BBC Studios has announced a series of content agreements across Northeast Asia, extending its partnerships in Japan, China and Korea and highlighting its momentum across platforms and genres, spanning children’s, factual and event-led storytelling.
The latest agreements reinforce BBC Studios’ role as a global content studio collaborating closely with leading broadcasters and platforms to bring premium storytelling to audiences across the region.
In Japan, BBC Studios has signed a major new children’s programming agreement with streaming service U-NEXT, delivering a significant expansion of premium preschool content on the platform. The deal introduces 20 titles comprising 531 episodes with 15 series debuting in Japan for the first time.
BBC Studios has also secured an exclusive co-production agreement with Japan’s public broadcaster NHK for Matriarch, a premium factual programme centred on pioneering primatologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall. The film explores Goodall’s extraordinary scientific legacy and the agreement extends the reach of the BBC Studios natural history portfolio in Japan with a long-standing broadcast partner.
In Korea, BBC Studios continues to explore new ways for audiences to engage with premium factual content with the exclusive theatrical release of Planet Earth: The Power of Nature at CGV cinemas nationwide. The most recent instalment in the iconic Planet Earth franchise uses advanced filming technology to immerse cinema audiences in the natural world, and will be released with Korean narration by actress Lee Chung-ah.
In China, BBC Studios and Beijing Sita Digital Technology inked a landmark content licensing agreement that will deliver an extensive library of premium British programming to Chinese audiences. Beijing Sita Digital Technology will acquire rights to over 2,600 hours of BBC Studios content including over 500 acclaimed factual and documentary programmes and 130 individual drama series, highlighting the enduring appeal of BBC’s content to Chinese audiences.
Robi Stanton, President, APAC Media and Streaming, BBC Studios Says… “Across APAC, we continue to work closely with leading broadcasters and platforms to bring BBC Studios’ storytelling to audiences in distinctive ways. These agreements reflect the strength of that approach, combining local collaboration with our premium content to reach audiences across formats. From children’s and factual to theatrical experiences, we remain focused on broadening access to stories that resonate across cultures and travel strongly with diverse audiences.
Together, the new agreements underline BBC Studios’ partnership‑led approach across Northeast Asia, shaped by collaboration, evolving formats and stories designed to start conversations and change perspectives.
