ITV is present at this year’s MIPCOM Cannes, and during the first day of the market it presented various news regarding its business and content catalog. Among the novelties, the company announced it has renewed its content partnership with The Seven Network, confirmed a new sale for its dating format “My Mum, Your Dad” in Brazil, and shared the news of a new digital label to launch next year, Zoo 55.
25+ YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH SEVEN NETWORK
The company has renewed its long standing output deal with The Seven Network until 2029. This multi-year agreement will see Seven extend its first look agreement for all ITV scripted and non-scripted finished content from around the world to run across Seven’s suite of channels and platforms.
Among the new scripted titles that will premiere on Seven are the psychological thriller “The Crow Girl” (Buccaneer Media for Paramount+). They join well known returners such as the most watched UK drama of the 21st Century Line of Duty (World Productions for the BBC) and the highly acclaimed and long-running detective dramas The Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury Films for CBC and UKTV), Vera (Silverprint Pictures for ITV) and Endeavour (Mammoth Screen for ITV).
Seven’s Angus Ross, Group Managing Director, Television, said: “Seven and ITV have been partners for more than two decades and we are delighted to extend this long-term partnership. ITV content is an important part of our schedule across the Seven TV channels and our rapidly growing 7plus streaming platform. ITV has some great shows that Australians are going to love.”
Augustus Dulgaro, EVP Asia Pacific Global Partnerships, ITV Studios added: “I’m so pleased to continue this fantastic partnership with Angus and the team at Seven. Given the challenging macroeconomic conditions, this deal underscores the importance of long term relationships and brand alignment in the market. We’re delighted to see so much of our content find a home on Australia’s no.1 network, speaking to the commercial quality of our catalog and upcoming slate."
“MY MUM, YOUR DAD” COMING TO BRAZIL ON GLOBOPLAY
Moreover, ITV Studios announced that its dating format “My Mum, Your Dad” has been commissioned by Globoplay in Brazil. Produced locally by Formata the Brazilian edition will be the third new international market this year to bring the heartwarming show to viewers. Production is already underway and the series is set to launch on Globoplay in 2025.
The announcement comes as “My Mum, Your Dad” continues its global success, with its second season in the UK premiering this September and performing strongly on ITVX, becoming the platform’s No.1 non-scripted title of the last two weeks of September. Alongside the launch of season two in the UK, two new versions have premiered this year: in Poland (“Moja mama i twój tata”) and in French Canada (“Ma Mère, Ton Père”), being the #1 in its time slot with 23.9% market share.
Ruth Berry, Managing Director of Global Partnerships at ITV Studios, said: "I absolutely cannot wait to see ‘My Mum, Your Dad’ in Brazil, what an exciting step for the format to make its debut in Latin America. We’re confident it will resonate with local tastes and be absolutely vibrant, sparking even more interest in the format globally.”
DIGITAL LABEL ZOO 55 TO LAUNCH IN 2025
Finally, the company announced that it would take its existing digital business to new heights by evolving it into its own label - Zoo 55. Martin Trickey, who joins from WarnerBros International TV Production in January 2025, will be Managing Director, Zoo 55, reporting to Ruth Berry President, Global Partnerships & Zoo 55. Graham Haigh, currently EVP Digital, will partner with Martin as COO.
Set to launch in early 2025, Zoo 55 aims to be a leading force in digital entertainment on a global scale - taking more ITV Studios brands even further into digital including YouTube channels, social media and streaming platforms, building on the existing portfolio of 140 owned and operated channels on YouTube, 18 FAST channels across 17 territories and 100+ platform feeds globally. It will exploit more of the 90,000+ hours in the ITV Studios catalogue to see a number of new channels launching across AVOD and FAST, as well as creating environments for audiences to engage with its brands on immersive platforms like Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft. As part of the launch plans, Metavision, the creative agency and studio led by Ashley Lewis, will migrate from ITV PLC to under the Zoo 55 banner.
Martin Trickey, said: “To be in at the start of any new venture is exciting but being asked to take the Managing Director role at Zoo 55 is an unparalleled opportunity. I know that with Ruth’s guidance and Graham’s experience we can grow Zoo 55 into a formidable digital content business.”
Ruth Berry, added: “It is such an exciting time to be taking this area of the business to a whole new level - we’re ready, we’re experts at selling to audiences who come to the same places for the content they love, but more and more our end viewer is on the move so we want to engage with them in different ways wherever they are. Martin and Graham will be a dream team taking the business forwards as Zoo 55. Without a doubt, this venture works hand in glove with Global Partnerships as the streaming world expands across Free and Pay worlds. In part it's an evolution of our windowing strategy and the teams being in lockstep is critical.”
Graham Haigh, concluded: “We've spent the last few years building a robust, successful digital business, taking our super brands and IP onto new platforms and delivering new audiences in this space. To evolve this work into the launch of Zoo 55 is incredibly exciting and I'm really looking forward to partnering with both Martin and Ruth to drive further growth in this ever-changing space.”
In his former role as Group Head of Digital at WarnerBros International TV Production, Martin was responsible for developing and implementing the International production Group’s digital strategy, as well as digital content for brands, broadcasters and streamers. He provided strategic direction, insight and connection to platforms such YouTube, Snap, Meta and TikTok. He worked across well known titles such as "The Voice," "Super Nanny," "First Dates" and "The Bachelor" planning and executing the monetisation of IP. He also led the global social media marketing team as they explored new content types, revenue models and ways to reinvigorate and reinvent existing brands. Prior to this, he was Creative Director of Twofour Digital, part of ITV Studios and Head of Cross Platform Production for the BBC. He began his time at the BBC in 2007 as Comedy and Entertainment Commissioning Executive BBC and held the position for four years.
In his role as EVP, Global Digital Partnerships, Graham Haigh has been instrumental to the expansion of ITV Studios’ global Direct to Consumer and digital content strategies, interfacing with partners such as Samsung, Google, Meta, Amazon, Pluto and TikTok to create product offerings in the social, FAST and AVOD space.