The TV-industry trade fair MIP TV in Cannes got off to a promising start for ZDF subsidiary ZDF Enterprises. Only a few days into the market, the distributor is already able to announce a roster of important deals for its current line-up of new programs.

Attracting significant interest are the firm's thematic collections of crime shows ("Prime Crime"), history documentaries ("History to Go") and romance cycles ("Spring Feelings"). Crime made a killing with Finland's YLE, which acquired 47 hours of cop shows, Italy's RTI ("Hamburg Dockland" and "The Fifth Commandment") and France's TF1 (2nd season of "Verdict Revised"). While Swiss television SF filled up on both crime and romance, the Czech Republic will soon be treating its female viewers to nearly a dozen love stories by Inga Lindström and Barbara Wood.

With its accent on briskly paced, emotionally powerful and re-enactment-studded documentaries that appeal to young demographics, "History to Go" drew a host of prospective buyers to the ZDF Enterprises stand. In addition to the Smithsonian's (U.S.) acquisition of a five-program doc package and TVE's (Spain) purchase of a six-item doc collection, the History Channels also picked up a sizable amount of new programming: "The Battle Against Rome" and "The Lisbon Earthquake" going to the U.K., and an 8-program deal inked by the History Channels of Spain and Germany. Russia's TV Kultura also acquired a number of documentaries.

Broadcasters continue to set their sights on ZDF Enterprises' children's and youth programs, with rights to the Jonathan M. Shiff coproduction"H2O, Just Add Water" going to Spain's Antena 3, Portugal's Prisvideo, Finland's YLE (3rd season), Holland's Zapp (3rd season) and Russia's TNT. Another increasingly popular Shiff program is "The Elephant Princess" which has been sold to Russia's TV Kultura and Finland's YLE. The new 3D animated series "The Jungle Book" has also been stirring interest around the world, with deals being concluded with Norway's NRK, Sweden's SVT, Holland's Zapp and Belgium's Ketnet. "Martin Morning" also scored with Holland's KRO and Belgium's VMMa.

zdf.archive's videoclip service "Project 500" continues to broaden its customer basis with its online sales platform. Among the firm's top clients are Germany's G+J, Die Zeit, WAZ, i-Tunes, wissenmedia, and the Hueber Verlag, as well as Holland's Noordhoff Uitgevers.