eOne Family takes home new deals with top TV networks for 2012
The leading international entertainment company Entertainment One Family has announced several new international broadcast deals for the popular animated series Peppa Pig, The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, Raymond and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom.
The BAFTA award-winning cartoon Peppa Pig has seen a rapid rise in its popularity in Europe, with Italian broadcaster RAI gaining seasons 3 and 4 of the show, as well as renewing the first two seasons for its pre-school channel YO YO. The series, created by Astley Baker Davies (ABD) will be launched daily from February 2012. Following the huge success of Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, also an ABD production, the US-based children’s TV network Nickelodeon has snapped up Peppa Pig for Benelux and Scandinavia, with the show launching from February 2012 in those territories.
Both shows also enjoy popular status with the Irish broadcaster RTE, which has re-licensed both Little Kingdom and series 1 and 4 of Peppa Pig.
Additional deals have also been made by eOne Family in Germany, where major broadcasters KIKA and ZDF have acquired The Secret World of Benjamin Bear and new series Raymond, respectively. Raymond, a new show telling the adventures of a quirky 8-year old as he traverses through everyday life, has also spread to the Asian market, with the Japanese branch of the US cable network Cartoon Network grabbing both series 2 and 3 of the show, with plans to air from early 2012.
Further deals have been struck with Estonia TV for Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and the Czech broadcaster Ceska Televise for Pat and Stan. These new links are hoped to create new and varied opportunities and to raise awareness for the brands in the growing Eastern European markets.
Olivier Dumont, Managing Director for Entertainment One Family said: “Our diverse entertainment slate is attracting a whole new host of international broadcasters. These deals closed by our new Head of International Sales, Joss Duffield, will undoubtedly increase the profile of our shows in multiple markets and we hope they will also present brand development opportunities in terms of licensing and merchandise.”
