MUMBAI: MGM‘s TV distribution has inked a multi-year renewal agreement with ITV for the James Bond movies, by which the latter will keep the franchise on the British commercial network and its family of channels for several years.
The deal that includes the over-the-air premiere of Quantum of Solace, has the entire Bond films including Casino Royale, Goldfinger, From Russia With Love and Diamonds Are Forever. These films will be shown on ITV1 HD.
No details were available of the value involved in the renewal deal.
Annual revenue from licensing the MGM library domestically and internationally to TV outlets, including moneys for the Bonds, is said to be in the range of $300 million.
Bond films typically rate well on European TV stations in their first airing and are often shown during holidays.
"James Bond is a British cinematic icon loved by ITV‘s audience, and we‘re delighted to continue the franchise‘s long association with ITV as well as the chance, for the first time, to show every Bond feature film in fantastic HD," ITV director of digital channels and acquisitions Zai Bennett said.
ITV‘s broadcasting business is made up of ITV1, the country‘s largest commercial channel in terms of audience share, and several digital channels. Every year the network invests about ?1 billion ($1.57 billion) in content for its channels and the website itv.com.