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Underbelly heads to US cable

Cable network DirecTV will screen Underbelly to its 18m subscribers -but starts with A Tale of Two Cities.

underbelly7Cable network DirecTV has picked up the US rights to all three Seasons of Underbelly to air uncut, commercial free and in HD.

It begins screening next February, directly following the season four finale of Friday Night Lights, to air on the 101 Network, which has 18.3m subscribers.

Oddly, the network has decided to run the series from S2, then 1 and then 3, presumably in an attempt to have linear seasons. But delivery of S3 throws that idea out the window anyway…

“In addition to the hit series we have acquired domestically, we have been searching the world for the best programming to bring to our customers,” said Eric Shanks, executive vice president of entertainment for DirecTV. “We immediately became fans of Underbelly and are thrilled to add it to The 101 Network’s line-up.”

It describes the series as ‘a gripping, gritty and shocking portrayal of the violent, drug-fueled Australian underworld from the 1970s through the early 2000s, with each installment portraying a specific period in the country’s criminal history. The trilogy begins with: Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and tells the story of the Griffith drug trade in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Part two of the series is titled Underbelly: War on the Streets and focuses on the Melbourne gangland killings between 1995 and 2004. The trilogy concludes with Underbelly: The Golden Mile that documents the hotbed of criminal activity in famed Kings Cross section of Sydney in 1989.’

Nine’s third series is currently in production.

15 Responses

  1. Does Australia actually have any shows (Drama) worth exporting? I can’t think of any, maybe East-West 101 everything else is second rate. ABC nope, Nine nope, Seven nope, Ten nope…

  2. i hope it does really well in the US and i was waiting for HBO or Showtime to pick it up but im happy to see it has been picked up by Direct tv for there 101 network, and next to all those great shows from HBO/showtime and NBC uni(like Friday night lights) it should do well for them, just wish we could see it in oz uncut, commercial free and in HD.
    @ Russell
    Yes DirecTV is a satellite only operator, not cable But they do have there own channel as well available to all Direct tv customers called ‘101 network’
    @Jerome
    Not sure about NZ, but underbelly is seen on other tv stations like FOX Crime in Hong kong and Italy just to name a few places, don’t know how it went but in some places English is their second language and its good news that it at least has been picked up.

  3. Does Nine get any money from this, or just the production company and cast/crew through royalties. Wonder how much they paid for it?
    If Nine gets some money from it, perhaps they can look at buying new shows to cut 2&1/2 Men down to one airing a week, and only new episodes.

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