Love Island lands in New Zealand
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Editor
| 04 March 2019

Taking the total number of original commissions for the award-winning, record-breaking ITV Studios and Motion Content Group format to 12, Love Island has been commissioned by Three in New Zealand.

The deal for Love Island NZ — to be produced by ITV Studios Australia, in what will be its first production for a New Zealand network — was brokered by ITV Studios Global Entertainment out of its Sydney office. In addition to launching the show in 2019, the Three network has also acquired the rights to the second series in Australia, as well as licensing series 5 in the UK and the first series in the US. on CBS, all of which are also set to air later this year.

ITV Studios Australia produced first series of Love Island Australia in 2018 which it said broke viewing records for Network Nine’s catch-up service 9Now. It has entered its biggest production year to date, with new and returning shows for 2019 including Operation Live, Sunday Night Takeaway, The Voice, I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! The Chase and its first scripted project, SeaChange, a co-production with Every Cloud Productions.

“Part of our ongoing strategy is to grow and develop production opportunities beyond Australia, with New Zealand being a key market for us in doing so,” said David Mott, CEO and managing director, ITV Studios Australia. " For Love Island to be our first commission in the territory is really exciting and we can’t wait to start working with Three to make the series a hit there. Fans of the show are in for a real treat in 2019.”

Added MediaWorks chief content officer, Andrew Szusterman: “Love Island takes the concept of ‘appointment viewing’ to a whole new level and has been smashing records on air along with creating unprecedented social media hype and audience engagement. This show really is redefining the traditional television landscape, the likes of which New Zealand has not seen before and I’m really proud that yet again Three is leading the way in entertainment television by bringing it first to New Zealanders.”

Since the beginning of 2018, Love Island has tripled its overall number of international production hours. On air in seven territories in 2018, with all versions produced by ITV Studios’ local production labels in those countries, the format will launch in at least five more countries in 2019, with Belgium (SBS), Holland (RTL) and Poland (Polsat) joining New Zealand and the U.S. in commissioning the series. In addition, the show will also return for a second series on TV4 in Sweden and a third run in Germany on RTL II.