Tag Archives: Children’s TV

Popular pre-school series Bluey to land on CBeebies next month with UK toy ranges to follow

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The Australian smash hit kids’ series, Bluey is landing on CBeebies next month. The channel will be the first free-to-air platform in the UK to broadcast the series which is backed by BBC Studios.

Under the new deal, series one of the hit animated series will air on the channel every day.

Bluey has won multiple awards since its launch on the international market, including an International Emmy Award in the Preschool category in March last year.

Sarah Muller, head of commissioning and acquisitions for BBC Children’s, said: “Bluey is such a warm show, with a charming and recognisable family at its core, that we know our audience will take to their hearts. Kids love how Bluey is all about play, but it’s also genuinely funny so the whole family can watch it together.

“The animation from Ludo Studio is world-class, so we’re completely delighted to be the UK’s free-to-air home for Bluey.”

Henrietta Hurford-Jones, executive producer for Bluey and director of children’s content partnerships at BBC Studios, added: “Developed with heart, humour, and an honest take on modern family life, it is so wonderful to see Bluey fast becoming a favourite show of children and parents globally.

“I’m delighted that we’re now able to reach a new audience here in the UK by bringing the show to CBeebies.”

BBC Studios exclusively distributes the show worldwide where it is attracting high ratings in several markets and on various platforms. In Australia, Bluey was the number one children’s programme on metro broadcast television in 2020 and is the number one series ever on ABC iview with over 480 million views across series one and two.

In the US, Bluey hit 16 million total views on Disney Channel and Disney Junior in Q4 2019. In Q1 of last year, the series was a top six Disney Junior series with children and girls aged two to five, and a top five series with boys aged two to five.

Bluey is also available in the UK on the streaming platform Disney+ and its YouTube channel has over 7.5 million hours of watch time and over 232 million views.

A global licensing programme for the series is already in place, with best-in-class partners lined up for the UK market with products set to hit retail in months following the show’s launch on CBeebies.

Global master toy partner Moose Toys and puzzles licensee Ravensburger will debut their respective Bluey lines in Autumn 2021.

Additionally, Blues / Dennicci recently joined the brand’s growing softlines portfolio as daywear partner, alongside Aykroyds, TDP, William Lamb, Dreamtex, and Roy Lowe. Immediate Media has worldwide rights for Bluey magazines, its first UK issue will hit newsstands in summer 2021.

Global master publishing partner (excluding China) Penguin Random House will launch books in the UK later this year.

In its home market Australia, Bluey recently won three gongs at the Australian Toy Association (ATA) Awards, including ‘Pre-School License of the Year’ for the second year in a row, Bluey: Big Backyard was the highest selling book of 2020 and Bluey magazine was the number one children’s magazine.

In the US, Bluey is the number one new license in the super plush category and was the number two top new growth property in 202o.

Hasbro and Entertainment One unveil Peppa Pig content plans through to 2027

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Hasbro’s global content studio, Entertainment One, has outlined a new content plan for Peppa Pig, confirming that 104 new episodes have been given the go ahead for production.

The plans will ensure that a pipeline of fresh content of the popular pre-school IP will be in place through to 2027. The new epsidoe roll-out will bring the total number of Peppa Pig episodes to 485.

Animation studio Astley Baker Davies (ABD), the original creators of Peppa Pig, will work closely with eOne to transition creative production duties to the award-winning British animation studio Karrot, with Andrea Tran at the helm as director. The animation style, music and voice talent will remain unchanged.

“As demand for Peppa Pig remains as strong now as it’s ever been, we couldn’t be more excited to announce that additional new episodes are underway. In creating the global evergreen preschool series, Astley Baker Davies has achieved a rare, once in a generation success story,” said Rebecca Harvey, EVP global brand and marketing at eOne Family and Brands.

“The show’s enduring popularity is a tribute to their skill as storytellers and their dedication to the characters and their craft. We wish them every success as they embark on their next adventure.”

“We remain committed to producing fresh Peppa Pig content that will continue to resonate with each new generation and that will underpin the long-term future of the property. We are, therefore, delighted to welcome award-winning British animation studio, Karrot, who will honour all the elements of the show that make it beloved of families around the world.”

Neville Astley, Mark Baker, and Phil Davies of Astley Baker Davies, said: “Peppa Pig has been a huge part of our lives. It’s a source of great pride that it’s given joy to so many children for so many years.”

“Peppa will always be close to our hearts and we couldn’t be more pleased to be passing the torch to the extraordinarily talented team of artists at Karrot who will continue to deliver our adored Peppa to the world for many years to come.”

Key talent from ABD have been tapped to join Karrot, maintaining continuity and bringing valuable knowledge and experience of making the show over many years. This includes Phill Hall who joins as head writer, having co-written numerous episodes of Peppa Pig since 2007.

Founded in 2008, Karrot is a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning studio that has built an industry reputation and is best known for creating charming British animated series’ including Sarah & Duck.

Jamie Badminton, series producer at Karrot, said: “Peppa Pig has a charm and simplicity that is timeless and universal.  It’s a giant honour to be continuing the legacy that Astley Baker Davies has created. We will remain faithful to their vision and look forward to being part of Peppa Pig’s future, enduring success.”

eOne continues to drive growth for Peppa Pig with an investment in new content, fresh CP lines and wide-reaching brand marketing plans. Series nine kicks off this Spring with the new four-part US special which sees Peppa and family take a road trip around America followed by a further 22 new episodes that will roll out globally throughout 2021.

Inspired by these new episodes, the theme of ‘Peppa Adventures’ will extend into the exciting retail debut of the first global toy line from Hasbro.

 The brand’s digital footprint also continues to expand this year with the release of a second music album in July, new content on the official YouTube channel where Peppa Pig was ranked the number one most streamed kids show of any age in 2020 and new Audio Stories for families to enjoy on-the-go.

In the UK, a partnership between Peppa Pig and Team GB will leverage excitement around the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. More recently, plans for a brand new Peppa Pig theme park in Florida’s Legoland have just been announced to squeals of delight and the attraction is set to open its doors in 2022.

Millimages builds strong Molang licensing roster for 2021 spanning plush, collectables, and more

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Millimages has secured a raft of new licensing partners for its popular animated IP, Molang, spanning the plush and stationery aisles, as well as apparel, collectibles, and more.

Kicking off the slate, Millimages has tapped NICI to develop new Molang plush ranges to launch across Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria this autumn. The collection will feature not only plush, but plush keyrings and special Molang stationery.

Meanwhile, this year’s fourth quarter will see Molang strengthen its presence in the collectables space with the launch of a new partnership with Panini. The deal will witness the arival of a Molang sticker book, completing a wider collection of books and a Molang magazine. The sticker book will launch in Germany and Spain.

Abysse will have the accessories sector tied-up with the launch of a series of cosmetic cases, acrylic figures, and 2d acrylic key chains, as well as a selection of mugs, all to be released this July. September will then see the launch of a line of Molang phone cases, pins, 2D and 3D keyrings, glasses, cookie jars, notebooks, and pens.

Molang has found recent succes in the publishing sector with the launch of the first Molang magazine earlier this month. A second issue will be released in June and will aim to help teach children about positivity and positive education. It will run a feature on yoga and kids’ meditation.

Across broadcast, Molang has secured new partnerships with a host of European channels, including Rai YoYo in Italy for seasons three and four, Tiny POP in the UK for season four, OCS in France for season three, and Canal Panda in Spain for season three.

Disney+ saddles up with Boat Rocker Studios’ pre-school hit Dino Ranch

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Disney+ UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand have each saddled up for Boat Rocker Studios’ popular animated comedy, Dino Ranch, following the series successful debut on Disney Junior and DisneyNow throughout January.

The series is set to launch on the Disney+ streaming platform from April 2021.

Dino Ranch proved an immediate hit on Disney Junior US, ranking as the number one US cable series among Kids, Boys and Girls aged two to five since launch. Among Disney Junior repeats, Dino Ranch also ranks number with Kids, Boys and Girls two to five.

Also available on DisneyNOW and VOD, Dino Ranch has been the number three Disney Junior long-form series for three consecutive weeks. Two episodes have been posted on Disney Junior’s YouTube channel (“Big Jon, Big Trouble” and “Spookasaurus”) and have amassed over 1.5 million views collectively. In the six weeks since the launch of the official Dino Ranch YouTube channel it has accumulated over 3 million views.

Created by Matt Fernandes of Industrial Brothers and produced by Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios, Dino Ranch follows the action-packed exploits of the Cassidy family, ranchers with a difference – their charges are dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes who are also their best friends.

The new Disney+ deals follow recent global sales of Dino Ranch to Super RTL/Toggo Plus (Germany), Gulli plus TiJi and Gulli Africa (France), NRK (Norway), YLE (Finland) and DR (Denmark).

Boat Rocker Studios is managing global content distribution and global merchandising rights to the series.

MeteoHeroes grows its international presence with RTVE broadcast deal

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MeteoHeroes, the environmentally-themed animated children’s series, is growing its global broadcasting presence, having landed a new slot with the Spanish broadcaster, RTVE.

Under its new partnership with Mondo TV Group, RTVE will air series one of the animated show, the only children’s series to be co-produced by Mondo and the Italian weather forecasting centre, Meteo Operations Italia. RTVE will air the series across a number of its markets, starting with previews in the spring.

The contract covers not only Spain, but also Latin America on Clan Internacional – an international coverage that will play an important role in supporting the licensing and merchandising programme that is currently underway in those areas.

The timing of the agreement will allow Mondo to repeat the successful consumer product strategy adopted in the Italian market in 2020. With Panini Spain already on board for a wide range of products – including sticker lines, sticker albums, magazines and flowpacks – Mondo TV will soon be expanding its licensing programme into many other categories.

A key partner in this expansion will be the toy distributor, which will be announced soon. The arrival of the first MeteoHeroes toys in the market is scheduled for autumn 2021. Play Around, the master toy licensee, has developed a toy line that includes 3D figures, role play items and a playset. The toy line will help kids to identify with the superhero stars in their fight against climate change and pollution.

The first series of MeteoHeroes has already been sold or confirmed into over 120 countries and was among the biggest hit shows on Cartoonito in Italy last autumn.

It is recognised as the only cartoon in the world dedicated entirely to climate and environmental issues. Each episode focuses on issues related to ecology and respect for nature through the adventures of six super-powered kids who can control weather phenomena. Working alongside scientists and meteorologists at their futuristic HQ based in Gran Sasso Mountain National Park in Italy, the MeteoHeroes are trained to control their powers and fulfil their mission: to save the Earth.

Matteo Corradi, CEO of Mondo TV, said: “In a very short time MeteoHeroes has established itself as one of the leading series in our portfolio; in fact a second series is already being planned.

“This agreement with RTVE, a major partner in Spanish-speaking markets worldwide, is a very important development, not only bringing the show to millions of potential viewers in a large number of new markets but also boosting the reach of the ongoing licensing and merchandising campaign.”

Animaccord inks major broadcast deal for Masha and the Bear with Italy’s kids’ channel Rai

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Animaccord has inked a new broadcast deal with the Italian public media company, Rai, for the fifth season of Masha and the Bear, produced in a new 4k UHD format.

The first episodes of the new season will air daily on Rai Yoyo and Rai Play starting from May 3rd this year, and occupying sme of the best slots on the channels.

“We’re excited with the technical innovations that have been implemented by Animaccord to produce and bring its new Season in 4K, making a breakthrough in preschool serial animation field,” said Annalisa Liberi, head of acquisitions at Rai Ragazzi.

“We’re happy to plunge kids to this Masha and the Bear’s fantasy world that is always close to their daily life & feelings as well as to amaze them with the new scripts and the undiminished energy of the character in exceptional premium quality.”

Alongside the launch of the core show’s new season, on February 27, 2021, Rai will also release Animaccord’s new educational musical project named Nursery Rhymes, where the world-wide famous character Masha leads babies and toddlers through a wonderful world of nursery rhymes, helping them to tap into their hidden talents and develop them. 

This year Animaccord marks the tenth year since the first media deal signed for Masha and the Bear Season one for Rai to premier the cartoon in Italy – the first country outside the home market where Masha and the Bear became a huge success.

Atlantyca Entertainment’s Bat Pat arrives in the UK, US, and Canada via HappyKids channel

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Atlantyca Entertainment has partnered with Future Today for a deal that will see 52 episodes of its popular animated series Bat Pat broadcast on the kids and family channel, HappyKids across the US, UK, and Canada.

Available from February 8th, the first season of Bat Pat follows the animated adventures of Bat Pat and his friends Martin, Leo and Rebecca Silver as they cross paths with supernatural creatures that haunt every corner of their hometown Fogville.

According to Atlantyca Entertainment, the series has been warmly received by audiences across the globe, and through its partnership with HappyKids will now be able to hit a target age group of kids across the UK and the US.

“Bat Pat is a captivating animated series for young children. Our new partnership will allow our audience to be entertained by this wonderful series,” said David Di Lorenzo, SVP, Kids and Family at Future Today. “We are happy to be working with Atlantyca Entertainment to provide broader access to their extensive library of quality and engaging children’s content.”

The first season of the series, produced by Atlantyca with the participation of Rai and RTVE, has been sold to more than 100 countries including Italy, Spain, US, UK, Benelux, Sweden, Lithuania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, the Middle East, where it has achieved great success.

In 2019, the second season of the series debuted in Italy and Spain, with 52 brand new episodes even scarier and more fun. The second season is a Mondo TV Producciones Canarias, Bat Pat AIE co-production with the participation of Rai Ragazzi and Clan TVE.

The HappyKids channel is both free and COPPA compliant, and is available across numerous streaming platforms and devices, including Roku, Apple TV, AndroidTV, Amazon Fire TV, Comcast Xfinity, Cox Contour, iOS, Android, and most recently, as a linear channel on Vizio Smart TVs.

Bing receives first sign language version in Italy through VoD partner TIMVISION

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The first sign language version of the multi-award winning pre-school series, Bing is landing with audiences across Italy thanks to a new partnership between Maurizio Distefano Licensing and Acamar Films’ Italian VoD partner, TIMVISION.

Through TIMVISION, a selection of original Bing episodes featuring an Italian sign language interpreter launched on December 24th last year as part of the company’s commitment to offer educational and fun-filled opportunities to deaf children in Italy.

The dubbed episodes joined the original 78 episodes of Bing that have been available to stream on TIMVISION since November 2019. A total of 14 Lingua dei segni Italiana episodes are now available to stream with more to come in 2021.

Eroulla Constantine, director of sales and distribution, Acamar Films, said: “We are delighted to have Bing as part of TIMVISION’s growing catalogue of LIS version episodes on their platform.

“We stand alongside TIMVISION’s commitment to diversity and inclusion with meeting children’s specific needs. We look forward to having more inclusive episodes of the series available in Italy.”

Maurizio Distefano, president, MDL, added: “Bing is enormously popular in the Italian market and this delightful, funny and educational show should be accessible to everyone, which is why we are delighted that TMVISION has introduced a sign language version. The first-ever LIS version of Bing is a genuine cause for celebration.”

Bing has seen incredible success in Italy since it first launched in 2018 and is beloved among little ones and their grown-ups in the region. With more stories in high demand, the latest series recently launched on-air and on various platforms including the new Bing app, Bing: Guarda, Gioca, Impara.

The app successfully launched in the summer and includes episodes and compilations, learning games and activities.

Silvergate taps Moose Toys for new Octonauts and spin-off series toy line

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Moose Toys has partnered with Silvergate Media to launch a new Octonauts toy line developed to support the popular animated pre-school series and the upcoming release of its spin-off series, Octonauts: Above & Beyond.

First launched to screens in 2010, Octonauts has a global broadcast platform spanning multiple territories and huge fanbases in the UK, US, and China. Recently the show extended its reach by debuting in Latin America and the Middle East.

The upcoming new series Octonauts: Above & Beyond will take the crew of intrepid explorers beyond the sea and onto land with an array of new locations, vehicles and story lines to enjoy. Kids will learn facts about creatures, extreme environments and the challenges of water and weather phenomena.

“We’re incredibly honored to partner with Silvergate to bring the next chapter of Octonauts to fans across the world. The rich storyline and characters make for an incredible sandbox to develop fun, original toys,” said Joe Smith, senior director of global marketing, licensed brands, Moose Toys.

“Octonauts is widely regarded as one of the top preschool properties, and this partnership further solidifies Moose’s strength and expertise in the preschool aisle.”

As part of the deal, Moose Toys will create a full range of Octonauts toys including figures, vehicles, play-sets, plush, games and more. Octonauts: Above & Beyond, the new spin-off series will debut in 2021.

With this latest partnership, Moose Toys continues to expand its licensing portfolio and acquire highly coveted shelf real estate in the booming pre-school aisle. The toy company has seen success with its pre-school properties through its successful Kindi Kids doll line and its master toy deal with Australian ultra-hit animated series, Bluey.

Kindi Kids debuted on shelves summer 2019 and was recognized by The NPD Group as being the number one new doll property launched over its first three months of being in the market. Following its first foray into the pre-school space with Kindi Kids, Moose reinforced its strength in the category this year when Bluey was named number one new pre-school property by The NPD Group.

“With proven success in the preschool aisle and a reputation for innovation, Moose Toys is the perfect partner to capture the world of Octonauts: Above & Beyond in toy form,” said Ron Allen, executive vice president of commercial, Silvergate Media.

“We’re excited to collaborate on a new toy line that will help us take the brand in a fresh direction and create a collection of toys that kids will love.”

Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure tops Netflix’s Top Ten Charts across 17 countries

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Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure has become the fifth most-watched movie in Netflix’s Today’s Top Ten in the US, only five days after its launch on to the streaming service.

The film also ranked in the Today’s Top Ten Movies across Netflix in 17 countries, including in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia, over five consecutive days, according to the streaming analytics company, FlixPatrol.

Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure follows the characters, Pinkfong and Baby Shark, as they explore outer space and search for missing star pieces to return home. The feature includes children’s favourite songs.

Baby Shark has successfully expanded its underwater world to cinema with the Space Adventure movie and TV screen with the brand-new TV series Baby Shark’s Big Show!, co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Baby Shark’s Big Fishmas Special, the holiday episode of Baby Shark’s Big Show!, premiered on Nickelodeon on Dec. 11, 2020, and ranked as the top telecast of the week with K2-5 (excluding sports), citing data by Nielsen Media Research.

Following the US launch in spring 2021, the new TV series will roll out on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. channels internationally.

Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure is now available for streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.