International Distribution
According to an April 2007 Nine Network press release, international rights to the series "in over 100 territories" were sold to Sparrowhawk Media by Nine Network's international distribution representative, Portman Film and Television. This deal gave Sea Patrol the ability to be seen on various international versions of the Hallmark Channel. As a part of this initial deal, either one or both of the first two seasons of Sea Patrol were seen on Hallmark Channels in many territories throughout the world. Some of the 61 countries in which these early seasons aired on Hallmark included: the United Kingdom, Serbia, Belgium, Indonesia, India, Russia, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Vietnam, and Palau. In Germany, the series aired since 2011 on Das Vierte.
Later in 2007, NBC Universal Global Networks bought Sparrowhawk. In 2008, NBC Universal Global Networks extended its inherited commitment to Sea Patrol by purchasing series three of the program from Digital Rights Group, a subsidiary of Portman. Despite being a US-based company, as of 2009, NBC Universal is yet to broadcast the series in the United States. Instead, Sea Patrol has had limited availability in America through the broadband provider Hulu, arranged directly by Digital Rights Group.
In the year 2012, "Sea Patrol" has established a cult following in various countries.YouTube watched counts go up by thousands each month. In the USA this is from Hulu.com viewers watching season 1, which is readily available on Hulu.com, then wanting access to seasons 2-5. Seasons 2-5 are available from individual users who have uploaded them to youtube.com. Unfortunately, The German partner of NBC Universal distribution; "Das Vierte" has falsely blocked episodes or clips from Seasons 2-5 from being shown in the USA over youtube.com with the "This video contains content from "Das Vierte", who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds. This is interesting since Das Vierte is the channel for German usage. This is a false blockage as Das Vierte is only entitled to distributed content in the EU, and would not be licensed regarding any US showings of NBC-Universal properties.
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