£4.3m of new TV commissions

RNS Number : 2660W

Zinc Media Group PLC

10 December 2019

 

10 December 2019

Zinc Media Group plc ("Zinc Media" or the "Company")

Zinc Media announces £4.3 million of new TV commissions and improving gross TV margins

Zinc Media Group plc (AIM: ZIN), the leading TV and multimedia content producer, is pleased to announce new commissions secured since its 10 September 2019 announcement totalling £4.3m across its portfolio of television production labels, with new commissions anticipated to deliver improved margins more in-line with industry standards.

Blakeway, the London based specialist factual producer, has won a large international production with the US-based Smithsonian Channel titled 'The Curious Life and Death of…'.  Winning international commissions from US-based commissioners underpins the Group objective of growing and diversifying revenue and is part of the four-part transformation plan laid out by the Group's new management team in late September, which also includes improvement of gross TV margins in London and Manchester, cultural and creative renewal and investment in operational excellence. 

Winning new business directly from the USA is an important step in diversifying Zinc's client base. This highly repeatable format is presented by author and medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris.  The Smithsonian channel says the format 'uses science, tests and demonstrations to shed new light on famous murders and freak diseases. Dr Fitzharris will uncover the secrets of icons ranging from drug lord Pablo Escobar to Hollywood starlet Brittany Murphy to magician Harry Houdini.  Dr Fizharris will put everything about these myserious deaths to the test and will be joined by a revolving cast of experts, detectives, medical examiners, and weapons gurus'. 

Reef TV continues its recovery with additional programmes as part of their Police Code Zero series for Channel 5, alongside some international sales of the series.  Also for Channel 5, the division has picked up Britains's Craziest Christmas Lights, which transmitted on Saturday 7^th December.

Glasgow based Tern TV continues its strong performance with repeat commissions of Children's Hospital, which will be produced from Tern TV's Aberdeen Office for BBC Scotland, Emergency Helicopter Medics for More 4 and another returning series for BBC Scotland.

Brook Lapping, the London based documentary and current affairs producer, is in production on a new BBC series on the second world war.

Mark Browning, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"It's good to see the bulk of our TV labels booking steady revenues but more importantly I am pleased to see that new commissions are now anticipated to deliver improved margins which are more in-line with industry norms.  Improving gross margins on TV commissions in London and Manchester is the first priority in our transformation plan and early signs show demonstrable progress, which is critical for our longer term profitability."

For further information, please contact:

Zinc Media Group plc                                                                  [phone]

Mark Browning,CEO

www.zincmedia.com

N+1 Singer (NOMAD and Joint Broker to Zinc Media)             [phone]

Mark Taylor / Lauren Kettle

Peterhouse Capital Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Martin Lampshire / Duncan Vasey / Eran Zucker

Notes to Editors

Zinc Media Group plc is a leading British based TV and content creation company and operates 6 TV labels and a non-TV content division called Zinc Communicate.

The six award winning and critically acclaimed television production labels include: Blakeway, Brook Lapping, Films of Record, Blakeway North, Reef Television and Tern Television, whose brands produce television and radio programmes for both UK and international broadcasters.

Zinc Communicate specialises in creating B2B communications strategies and behaviour change programmes, campaigns and resources for partners, businesses, and government departments

For further information on Zinc Media please visit: http://www.zincmedia.com/ 

 

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