Shanghai – BBC Worldwide has secured new deals with two of Asia’s largest state broadcasters, CCTV in China and PTS in Taiwan, after this year’s Shanghai Television Festival from 9 – 13th June 2008. “For us the Shanghai TV Festival is a key market of the year and so we’re delighted to have been able to conclude such strong deals on the back of it which also build on our existing relationships with CCTV and PTS,” commented Pierre Cheung, senior business development manager, BBC Worldwide Asia. David Attenborough’s latest series Life in Cold Blood and actor and musician Simon Callow’s Classical Destinations 2 have both been licensed to Chinese national state broadcaster CCTV. These acquisitions follow BBC Worldwide’s co-production with China Television Media (CTV), the production arm of CCTV, which last year saw them working together on natural history series Wild China. Major deals were also concluded with free-to-air Public Television Service Foundation (PTS) who snapped up all series of children’s hit In the Night Garden and has already scheduled the first of these to air in August 2008. The Taiwanese broadcaster also added to its high-definition portfolio by acquiring some of BBC Worldwide’s HD titles – Planet Earth, Galapagos, Desert Lions, Bear Man of Kamchatka, Trek-Spy on the Wildebeest and Top Gear 2007: Polar Special. Said Ms. Sylvia H Feng, president & CEO of Public Television Service Station, “PTS has been one of the pioneers in high-definition television development in Taiwan and we’re really pleased to be working with BBC Worldwide who can help us to continue to lead this revolution in TV viewing.” Meanwhile, BBC Worldwide also picked up three prestigious Magnolia Awards at the Shanghai TV Festival. Ganges-Water Land won the Nature Documentary Golden Award whilst the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel Sense and Sensibility was awarded two top prizes – Best Director (TV Film) went to John Alexander and Best Actress (TV Film) to Hattie Morahan.