Thursday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

US, UK buyers move into NZ’s Blue Murder Hotel

New Zealand drama Blue Murder Motel is going global after deals were struck with buyers including Acorn TV in North America and the UK’s ITV.

The 8 x 60-minute Great Southern Television series, which was produced for TVNZ and streamer TVNZ+, launched at this year’s London TV Screenings and follows two married Australian police detectives who move to New Zealand to start a new life running a hotel only to find themselves embroiled in a murder case when a dead body is found on the property.

ITV also has rights for Ireland, while BBC First has taken Benelux and Poland following deals with distributor About Premium Content (APC). The Walt Disney Company has also acquifred the show for Star Crime in Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

Blue Murder Motel debuted on TVNZ and ABC in Australia earlier this year, with a second season in production. Kate McDermott created and wrote the show.

SBS Viceland to rebrand in August

Australian public broadcaster SBS is reverting its SBS Viceland channel back to SBS2 following the end of its decade-long deal with the youth-skewing brand.

SBS Viceland will rebrand as SBS2 on 21 August offering shows “aimed squarely at 25-54 audiences who are culturally curious and seeking programming that is smart, surprising, sexy and different,” the broadcaster said.

Exclusive documentaries, sport, comedy and entertainment will feature, with shows such as AMC series The Vampire Lestat and Adam Hills: The Last Leg lined up.

SBS Viceland replaced SBS2 in 2016 during the peak of Vice’s global popularity. The company was once valued at almost $6bn but filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and has since been restructured.

Sweden’s Mafia heads to Canada, Ireland

Ireland’s TG4 and Bell Media in Canada are among buyers of Swedish drama Mafia, which is heading into more than 40 countries.

The series, which debuted on Viaplay’s US and UK service last year, is from local prodco Nexico and debuts on Viaplay in Sweden this year.

Set in 1990s Sweden and inspired by real events, Mafia charts the rise of Radovan ‘Jakov’ Jakovic from small-time smuggler to feared crime boss and the police officer determined to stop him.

Viaplay Content Distribution has also sold the show to: RTL Voyo (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina), BeTV (Belgium, Luxembourg), Filmin (Spain), HOT (Israel, West Bank), Bell Media (Canada), Canal+ (Netherlands), Blue Entertainment (Switzerland, Lichtenstein). It will also be available via Viaplay Select partners including Magenta (Germany), Prima+ (Czech Rep.), Vodafone (Greece), EITB (Basque Spain), LGU+ (S Korea), Cindie (Latam).

DocYard TV strikes OTF pact

Factual distributor Off the Fence has agreed a representation deal with Andrew Zikking’s fledgling indie, DocYard TV.

Under the deal, OTF Fence will add Hidden Kingdom: Kalahari (2 x 60 minutes) and Ancient Eden: Mayan Jungle (w/t, 2 x 60 minutes) to its catalogue. Both were originally produced for French/German channel Arte.

OTF’s head of acquisitions, Loren Baxter, brokered the deal with the Bristol based indie, which is run by former MD of Off the Fence Productions Andrew Zikking.

Netflix preps Curious doc

Curious Films is behind an upcoming Netflix true-crime doc about the truth behind a violent fantasy plot, Broadcast has learned.

A Toxic Love Story takes place in the glamorous Californian suburb of Anaheim and tracks what happens when a young woman’s arrest for a violent fantasy plot becomes a sensational scandal.

The 88-minute doc launches on 22 July and is directed by Alexandra Lacey (Untold: Swamp Kings), whose directorial debut was Raw’s hit 2025 Netflix feature The Twister: Caught in the Storm. Read more