Tonies to open exclusive pop-up in Harrods’ Fourth Floor Toy Department

An exclusive Tonies pop-up is preparing to open at the world-renowned department store, Harrods and its Fourth Floor Toy Department this May 29th, welcoming kids and families to the world of the popular children’s audio player.

The pop-up will feature best-selling Tonies from the company’s collection of over 100 characters, including stories from the beloved author Julia Donaldson, such as The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, and Stick Man, as well as the young, charming Zog.

Offering content to entertain and educate both infants and children of up to ten years old, the Harrods’ pop-up range will also feature childrens’ favourite, Peppa Pig, as well as a selection of Disney classics including the Lion King, the Jungle Book and Toy Story.

As well as an abundance of Tonies, a range of Tonies accessories will also be available at the pop-up, including the firm’s line of Tonie-Carriers with space to hold 20 of the Tonies figures, each available in six different colours.

Tonies has been active in the licensing space in recent weeks, having announced a new slated of characters to join its audio storytelling platform, including the likes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Bob the Builder, and PAW Patrol. This week has seen the company detail a partnership with the BookTrust and the Life-changing Libraries initiative, created by How to Train Your Dragon author, Cressida Cowell to move the government to increase funding for primary school libraries.

Tonies library of licensed audio stories now span some of the biggest entertaiment franchises, from Disney and Universal, to Julia Donaldson and more.

WildBrain partners with Samsung to launch new kids’ and teen channels featuring its hit series

WildBrain has forged a partnership with Samsung to launch multiple new kids’ and teen channels featuring a range of series from its content library on Samsung TV Plus, a free ad-supported video service distributed exclusively on Samsung smart TVs.

The first new linear channels have now launched to millions of Samsung users, with “Caillou and Friends” in Spain and France and “Teletubbies and Friends” in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This initial launch will be followed in spring and summer 2021 by Degrassi channels for teens in the US and Canada, plus additional kids’ channels across European territories featuring Strawberry Shortcake, Bob the Builder and other favourite series from WildBrain’s library.

The partnership with Samsung represents the first time WildBrain has launched ad-supported linear channels on a connected-TV service in Europe and comes as new research shows smart TVs and ad-supported video streaming have become favourite viewing options in both US and European homes.

The recent nScreenMedia report “Making Screen Time Family Time”, which wasponsored by WildBrain Spark, found that 62 per cent of 3,000 US parents surveyed choose smart TVs as the most popular devices for co-viewing with children in the home.

75 per cent watch content with their children several times a week or more, and 90 per cent said ad-supported video is an important entertainment source for their children.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s “Behind the Screens” report on accelerating viewership trends found that ad-supported video-on-demand consumption grew by 29 per cent since January 2020 across over 30 million Samsung smart TVs in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Samsung is the clear leader in global smart TV sales, with over 14 million units sold in Q3 2020, almost double their nearest competitor, according to market research firm Trendforce.

“All indicators show that connected TVs are the new choice for home viewing and that families are increasingly turning to ad-supported video services on this platform as a source of quality entertainment,” said Deirdre Brennan, EVP, content partnerships at WildBrain.

“Through this exciting partnership with Samsung TV Plus we will offer distinct channels that draw on WildBrain’s deep content library, allowing us to share iconic shows like Teletubbies, Caillou, Strawberry Shortcake and Degrassi with millions of families across North America and Europe.”