudou. Tencent has a dedicated channel for UK content on its streaming platform v.qq.com.