Left to right: James Honeyborne, Executive Producer of Blue Planet II, Mr Lexian Zhu, Deputy Director of Tencent Penguin Pictures Documentary Studio, David Weiland, EVP Asia, BBC Worldwide Asia and Julian Hector, Head of The Natural History Unit, BBC Studios
BBC Worldwide has announced a co-production deal with Tencent, the leading internet value added services provider in China, for Blue Planet II, the BBC’s landmark natural history series this year.
The agreement, sealed at Mipcom, was signed by Lexian Zhu, Deputy Director of Tencent Penguin Pictures Documentary Studio and David Weiland, EVP Asia, BBC Worldwide Asia. It was witnessed by Stephani Sun, Senior Manager of Tencent Penguin Pictures, Kelvin Yau, GM Greater China, James Honeyborne, Executive Producer of Blue Planet II, and Julian Hector, Head of The Natural History Unit, BBC Studios.
Blue Planet II is the brand new seven-part landmark series from the multi-award winning BBC Studios Natural History Unit,. Broadcast in 2001, multi-award winning The Blue Planet was the Natural History Unit’s unprecedented look at the world’s oceans, the scale and breadth of which had never been seen before. Twenty years on, the team returned to these underwater worlds for Blue Planet II, with even more ambitious filming and a fresh cast of extraordinary aquatic animals, filming off every continent, and in all of the earth’s oceans, to immerse the audience in some of the most expansive but least known parts of our planet. By using cutting-edge breakthroughs in science and technology to explore this final frontier, Blue Planet II will reveal the astonishing characters, otherworldly places and extraordinary new animal behaviours.
It will broadcast simultaneously in China and the UK on Tencent’s v.qq.com platform and video app. Tencent will also distribute Blue Planet II across digital on-demand platforms in Greater China.
“Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, Blue Planet II is set to be another game changer. The team has spent four years mounting 125 expeditions, visited 39 countries, and filmed off every continent and across every ocean,” said David Weiland, EVP, Asia, BBC Worldwide. “We are very excited to be co-producing this landmark series with Tencent whom we have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship. This production partnership is an affirmation of the shared commitment we have in producing ambitious natural history content. Tencent’s involvement will bring this landmark series to a wider audience in Greater China.”
“We’ve been partnering with BBC Worldwide for some time to bring premium documentaries to our audiences in China,” said Mr Lexian Zhu, Deputy Director of Tencent Penguin Pictures Documentary Studio. “Last year, we co-produced Planet Earth II which did extremely well – the entire Planet Earth II album online was viewed over 230 million times in China. We are looking forward to this new co-production partnership for Blue Planet II, and look forward to working with BBC Worldwide on more fruitful and successful partnerships.”
In China, state broadcaster, China Central Television’s documentary channel, CCTV9, is the exclusive TV partner for Blue Planet II.
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Further information:
Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com