Hunan Satellite Television and ITV Studios sign partnership deal

Reaching more than 58 million viewers domestically, Hunan TV will license multiple formats over three years. ITV Studios and Hunan TV will also co-develop, create and own these new unscripted formats. The new entertainment programmes will be broadcasted during primetime viewing from and will be produced locally by Hunan TV. ITV Studios will represent the worldwide rights outside China for the finished and formatted versions.

The announcement was made by Ouyang Changlin, president of Hunan Television and Lee Bartlett, MD of ITV Studios. Changlin said: “I believe that the collaboration will bring Hunan TV’s entry into the international market one step closer. We look forward to the delivery of the new shows to our audience cross China.”

Bartlett added: “China’s television format industry has tremendous potential for international growth and, until now, has been relatively untapped. The deal exemplifies how we have changed the way we’re doing business and created unrivalled creative collaborations.”

ITV Studios is based in the UK, USA, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Brazil and Australia and is the creator, producer and distributor of worldwide television formats including the primetime hit shows Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Hunan Satellite has boosted its viewer ratings with popular talent show like Super Girl, Ugly Wudi, the Chinese version of western show Ugly Betty, and is one of the top satellite TV stations in China in terms of ad revenue.