Youku signs content deal with Love Nature 4K

Singapore, December 14, 2020—Youku, Alibaba-owned video-streaming service has signed a content deal with family-friendly wildlife and nature brand, Love Nature 4K, that will see the brand’s celebrated series and documentaries landing on its platform for subscribers across China. Programming set to debut on the streaming service includes the Ewan McGregor-narrated trilogy, Stormborn (3 x 60'; HDR, 4K & HD; Maramedia); A Wild Year on Earth, narrated by Downton Abbey‘s Laura Carmichael (6 x 60’; 4K and HD; Northern Pictures); and Dawn to Dusk (8 x 60’; 4K and HD; NHNZ). The deal was brokered by Love Nature 4K’s affiliate agent in Asia, Rock Entertainment Holdings.

Available in over 200 million households worldwide, via its branded linear and online platforms, Love Nature brings audiences powerful stories about the natural world that foster a deeper understanding of and connection to the planet we call home. With its award-winning library of series and documentaries, Love Nature’s programming aims to forge emotional connections between audiences and the natural world, while also educating viewers with content that expands their knowledge about nature and animals.

“We are honoured and excited to cooperate with Youku, the biggest video streaming service in China. This allows Love Nature to showcase its powerful 4K content in order to foster deeper understanding and connection to our planet and to experience wildlife in their most natural forms,” said Beatrice Lee, CEO, Rock Entertainment Holdings.

“Since its establishment, Youku Documentary has imported nothing but phenomenal high-quality works for exclusive streaming. Among them, the latest Stormborn, A Wild Year On Earth and Dawn to Dusk, commissioned by Love Nature 4K, further demonstrate Youku Documentary channel's exploration of 4K premium content related to wildlife and nature,” said Joy Wang, Content Cooperation Director of YOUKU Doc&culture, Alibaba Group. “With years of experience in importing high-quality documentaries, Youku Documentary understands well the needs of documentary audiences. In line with audience needs, Youku has prioritized "audiovisual experience" and created a 4K ultra-clear viewing section for all its ends of streaming, relying on the Alibaba Group, so that viewers can enjoy a series of nature documentaries with top-tier audiovisual production.”

Programming Highlights:

Stormborn (3 x 60'; HDR, 4K & HD; Maramedia) - Narrated by Golden Globe® Award Winner Ewan McGregor, Stormborn is an epic, story-led drama, filmed in Norway, Scotland and Iceland, that captures some of the world’s most hardy animal characters, over one dramatic breeding year. The three-part series follows tenacious animals, including arctic foxes, otters and reindeer, surviving and thriving in the remote, northern edges of the Atlantic Ocean as they raise their young during a short, harsh season before winter begins. Against a backdrop of ice-carved rock, towering seas and fierce storms, in the rarely explored latitude of the Subarctic, the trilogy includes several instances of animal behaviour that have never before been seen by scientists or captured on film.

A Wild Year on Earth (6 x 60’; 4K and HD; Northern Pictures) - This epic, six-part documentary series, narrated by actor, Laura Carmichael, takes viewers on a visually stunning journey of the natural world’s most awe-inspiring seasonal events including migration, rebirth and transformation. Dramatic 4K footage, shot across Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America provides breathtaking spectacles such as black kites hunting in the flames of wildfire. Over the course of a turbulent year, the series reveals how the natural world and all of its creatures are profoundly connected to the Earth’s seasonal patterns, which, in the 21st Century, are becoming more extreme and dangerously unpredictable. Month by month, the series also charts the rhythms of the human calendar, through ritual and celebration

Dawn To Dusk (8 x 60’; 4K and HD; NHNZ) celebrates the daily rhythms of life in different locations around the world. From sunrise to sunset, from the tropical forests of Asia to the arid grasslands of the Australian outback discover a myriad of unique and exotic creatures as they struggle to survive through the day. The episodes cover 6 diverse and extraordinary locations: America’s, Asia, India, and Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, and the Sub-Antarctic Islands and the tropical Pacific.

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ABOUT

Love Nature 4K is a family-friendly wildlife and nature brand that brings audiences powerful stories about the natural world that foster a deeper understanding of and connection to the planet we call home. Our award winning library of 4K natural history series and documentaries are available on Love Nature’s branded linear and streaming platforms available around the world and through partnerships with top-tier pay-TV platforms and streamers, reaching over 200 million households globally. Love Nature is a joint venture between Blue Ant Media and Smithsonian Networks. Engage with us at lovenature.com / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube / Instagram

Rock Entertainment distributes content on a branded and unbranded basis across the globe. Our offer includes natural history, factual, entertainment, short-form digital and pre-school kids programming. We have a catalog of 2,000+ hours of content, including the largest 4K natural history offering on the market. Rock Entertainment’s channel business offers a portfolio of media brands such as Love Nature 4K, ZooMoo Networks (International), Smithsonian Channel (Asia, Middle East & Africa + Turkey), Blue Ant Entertainment (Asia), Blue Ant Extreme (Asia) and Makeful (Asia). We engage audiences worldwide across multiple platforms, including television, digital, OTT and live events. The company is headquartered in Singapore, with distribution globally.

Youku is a leading online video sharing and streaming platform in China and forms a key part of Alibaba Group's digital media and entertainment business, under its “Double H” (Health and Happiness) strategy. Youku covers PC, TV and mobile devices with its wide-ranging content contains copyrighted content, co-produced content, in-house productions, user-generated content (UGC), professionally-generated content (PGC) and live webcast. Youku’s daily average subscriber base continued to grow at a healthy rate, increasing over 50% year-over-year in the fiscal year ended of March 31, 2020.