Megavision inks NBCU output deal

Megavision, the second largest broadcaster in Chile, has inked a three year output deal with NBC Universal International Television as it looks to close the gap with leading broadcaster TVN.

Francisco Henriquez, programming director at Megavision, said that the deal would include a range of movies as well as TV series such as The Bionic Woman. "American series and movies are very popular in Chile and are becoming even more popular in primetime," he said.

Megavision’s recorded an audience share of 9.1% in 2006 compared to TVN’s 10.3% and hopes that the acquisition of hit US series will boost this rating.

The broadcaster is also shopping for formats. Henriquez is in talks with format companies such as 2waytraffic and Distraction to make local versions of gameshows. "Formats are especially big because viewers see them as local productions from Megavision. Only TV executives look to the end to see where they are from," he added.