05.09.03
Basil
Fawlty coming to a phone screen near you
Users
of Vodafone live! in the UK will be able to download Fawlty Towers
excerpts, together with other BBC comedies, directly to their handsets
for the first time, following a deal between BBC Worldwide and Vodafone
UK.
The
service, which includes classic scenes such as Basil beating up
his car, Sybil beating up the builder and Manuel getting beaten
up by just about everybody, will be delivered via video-enabled
mobile phones to Vodafone live! subscribers.
The
deal, which represents the first of its kind for BBC Worldwide,
was concluded following consultation and negotiation with on-screen
talent, writers and/or their representatives to ensure all contributors
and rights' holders benefit from this new business activity, which
BBC Worldwide expects to grow rapidly.
Jonathan
Crane, Director of Commercial Broadband & Interactive Television
at BBC Worldwide said: "Licensing BBC comedy sequences to Vodafone
live! is a genuinely groundbreaking deal for us. Accessing video
via handsets is now a reality for us all, and as demand grows, BBC
Worldwide is poised to provide a range of great video content to
these new mobile services."
Fawlty
Towers continues to be one of the UK's most enduring comedies and
remains one of BBC Worldwide's most internationally successful programmes,
with sales to broadcasters in over 70 countries, including India,
Russia and Thailand.
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