Montreal-based KO Distribution is heading into Mipcom with a loaded slate. Ahead of the market, the distributor has closed a series of sales and option deals across Europe, Africa, North America and Australia — and the titles are heavier on French-language, shortform and factual IP than on big-budget drama.
Where the sales landed
Paper Cuts, a shortform comedy from Productions KOTV, sold to France Télévisions and RTBF, as did Squall from A Média. Disney+ took Perfect Storm for English Canada. TV5Monde bought three titles — Playing Both Sides, FEM and LIAM — while US network Primo TV picked up Toopy & Binoo and About Mental Health.
On the factual and lifestyle side, Canal+ Africa acquired 300 Hoops, Ceska TV took About Mental Health and About Sex, SBS Food Australia bought Precious Flavours, and Mediawan acquired Kitchen Mania for French Europe. The common thread is niche need-states — mental health, food and sport-adjacent stories — travelling to buyers who need low-risk volume.
Formats are the quiet second story
Format options were placed across several territories. Warner Bros Italy optioned 1st Times, Tokara Media optioned The Mediator for Germany, and Alef One and Alef UK optioned My 90-Year-Old Roommate for the UK and France. Artemis Productions optioned Playing Both Sides for Belgium and France, while Canada’s Longhope Media is developing local versions of Squall and Ayer’s Cliff.
A format option is a low-cost test. A buyer locks an idea, develops local talent and budget assumptions, and only then commits to a full commission. That makes these announcements leading indicators rather than guaranteed revenue.
What this tells buyers
- Shortform comedies are now being licensed, not just clipped for social.
- French-language Canadian IP is finding buyers across Europe and Africa.
- Kids and factual titles are moving across public broadcasters and niche services.
- Pre-Mipcom deal lists signal which genres buyers are already prioritising.
For media planners and streaming marketers, the useful discipline is to separate sold licences from format options. A sale is placement today; an option is a possibility for a local version. Then track conversion: a distributor that announces ten options but converts none is producing noise, not pipeline.
KO Distribution also added Wowanimo from Gregg Productions and Don’t Feed the Animals from Urbania to its catalogue, widening the slate it will shop at the market. Watch whether the Italian, German and UK options turn into commissions over the next two quarters.
Source: C21media
