BBC Worldwide puts Top Gear Korea centre stage at ATF

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC?s commercial arm BBC Worldwide will be introducing Top Gear Korea to buyers at the Asia Television Forum (ATF) with a launch event on 7 December 2011.

Special guest will be Top Gear Korea presenter Kim Jin-Pyo who has helped make the 13 part series a hit for XTM channel since its premiere in August 2011.

BBC Worldwide Sales and Distribution Asia GM, senior VP Joyce Yeung commented: "We?ve had a hugely successful year launching formats in Asia, particularly in Korea where audiences have embraced Top Gear and Dancing with the Stars. Not only can we offer customers these brilliant shows from Korea, but also the format rights for local production and of course other international versions. With Top Gear involved I absolutely know it?s going to be a great ATF."

Korea?s local production of ?Top Gear? outperformed the XTM prime time average across all major demographics. Presenting the series, along with Kim Jin-Pyo, are actor Kim Kap-Soo and celebrity racer Yeon Jung-Hoon who film their car fuelled antics in various locations in South Korea and invite a range of Asian celebrities join in. Dancing with the Stars has delivered vast audiences as well as glitter and glamour for MBC, with the show winning its time slot amongst all key audiences.

BBC Worldwide?s other programme highlights for ATF include the natural history titles ?Frozen Planet?, ?Earthflight? and ?Great Barrier Reef?. Executive produced by Alistair Fothergill and narrated by Sir David Attenborough, ?Frozen Planet? takes viewers on a polar expedition. ?Earthflight? uses technology and camera techniques combined with aerial images to bring the world to viewers as seen by birds. Going Down Under, the BBC?s Natural History Unit has produced the ?Great Barrier Reef? series. This programme offers a guide to the secrets of the reef - how it was created, how it works, the intricate relationships between its inhabitants and how climate change and other factors might shape its future.

From the science genre are BBC Productions? ?Planet Dinosaur? and ?Origins of Us?. Using unique hi-tech graphics to bring to life the most awesome and amazing creatures that ever lived, ?Planet Dinosaur? transports viewers back in time through hundreds of millions of years. ?Origins of Us? tells the story of human evolution exploring the anatomical changes that have given humans, and their ancestors, the edge.

Drama titles include the Caribbean based detective series ?Death in Paradise? and ?Torchwood?; ?Miracle Day? starring John Barrowman and Bill Pullman. From the world of music there is the 3D concert ?Britney Spears: Femme Fatale? and ?Glastonbury 2011? featuring Beyonce.