Off the fence closes package deals with The Roku Channel, Vizio and Xumo

The international distribution arm of factual content specialist Off The Fence (OTF) has closed multi-genre package deals totalling more than 700 hours of programming with US-based streaming platforms The Roku Channel, VIZIO and Xumo.

Under the three deals, many of OTF’s most popular history, crime, wildlife, nature, science and conservation programmes will become available on The Roku Channel, VIZIO’s and Xumo’s streaming services in the US, the UK and Canada, with dual English/Spanish-language content becoming available in Mexico and the US. The deals were brokered by OTF director of digital sales Oliver Taprogge, who manages global digital distribution partnerships.

Taprogge said: 'Many streaming platforms are now reaching maturity, confronting the challenge of balancing budgets with securing the calibre of content that will not only keep subscribers happy but keep them in the fold. That represents a massive opportunity for a company with a back catalogue of the quality, depth and diversity of OTF’s. From the origin stories of first-nation people to female sporting legends, from saving gorillas from extinction to the planet-wide challenge of sustainability, there is a clear appetite for brave and thoughtful shows that enlighten while they entertain'.

Highlights from the The Roku Channel package include the Eight Production/New Zealand Film Commission’s feature-length doc More Than Gold, which tells the inspirational story of Tongan/New Zealander shot-put superstar Dame Valerie Adams; Gebruder Beetz Filmproduktion’s A Century of Sex Education (2 x 60 mins or 1 x 90 mins), which tracks 100 years of social change through the lens of sex education; and Telling our Story (4 x 60 mins), in which 11 First Peoples from communities across eastern Canada share their stories, struggles, victories and hopes.

Also included in the package is Good Thing Productions’ 60-minute doc Greenhouse by Joost, presented by Dutch sustainability expert Joost Bakker, which chronicles the conception, planning and construction of a property that addresses three of the most urgent issues of the 21st century: affordable housing, sustainability and food security.

Under the deal with VIZIO, OTF programming is headed for the US platform’s WatchFree+ (FAST and A-VOD) free streaming service. Included in the package are Auschwitz in 33 Objects, produced by Polish indie Inbornmedia with Polsat Television and Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. The 4 x 60 mins series focuses on the specialists who are attempt to unlock the heart-breaking stories behind the objects — a snuffbox, a child’s toy, a lock of hair — found at the largest death camp in the world. Other highlights include Spiegel TV’s Hawaii: Paradise in the Pacific (2 x 60 mins), which goes beyond the cliches of Hawaiian culture to reveal the essence of the ‘islands of happiness’ at the end of the world, as expressed by their inhabitants’ traditions, craftsmanship and ancient arts. Two popular Rusty Cage series aimed at armchair travellers are also included in the deal: My Greek Odyssey, which invites viewers on a voyage around the Greek islands in a luxury superyacht; and the Travel Bug, which tours the locations that every intrepid traveller wants to see.

Headlining the Xumo package, which focused exclusively on OTF’s nature and wildlife content were two territory premieres: Butterflies: Superheroes of Nature and Nature’s Ultimate Survivors.

LC