UKTV has closed a deal with World Media Rights to acquire the exclusive first run UK broadcast rights to factual series CIA Declassified and the second season of Black Ops for their Yesterday channel. Both series are set to premiere in early 2014.
Originally produced for the Military Channel in the United States, CIA Declassified tells the real stories of the CIA’s covert operations, drawing from the declassification of documents which have been released over the last 20 years. Every episode reveals different hidden secrets from these documents, including how the CIA let off a bomb in Beirut and how Osama bin Laden’s hiding place was tracked down by a group of female agents.
Another production for the Military Channel, Black Ops travels the world taking viewers on top secret special operations revealing how elite special units in different countries carry out their high-risk, zero-recognition assignments. Missions investigated in this series include the destruction of a nuclear processing reactor in Syria, a 2012 SAS raid to recover hostages in Afghanistan, and the release of the hostages in the Japanese Embassy siege in 1997.
The acquisition of CIA Declassified and the second season of Black Ops comes after the ratings performance of Black Ops‘ first season on Yesterday proved there was a substantial audience for such programmes. Across its six episode first season, Black Ops averaged an audience of 0.39 million viewers and a 2.1% audience share; up 172% on Yesterday’s slot-average.
“Compelling real-world modern conflict stories are extremely popular with Yesterday viewers, as the ratings of the first series of Black Ops proved”, said Adrian Wills, General Manager of Yesterday. We’re really excited about the second series and the brand new series CIA Declassified, as they are both a gripping and exciting watch, using eyewitness and participant interviews, archive footage and dramatic reconstruction.”
Emma Sparks, UKTV’s Acquisitions and Co-Production Manager, commented: “CIA Declassified and Black Ops give viewers the chance to enter the secretive world of the CIA and modern conflict, making them exciting and dangerous TV.”
While Alan Griffiths, CEO of World Media Rights, added: ‘We are very pleased to help boost the ratings of new innovative channels like UKTV’s Yesterday as WMR’s mission is to create high quality television for exciting growing networks in the UK and around the world. Black Ops, with its audience of history and computer games fanatics, does just that while CIA Declassified gives new insights in to the way in which the CIA operates. WMR always goes for compelling stories – as that is the surest way to build an audience. ’
