BBC Worldwide inked a deal with South Korean cable TV platform Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (JTBC) at Showcase 2017 that sees more than 500 hours of science, natural history and documentary content land in South Korea.
Among the titles heading to JTBC is The Hunt. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, The Hunt explores the relationship between predators and their prey. The program comes from the executive producers of Blue Planet and Planet Earth. The deal also features Wild Japan, which examines the vast range of landscapes in the highly industrialized archipelago, with each episode detailing how humans interact with nature.
Atlantic: Wildest Ocean is also part of the sale. The program reveals secrets of the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, Wild Patagonia and Big Blue Live are headed to JTBC. The former uncovers interesting wildlife in Patagonia, while the latter looks at the success of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and is presented by Steve Backshall, Matt Baker, Liz Bonnin and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
These programs are now available on JTBC viewers’ set-top boxes, as well as online, subtitled in Korean. JTBC is owned by JoongAng Media Network (JMnet), one of South Korea’s largest media conglomerates.
Soojin Chung, the General Manager for Northeast Asia at BBC Worldwide, commented, “We are very excited that BBC’s natural history and factual content has been a hit with JTBC’s viewers. Our relationship with JTBC started in 2012 with just one natural-history title. The continued demand for BBC’s premium documentaries is an indication of its appeal to viewers. With this new deal, we hope to be able to deliver more premium quality, inspiring content to fans across South Korea.”
Su-young Lee, head of programming at JTBC, said, “BBC’s factual programs have become increasingly popular on the channel. We are very glad to partner with BBC Worldwide to deliver the quality of factual programs that our viewers demand. I look forward to working with BBC Worldwide to develop more exciting opportunities for our fans in Korea.”
