MUMBAI: Zone Vision Enterprises has signed an extensive licensing agreement with Minotaur International which will bring 10 new series to its Reality TV channels around the world.

Under the terms of the agreement, Zone Vision will gain the rights to the series for three years. Six of the series in the deal will air in the US for the first time beginning February 2005. The announcement was made by Zone Vision chief programming officer and general manager Chris Sharp.

"This is one of our most significant licensing agreements in terms of quantity and quality," said Reality TV vice president Steve Cole. "We are especially delighted to be able to provide our US feed with so many first-run series from the UK. Minotaur has been a fantastic programming partner and we look forward to working with them in the future."

Among the premiere series for the US are Jane Goldman Investigates (16 one-hour episodes), Sixth Sense with Colin Fry (40 half hours), Medics of the Glen (15 half hours), Baby ER (20 half hours), Drama School (nine half hours) and Don't Drop the Coffin (six half hours). These series will also air on Reality TV's various other feeds around the world. Other series in the deal include: Urban Angels of Medicine (13 half hours), LA Cops (five one-hour episodes), Honolulu PD (six half hours), and Club Reps (30 half hours for EMEA only).

"Our focus moving forward is to aggressively pursue more deals like this one," said Cole. "For the US and the UK especially, we are continually on the lookout for break-through programming that will help us further distinguish ourselves in the increasingly competitive digital channel environment."

"Reality TV is the natural home for these shows. Following the success of these series worldwide, we are extremely excited on behalf of our producers to have them premiere in the States, and for Colin Fry and Jane Goldman, among others, to become household names in America," added Minotaur senior sales executive Dayna Donaldson.