Posted: Wed., Jul. 8, 2009, 9:14am PT

Antena 3 picks up 'Listener,' 'Mental'

Series sold by Fox Intl. Channels

By Emiliano De Pablos

Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 TV has acquired free-to-air rights to 'Mental.'

Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 TV has acquired free-to-air rights to drama “The Listener” and medical skein “Mental” from Fox Intl. Channels.

A3TV will air “The Listener” in a weekly primetime slot, back to back with police procedural “Lie to Me,” beginning the last week in July.

Psychic paramedic drama “Listener” bowed in March in key European pay TV territories before its North American premiere.

“In the summer, when Spain’s flagship TV fiction is given a rest, it’s a great chance to create a branded primetime slot for international series,” said A3TV head of acquisitions Mercedes Gamero.

A3TV plans to launch “Mental” in the fall along with crime drama “Flashpoint.” Canadian-made series “Flashpoint” started airing in February on A3TV’s digital terrestrial TV channel Neox. (“Flashpoint” aired on CBS last season and may return at midseason.)

Neox is often used by A3TV execs to share mainstream content with its analog channel and also to launch fiction such as Warner’s “The Big Bang Theory” and BBC’s “Life on Mars.”