Oslo – Nordic World, the programme-sales alliance established by the Nordic region’s key broadcasters, reports licence deals in China for three of its top-performing formats: Farm Factor, 2 Minutes of Fame, and Hotel Zimmerfrei. The deals, which were brokered by Ann Christin Siljan, director of sales and acquisition, reflect the Nordic distributor’s growing presence across Asia, which is currently experiencing an explosive growth in formats activity.

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Cwmni Da/Good Company Productions’ agricultural reality format Farm Factor and New Media Vision’s against-the-clock talent quest 2 Minutes of Fame have both been licensed by state broadcast network CCTV 7, which has commissioned 8 x 48 mins runs of both series. Farm Factor, which has also been optioned in five European territories as well as New Zealand, is now heading into its fifth season in Wales and is set to premiere on DR Denmark in October.

Both the CCTV 7 deals were facilitated by London and Shanghai-based IPCN, which specialises in helping international content producers to respond to China’s growing demand for quality content. Since its formation in 2007, IPCN has been instrumental in launching several award-winning formats into China, including China’s Got Talent, The Voice of China, So You Think You Can Dance and Supernanny.

Hotel Zimmerfrei from Danish producer Immergut has been licensed by Shixi TV, one of China’s most active formats rights brokers. Shixi TV, whose credits include the Chinese adaptation of Strictly Come Dancing, is to make a 10 x 30 mins series of Hotel Zimmerfrei, which mixes physical and verbal comedy with improvisation and a surreal sitcom storyline — all set in a life-sized dolls’ house. Hotel Zimmerfrei has also been optioned by YLE Finland.

Ann Christin Siljan said: “China’s appetite for comedy and talent shows is huge at the moment. Hotel Zimmerfrei and 2 Minutes of Fame are prime examples of the sort of fun, feel-good, family entertainment that works so well for Chinese audiences. But a new trend is countryside-skewed content, which reflects the fact that China still has an enormous rural population. Farm Factor works perfectly in that context, and we are delighted that CCTV 7 — one of China’s most powerful networks — has thrown its weight behind the show.”

Rebecca Yang, CEO and co-founder of IPCN, added: “After the phenomenal success that IPCN has delivered to the Chinese market with hit shows such as China’s Got Talent and Voice of China, we were approached by a commissioner via weibo [Chinese Twitter] who was looking for a farmer-related programme. Then we were lucky enough to find the great formats Farm Factor and 2 Minutes of Fame from Nordic World. China being a gigantic agricultural country, Farm Factor will be a breath of fresh air for TV audiences, especially as it is to be broadcast on CCTV7, which is the national agricultural channel. We are all very excited about the commission.”