CANNES: CBC/Radio-Canada French Services executive vice president Louis Lalande and FOX International Channels (FIC) chief operating officer and National Geographic channels International chief executive officer Ward Platt have announced that they have signed an output agreement that will expose FIC content sales library of National Geographic productions to more viewers, including Canadian teachers and students.
Radio-Canada has acquired over one hundred hours of National Geographic documentaries to be broadcast on the ICI Explora channel starting in January 2015. Also in January 2015, ICI Explora will introduce a new slot in prime-time exclusively devoted to National Geographic productions, starting with six documentaries on big cats. Radio-Canada has indicated its interest in a variety of documentaries and series currently in production to expand the programming line-up of Découverte,La semaine verte, Zone doc and Les Grands Reportages on ICI RDI.
The partners have also signed an agreement, which allows Curio.ca, Radio-Canada’s education platform – to air 200 hours of National Geographic documentaries previously acquired and aired on ICI Explora as well as additional hours secured specifically for Curio.ca. This collaboration enables teaching institutions and libraries throughout Canada who subscribe to Curio.ca to access National Geographic’s outstanding factual content.
Curio.ca is a new web portal that allows instructors at all levels – elementary, secondary and postsecondary to stream highly relevant video and audio content in classrooms to support their teaching. Content is organised into seven main subject categories – arts, business, education, health, history and geography, science, and social sciences. The portal, which features over 4000 news stories, documentaries and series, is currently accessible to over two million Canadian students.
Speaking about the deal Lalande said “It’s perfectly consistent with our multi-platform and multi-screen approach whereby we try to offer our audiences the best of worldwide productions. This is a great example of the kind of collaboration intended by A space for us all, the strategic plan unveiled by CBC/Radio-Canada in June that will help us better meet the expectations of Canadians.”
“This expanding partnership with Radio-Canada presents the perfect opportunity to introduce French-speaking Canadian audiences and a new generation of bright minds to inspiring, high-quality programming that encapsulates the core of the National Geographic brand,” commented Platt.
In addition to the extensive acquired hours, Radio-Canada and National Geographic Channels International will pursue the development and co-production of stories that will resonate for both partners including a project focused on the Arctic.
