Presto today announced it had acquired a package of almost 100 hours of acclaimed TV documentaries from BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand.
The deal covers a broad range of content which will be streamed on demand for Presto TV and Presto Entertainment bundle subscribers from July 16.
BBC Worldwide joins the list of international content distributors providing programming to Presto TV and Presto Entertainment services, including HBO, Showtime, 20th Century Fox, CBS Studios International, Viacom International Media Networks and local providers including ABC Commercial, Foxtel and Seven West Media.
“The BBC is a prolific producer of high quality documentary programming and we are thrilled to offer our subscribers a terrific selection of their programming which they can stream on demand,” Presto interim CEO Shaun James said.
Highlights include Brazil with Michael Palin, which explores the rich diversity of cultures that have made Brazil truly unique as he visits small towns, the metropolis of Sao Paulo and the natural beauty of Iguazu Falls; and Michael Palin’s New Europe, which sees him travel to 20 countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain to see what life is like now.
Presto will also feature stories from Stephen Fry who explores one of the worst ecological disasters in Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill and who travels the globe, taking us on a journey through thousands of years of language in Fry’s Planet World.
Additional BBC Worldwide ANZ documentary hits set to join Presto include:
• Australia with Simon Reeve – takes viewers on an extraordinary adventure starting in the magnificent 'red centre' of the continent and onwards through South Australia, via the extraordinary Indian Pacific railway and to the western reaches of Perth.
• Joanna Lumley – The Quest for Noah’s Ark – Lumley examines the theory that Noah's Ark was preserved on Mount Ararat, in Turkish Armenia. She explores the wide-spread tradition of a massive flood, including Biblical and scientific interpretation along with the idea of whether the Ark is real and what a massive ship building project it would have been during its time.
• An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby – After four decades of reporting from the continent, Jonathan Dimbleby returns to Africa on a 7,000-mile journey to discover how it is has changed and continues to grow.
• Louis Theroux documentaries – documentary filmmaker and broadcaster Louis Theroux is best known for his exploration of offbeat communities around the world and in the US. Presto features a collection of 18 of his best works including: Gambling in Las Vegas, which reveals the world behind the myths of casino culture and introduces viewers to 'high-rollers' people who have lost millions; The Most Hated Family in America, which profiles the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church, the organisation led by Fred Phelps; and The Miami Mega-Jail, one of the most notorious prisons where many of the most volatile inmates are incarcerated.
Additional stories range from personal explorations like The Men Who Made Us Thin and My Tattoo Addiction to biographies featuring Steve Jobs – Billion Dollar Hippie, Mark Zuckerberg – Inside Facebook, All Apologies: Kurt Cobain and Leonardo – Inside the Mind of a Genius and scientific journeys such as, Orbit – Earth’s Extraordinary Journey, Origins of Us and Inside the Human Body.