News round-up: Vice joins Vuulr; Blue Ant expands FAST channels; ZDFS snags Irish thriller

Dark Side Of The Ring

Vice joins Vuulr

Vice Distribution has struck a deal that will see 1,000 hours of its shows made available via online content marketplace Vuulr.

Titles listed on Vuulr span investigative documentary, entertainment, sport and lifestyle content, including the hit wrestling show Dark Side Of The Ring, which explores the darkest stories from the golden age of professional wrestling.

Other shows available include influencer series Chasing Famous and Devoured, which shines the spotlight on unbelievable stories of how food fuels criminal enterprises and alters the culinary landscape forever.

Bea Hegedus, global head of distribution at the youth-skewing firm, said: “Vice Distribution is a new generation distribution company and we embrace technology and innovation. Vuulr is an innovative marketplace that we see as complementary to our sales team’s activities and we are confident that they will quickly enable us to maximise our potential of reaching even more new buyers around the world.”

Ben Heyhoe Flint, co-founder & COO at Vuulr, added: “[Vice’s] content champions diversity and change, tackling important cultural issues, giving even more variety to our catalogue. We look forward to unlocking new opportunities for VICE Distribution and our 8,000 buyers.”

Vuulr says it has enabled the licensing transactions of over 17,300 hours of content since launch in 2020. Last month, TBI revealed that BBC Studios had become the latest major distributor to sell its shows via the company’s service.

Blue Ant unveils HistoryTime FAST channel

Canada’s Blue Ant Media has launched it latest FAST channel, following a deal with LG.

HistoryTime will debut in the US and Canada on LG Channels, offering an array of shows from its exclusive, history-themed programming library. Its output has included Cold War series M.A.D. World, Who Killed Gandhi?, Frank Lloyd Wright: The Man Who Built America, and Fidel Castro: An Unauthorized Bio.

Blue Ant already operates an array of FAST channels, including wildlife and nature channel, Love Nature, true crime channel Total Crime, home renovation channel Homeful, and paranormal-themed channel HauntTV.

Jamie Schouela, president of global channels & Media at Blue Ant, said the channel “fills a gap in the FAST environment and our exclusive series and documentaries will satisfy history buffs interested in a wide range of topics.”

ZDF Studios to sell Clean Sweep

ZDF Studios has secured international distribution rights to Clean Sweep, the 6 x 52-minute thriller set to premiere on Sundance Now in the US and RTÉ in Ireland.

The series, which is being co-produced in Ireland by ShinAwiL and Canada’s Incendo, has been created by Gary Tieche (Preacher) and follows the story of a housewife and mother who kills her former partner in crime when he threatens to expose her dark past.

Yi Qiao, director of drama at ZDFS, described the show as “a binge-worthy addition” to its slate of English-language productions.

Thema rolls out FAST

Canal+ Group-owned THEMA América is rolling out its FAST offering across the US, Spain and Latin America.

Vive Kanal D Drama offers Turkish drama series and is now available on Roku’s ‘Espacio Latino’ platform for the Spanish-speaking audience in the US, as well as on Samsung TV Plus in Spain and Mexico and on the Canela TV platform.

Music channel Vivaldi has been launched via Roku, PLEX and LG, among others, while ITV Deported launched last month and is dedicated to Mexico’s most popular sports, includes analysis and comment.