BBC Studios has announced that it has renewed and expanded its long-standing partnership with Movistar Plus+ in Spain. The news comes ahead of BBC Studios’ annual Showcase event. The new agreement will see BBC Studios increase its content offering in the market with the debut of multi-genre VOD service, BBC Player, the launch of additional FAST channels, and a recommitment to premium natural history and BBC Earth content acquisitions.
BBC Studios and Movistar Plus+ have worked collaboratively to bring powerful, entertaining and inspiring stories to Spanish audiences for the past decade. Together they have successfully grown the BBC Earth brand in the region premiering award-winning natural history content from Planet Earth III to Mammals and have brought a raft of premium drama series to local audiences such as "Time 2" and the award-winning "Blue Lights".
Last month saw the introduction of four FAST channels to the Movistar Plus+ channel portfolio drawing on BBC Studios extensive and high-quality catalogue across all genres. BBC Top Gear" and BBC Drama sit alongside BBC Food and BBC History which were specifically curated for Movistar Plus + subscribers. Under the expanded multi-year agreement, Movistar Plus+ will introduce two further FAST channels later this year.
Alongside the expansion of the BBC Studios FAST channels in Spain, Movistar Plus + will be the launch partners for BBC Player in the region later this year. The multi-genre BBC branded VOD product will feature up to 1000 hours of curated content from the BBC Studios catalogue, home of the most powerful, entertaining and inspiring stories.
Curated specifically for the Spanish audience, BBC Player will feature a mixture of scripted and unscripted titles including "The Louis Theroux Interviews", "Simon Reeve’s South America" and "Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job" and upon launch will premiere future commissions of "Father Brown and Paradise" brand titles, "Death in Paradise", "Beyond Paradise" and "Return to Paradise". The service will be available to all subscribers to Paquete Movistar+. Movistar Plus+ will also act as BBC Studios’ advertising sales partner exclusively for the FAST channels inventory on Movistar Plus+ as well as for Player’s VOD advertising when the service launches.
BBC Studios and Movistar Plus+ have also renewed their commitment to a partnership around natural history and factual programming. The extended agreement will see a continuation of a dedicated BBC Earth branded block premiering the much-anticipated reimagining of one of the BBC’s best loved factual shows, "Kingdom" and "Blue Planet III" which will take the wonder, immersion, and discovery of the Blue Planet brand to extraordinary new depths.
Arran Tindall, Chief Commercial Officer, EVP – EMEA Key Markets, BBC Studios highlighted the extension of the agreements between both companies: “This expansion of our decade-long relationship demonstrates how BBC Studios is able to respond and adapt to our key partners’ needs and benefit their customers. The growth of BBC Player and FAST channels in EMEA is a core part of our strategy, offering complementary products that utilise our broad and high-quality content catalogue and provide opportunities to find new audiences in new markets. I’m thrilled that Movistar Plus+ have come on board as a launch partner for BBC Player in Spain alongside their long-established content relationship with us," explained.
Meanwhile, Janet Brown, President, Global Content Sales, BBC Studios referred to the wide range of offerings that the Spanish audience will have access to.: “Our partnership with Movistar Plus+ continues to thrive because we share a commitment to delivering entertaining stories that spark conversations. Our homegrown content, including crime dramas, natural history, science, and high-end documentaries, resonates strongly with Spanish audiences. This expanded agreement offers even more ways to connect and entertain audiences in the region with the content they love and deserve," commented.
Finally, Ismael Calleja, Partnerships Director at Movistar Plus+ sees this agreement as a key advantage amid the saturated market: “The expansion of our partnership with BBC Studios demonstrates Movistar Plus+’s commitment to quality content that is valuable to our customers. In addition to premium content from the likes of BBC Earth and new series such as Blue Lights, we are incorporating up to six new BBC channels and launching the BBC Player service with its on-demand catalogue in Spain for the first time, which all our customers will be able to enjoy. In a market saturated with audiovisual offerings, Movistar Plus+ continues to be committed to excellence as a differentiating factor and in this sense we are very satisfied to have BBC Studios as a strategic partner;" highlighted.
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