THE SINGING BEE SPREADS ITS WINGS WITH ZEAL ENTERTAINMENT

London, 21 July 2008 - International hit format The Singing Bee continues to prove a runaway success, with new production deals and second seasons commissioned worldwide, it was announced today by Andrea Jackson, Managing Director at format and events programming distributor Zeal Entertainment, part of the Digital Rights Group (DRG).

The musical game show, created by The Gurin Company and Juma Entertainment, is set to go into production in Portugal by Endemol for SIC and Romania by ProTV S.A for ProTv Romania following recent deals.  In addition, following hugely successful primetime first seasons, broadcasters in Australia (Nine Network), Chile (Canal 13), Finland (MTV3), Hungary (TV2), Norway (TV3), The Philippines (ABS), Portugal (SIC), Spain (Antena 3), Sweden (TV3) and Turkey (Show TV) have now commissioned additional episodes or second seasons.

Ancillary exploitation is well underway throughout the world with merchandising campaigns in Chile (Canal 13), the Philippines (ABS-CBN), Spain (Antena 3), Norway (TV3), Portugal (SIC) and Sweden (TV3).  Chile, the Philippines, Spain and Hungary (TV2) have launched SMS messaging to promote the show, whilst live karaoke events based on the series are being hosted throughout Hungary. 

In just one year since the show debuted in the United States, where it was the highest rating summer series across all networks, The Singing Bee has notched up 26 production deals, covering around 60 countries, achieving one of the fastest roll-outs for an international format.

The Singing Bee is the show where you don't have to sing it well; you just have to sing it right!  A musical game show where contestants ‘sing in the blanks' of partial song lyrics, it takes the very best of spelling bees and giving the concept a fun, natural twist, transferring the drama from the world of words to the world of music.  Contestants are chosen from a studio audience and asked to sing in the blanks - if they get it wrong then it's time to go home! 

"Zeal's success in expanding the reach and extending the run of The Singing Bee ensures that viewers all over the world will be shouting song lyrics at their television screens in a wide array of languages for years to come," said series co-creator and executive producer Bob Horowitz, of Juma Entertainment.

Co-creator and executive producer Phil Gurin says, "We are thrilled with the international roll out of The Singing Bee, and expect that the show will soon become this generation's answer to "Name That Tune"."

Andrea Jackson added, "The Singing Bee is proving a fantastic success for all involved and a massive hit with viewers worldwide.  The number of second seasons confirmed, in such a short space of time since the show debuted, is a testament to the popularity and appeal of the show.  The format also lends itself very well to ancillary merchandising campaigns, which can only help in making The Singing Bee a nationwide phenomenon everywhere that it airs."

Notes to editors:

For further information contact: 

Katie Froggatt

The Lippin Company Ltd

Tel: +44 203 008 5406

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Zeal Entertainment is an independent events and formats distributor.  Zeal is a company owned by the Digital Rights Group.  Zeal handles a range of internationally successful properties, including The Singing Bee, What's the Big Idea, Under Construction, Fashion Rocks, This is Your Life, Miss World, Mr World, The European Poker Tour. Zeal represents rights for creators and rights holders including, including The Gurin Company, 12 Yard, TV2 Norway, The Chatterbox Partnership, Remedy Productions, So Television, Monkey Kingdom, Mast Media, Juma Entertainment and Wall to Wall.

www.zealentertainment.co.uk

The UK's leading independent distributor, Digital Rights Group, is backed by IMAC (Ingenious Media Active Capital), the largest listed media fund in Europe.  DRG provides producers with international distribution for their rights and programmes independently of the major broadcasters and other producer-owned distributors.

The Group works with producers during all phases of the production process; from development to the acquisition of finished programmes and formats.  The focus is on high quality, multi-genre content delivered to all platforms.