Fifth Season has expanded its sales partnership with Roku, taking on Roku’s unscripted originals slate for Latin America and Canada, in addition to the territories Fifth Season already handles.
Highlights of the deal, announced ahead of the international television market Mipcom later this month, include second seasons of Roku’s Honest Renovations featuring Jessica Alba, Morimoto’s Sushi Master, UFO Cowboys, Reptile Royaltyand Meet Me in Romea spin-off of the unscripted rom-com Meet Me in Paris from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. These additions complement such unscripted fare as Fight to Survive, Celebrity Family Food Battleexecutive produced by Sofia Vergara, and The Cupcake Guys featuring former NFL stars Brian Orakpo and Michael Griffin.
“Since the start of our partnership with Roku, we’ve had significant interest from buyers internationally in this slate – who are drawn to these elevated and aspirational shows fronted by some of the biggest household names in Hollywood,” Prentiss Fraser, President of TV Distribution at Fifth Season said in a statement. “As we build on the strong start of our collaboration with our first wave of sales, it’s a testament to the success of this partnership that Roku is already expanding our territory rights into Canada alongside Latin America – a major markets we as Fifth Season are significantly deepening our presence in.”
Ahead of Mipcom, Fifth Season closed multi-title sales deals with several international broadcasters for Roku’s unscripted slate, including with Corus in Canada, M6+ for France and French-speaking Europe, and with RTL Deutschland and Seven.One Entertainment Group for Germany.
Unscripted formats are enjoying a revival on international markets as traditional broadcasters, hit by a decline in advertising revenue and rising production costs for fiction series double down on more cost-efficient reality and non-fiction shows.
