Category: Kids

MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Nickelodeon has ordered 125 new episodes of preschool series.

The network, which is home to four of the top five preschool shows on all TV including top-ranked Bubble Guppies, has ordered new seasons of Yo Gabba Gabba!, Max And Ruby and Olivia. 
 
Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group president, animation Brown Johnson said, “Over the years, our preschool shows have introduced a wide range of educational concepts, from Spanish and Mandarin language and culture to mathematics and music. All have found that magic mix of educating and entertaining our audience, and we‘re excited to continue creating content with great storytelling, that delivers on our commitment to give kids and parents what they really want.”

Nickelodeon, in conjunction with media content company Chorion (Olivia, Max & Ruby) and publisher Frederick Warne & Co. (owners of the Beatrix Potter? property), is in production on 26 episodes of the brand-new animated preschool series, The Tales of Peter Rabbit. Slated to air in 2012 on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., the series will feature many of the beloved and iconic Beatrix Potter characters, including Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny.

Nickelodeon‘s new preschool episodes rolling out across 2011-12 include Bubble Guppies. It is currently in its first season and picked up for 20 new episodes.

The musical comedy is set in a 3D underwater environment. It follows a group of diverse preschoolers with colorful fish tails who go on adventures discovering their world. Bubble Guppies is set to a soundtrack of catchy pop songs, and the series infuses the core elements of kindergarten readiness, including: math, literacy, the arts, science and socio-emotional development.

Team Umizoomi, picked up for 20 new episodes, is currently in its second season. The show features a tiny team of superheroes who use their mighty math powers to help little kids solve big problems. The series combines action-adventure missions with an interactive math curriculum designed to help kids develop self-confidence in their math abilities and appreciate the many ways in which math shapes their world.

The Fresh Beat Band, picked up for 13 new episodes, is currently in its second season. The Fresh Beat Band centers on four best friends – Kiki, Marina, Twist and Shout – in a band who attend music school together and love to sing and dance. Set to original pop songs, the half-hour series teaches preschoolers about music appreciation and how to express their feelings through movement, song and instrumental music. In each episode, preschoolers sing and dance along as they help The Fresh Beat Band solve everyday challenges.

Yo Gabba Gabba!, picked up for 13 new episodes, is currently in its third season. The critically acclaimed series infuses retro-style and beat-driven music to teach simple life lessons. The series and the live show stars DJ Lance Rock and a cast of colorful characters, including: Brobee, Foofa, Muno, Toodee and Plex. Yo Gabba Gabba! has broad appeal among preschoolers, parents, teens and adults and has featured some of the most popular names in movies, television, music and sports.

Max and Ruby, picked up for 26 new episodes, is currently in its fourth season on Nick Jr. and consistently ranks as one of the top preschool shows on TV. Each half-hour episode of Max & Ruby consists of three stories that celebrate the universal nature of sibling relationships. The series follows Max, an enthusiastic and determined preschool bunny, and his big sister Ruby, a very smart and goal-oriented seven-year-old, through their everyday lives in the village of East Bunnyhop.

Olivia, picked up for 13 new episodes, is currently its second season on Nick Jr. The half-hour series invites children into the life–both real and fantasy–of an adventurous, can-do 6 3/4-year-old girl named Olivia. Based on acclaimed author/illustrator Ian Falconer‘s award-winning titles, Olivia captures the book series‘ trademark humor and the irrepressible personality of its heroine. Olivia‘s confidence and positive nature inspires kids everywhere to think boldly and follow their dreams.

MUMBAI: Production has begun in Hollywood on a second season of US broadcaster Disney XD‘s ‘Pair of Kings, starring Mitchel Musso and Doc Shaw.

The sophomore season will roll out later this year. 
 
Season two follows fraternal twins and royal heirs Boomer and Brady on their quest to successfully reign over their quirky island nation. More confident in their role as kings, the brothers frequently find themselves in over their heads, and realise they still have a lot to learn about Kinkow‘s unique island mythology and bizarre inhabitants in order to become kings of legend.

The series kicked off in September and was Disney XD‘s No. 1 show in 2010 across all key kid and boy demographics – including kids 6-14 and boys 6-14 – and ranked No. 2 in total viewers (684,000) behind Phineas and Ferb, at least doubling the year-earlier time period in core demos.

On DisneyXD.com, Pair of Kings also spawned a game, Wild Island Rampage, with over 1.5 million total game plays, and will roll out four additional themed games for the series throughout the year beginning with “Super Surf Scramble,” available now on DisneyXD.com/Kings. In the game, players help Boomer and Brady ‘hang 10‘ and take home the Royal Cup by guiding the kings around rocks, logs and mermaids while performing and landing aerial stunts.

Fans can cast their vote for Disney XD‘s “Compete for the Crown Marathon” on President‘s Day, 21 February, by donating their high scores from “Super Surf Scramble” to Boomer or Brady. The king with the highest number of points will be crowned ‘King for the Day‘ during the daylong programming event.

The show follows Brady and Boomer, who lead a typical teenage life while being raised by their aunt and uncle in Chicago, but unbeknownst to them, they‘re successors to the throne of the island of Kinkow. When Mason, the Royal Advisor, informs the boys of their extraordinary lineage, Brady and Boomer relocate to the island to claim their throne as joint Kings. They rely on their new island friends for guidance in ruling an island filled with odd superstitions and customs. Their efforts are helped and hindered by Mason, the intimidating royal guard; Mikayla, Mason‘s adorable daughter and assistant to the kings; and Lanny, their disgruntled cousin and wannabe king, who‘s out to sabotage them and steal the throne.

MUMBAI: DQ Entertainment has signed an agreement that grants exclusive broadcast and distribution rights of The Jungle Book 3D TV series to Rai Due (Rai 2), an Italian television broadcaster.
The agreement, signed through DQE’s co-production partner ZDF Enterprises, Germany, will see Rai 2 hold all the broadcasting rights of The Jungle Book in Italy. 
 
ZDF Enterprises, a subsidiary of ZDF, is responsible for worldwide programme sales, the implementation of international co-productions, license purchasing for quality programmes, marketing online rights and the merchandising of strong ZDF programme brands.

Rai 2 is one of the three main television channels alongside Rai 1 and Rai 3. It is the biggest television company in Italy, having the highest audience penetration for this region.

Avers DQE Group Chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “Rai 2 is one of the leading television broadcasters in Europe and we are delighted that they have decided to broadcast The Jungle Book in Italy from next month onwards. The series has already started to air on the Disney channel for the South East Asian region and will also soon start to air on the Disney Channel in India bringing our home grown production into the homes and hearts of children all over the world.”

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based DQE has signed a licensing agreement with TV Mania Gmbh through its merchandising agents TF1 Enterprises in France.

Under the terms of the agreement, TV Mania will have the right to manufacture and distribute apparels and accessories of Jungle Book for babies, kids and teenagers over a two-year period. DQE will receive a royalty on sales generated from this agreement in addition to a minimum guaranteed amount.
 
Products to be manufactured include T-shirts, jackets, swimwear, shirts, socks, and a host of other garments. TV Mania has the rights for retailing in France & Benelux.

Said DQE group chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “TV Mania is one of the strongest players for apparel merchandise in Europe. The Jungle Book has started to air successfully in various territories such as France, UK and Australia and with a steadily increasing fan base, this collaboration is going to be strategically very important for us as we seek to further monetise this classical property. We are delighted to associate with TV Mania and hope to continue to work together on various other properties as well.”

MUMBAI: The Japanese public broadcaster NHK and Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera Children‘s Channel (JCC) have signed a new co-production agreement to strengthen their collaboration on major offerings over the coming five years.

The signing ceremony took place at JCC‘s premises in the Education City – Qatar. The long-term partners, NHK and JCC, will extend their joint efforts to develop and produce unique educational programs in the fields of science, discovery, technology, environment, and education.

The two broadcasters have already enjoyed success with Discover Science, which was a co-production with NHK affiliate NHK Educational Corporation (NED).

Under the new agreement, NHK, JCC, and NED will discuss a sequel series. 
 
Installing the next-generation ultra-high-sensitivity image-intensifier HD camera on the International Space Station, the project will give a completely new perspective on Earth and space.

NHK‘s executive MD of broadcasting Hidemi Hyuga expressed his pleasure about the partnership with JCC after the signing ceremony in Qatar saying, “NHK is very happy to partner with JCC. From the relationship that the NHK group has enjoyed with JCC over the years, we know that we share the same vision of contributing to the public good and striving for educational and cultural advancement. We look forward to working on various cutting-edge projects together.”

Al Jazeera Children‘s Channel (JCC) executive GM Mahmoud Bouneb stated: “This partnership with the NHK group comes in line with our mandate and ambitions to bring the best and most progressive content to our audience and contribute in shaping their way of life, and the way they view each component in their surroundings. We aim at producing cutting-edge programming that is valuable for teachers and students alike. We are pleased to team up again with a credible entity with which we share many of our values and aspirations. We are looking forward to a successful and productive partnership.”

Bouneb reiterated the importance of the support of Her Highness Sheikha Moza and Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, which gives JCC the means to be the only Arabic TV channel to venture in such high scale global productions.

 
MUMBAI: The National Children’s Museum (NCM) in the US has announced that it will work in partnership with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organisation behind Sesame Street.

The National Children’s Museum will provide Sesame Workshop a permanent museum home in the nation’s capital extending the Workshop‘s educational mission.

As part of the partnership, Sesame Street, and its characters, through interactive exhibits, educational video segments and books, will be integrated into elements of the Museum’s Early Learners gallery and incorporated in select Museum events and programming.
Additionally, Sesame Workshop will collaborate with NCM on content development, exhibits, and programme creation for the Museum’s Our World gallery, which will focus on diverse cultures and places around the globe.

Founded in 1974 as the Capital Children’s Museum, and designated by Congress in 2003 as a nationally recognised cultural and educational institution serving children and families, the National Children’s Museum will open in 2013 at National Harbor, Md. NCM is poised to become the Washington, DC area’s premier family attraction, and will be the only national museum dedicated entirely to children and their families.
 
US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan underscored the importance of museums as an educational resource for children saying, “Early childhood education is an important priority of the Administration, and we know how important supportive learning opportunities are for a child‘s development and later success in school. The National Children‘s Museum is an important leader in early childhood and elementary school-age learning programs, and I know that through this partnership with Sesame Street, they will continue to be at the forefront both regionally and nationally. As Americans, we believe our children can achieve anything, and now more than ever before, the National Children‘s Museum will be, indeed, a special place to realize that dream.”

National Children’s Museum President and CEO Kathy Dwyer Southern said, “The National Children’s Museum and Sesame Workshop share not only a similar mission, but a similar story — both organisations have been making a difference in this field for forty years and are committed to engaging with kids and their families in new ways that are educational, inspiring, and lead to a better future. Our mission is to inspire children to care about and improve the world. We believe great things will stem from this partnership and look forward to working together on behalf of kids, their families, and their communities across the nation.”

Through 2013, NCM will continue its outreach to nearly 200,000 kids each year by operating its Launch Zone, located at National Harbor, which is open free of charge seven days a week and offers children and their families a chance to see and engage with prototype exhibits and programs, as well as regional and national outreach programmes with other partners across the country and online at www.ncm.museum.
 

MUMBAI: DQ Entertainment has signed a co-production agreement with German-based ZDF Enterprises for 52 episodes of 11 minutes each of the second season of the 3D HD animated series of Jungle Book.
ZDF Enterprises, along with German pubcaster ZDF, has taken the lead as chief co-production partner of the second season at a budget of 9 million Euros. It will distribute the new adventures of Mowgli and his friends in over 60 countries throughout Europe and Latin America.
 
The first season has been picked up by a number of marquee networks including BBC (UK), TF1 (France), ABC (Australia), TVO (Canada), ZDF (Germany), JCCTV (Middle East), Noga TV (Israel), Channel B (Indonesia) and EBS (Korea).

DQ expects the second season to further boost the merchandising and licensing of this property that already has many deals agreed worldwide for toys, apparel, board games, outdoor action games, beach toys and food items.

Comments DQ Entertainment chairman and CEO Tapas Chakravarti, “The second season of Jungle Book was a simple decision after the tremendous success of the first season and the inherent demand by the global broadcasting community. Jungle Book already has a tremendous fan following and has created the need of kids to see more and more of Mowgli and his jungle friends.

“We are confident that the second season will also be a tremendous commercial success. It will be followed by a RV movie special, a Christmas special, a Halloween special and many other spin-offs. The partnership with ZDF is symbiotic in the sense that we are producing several other projects with them.”

Earlier, DQE has produced and distributed iconic brands such as Iron Man (3D animated TV series), Twisted Whiskers, Mikido and Casper, Pinky & Perky.

MUMBAI: Nickelodeon India has announced its licensing tie-up with Lilliput Kidswear to launch an apparel line around some of the kids channel‘s popular characters.
To be launched in March this year, the Spring-Summer collection around characters such as ‘Dora the Explorer‘ and ‘Oggy & the Cockroaches‘ will include the entire range of Lilliput kidswear including T-shirts, shirts, capris and clothing accessories.
 
Says Viacom18 Media SVP – consumer products Sandeep Dahiya, “Lilliput Kidswear is one of the most popular Kidswear retail brands in the country and provides great penetration across both, metros as well as non-metro cities. We truly believe that given their expansive network, world-class manufacturing facility and a great creative team, they can bring the Nickelodeon characters alive on the apparel range.”

Talking about the apparel category, he further added, “Apparel and accessories are significant categories in the kid‘s space that are witnessing consistent growth. Kids are getting style-conscious from a very young age and wearing their favourite characters is a great high for them.”

The range will be available in 275 Lilliput stores across India, as also over 400 shop-in-shops in the large format stores.

Lilliput India chairman and managing director Sanjeev Narula added, “Nickelodeon characters are extremely popular with kids and we‘re excited to augment our vast offering further with the addition of Dora the explorer, Ninja Hattori and Oggy & the Cockroaches range. The Spring Summer 2011 Collection around these characters is a unique combination of kid fantasy and character themes and we‘re confident of it doing really well.”

The range will be available in 275 Lilliput stores across India, as also over 400 shop-in-shops in the large format stores.
 

MUMBAI: Kids broadcaster Cartoon Network has acquired 10 children’s short-form series from Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).

The comedic animated and live-action shorts will be aired on Cartoon Network in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Content include Dukes of Broxstonia, Monster Chef, Black Knight White Witch and Desdemona.
 
The 98 episodes are a collaborative effort between ACTF and Australian producers from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

ACTF CEO Jenny Buckland said, “These wacky and distinctive series showcase Australia’s most talented and innovative animators and we’re very proud of them, and thrilled that their audience will increase exponentially given Cartoon Network’s extensive reach”.

Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Chief Content Officer Mark Eyers said, “At Cartoon Network we’re always looking for great original kids’ series to animate their lives, via local partnerships or our initiatives such as SNAPTOONS. We’re really excited to be associated with ACTF for this unique collection of shorts. They‘re funny, they‘re Australian and they’re on Cartoon Network”.
 

MUMBAI: Classic Media, a global media company which has a portfolio of some of the world’s leading family entertainment brands, has secured an ongoing commitment from UK pubcaster the BBC‘s children‘s channel CBeebies for the pre-school series, Postman Pat, until 2015.

This year marks the 30th Anniversary of Postman Pat and shows the relationship with the BBC.
 
With the new commitment, the BBC will re-license Postman Pat Series 3-6, as well as four Postman Pat television specials, “Magical Christmas,” “Clowns Around,” “Pirate Treasure” and “Greendale Rocket.”

The partnership ensures Postman Pat’s presence across BBC1, BBC2, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC iPlayer and CBeebies radio, for a further five years through to October 2015. The show currently airs on CBeebies daily at 8:10 am and also on the BBC2 at 10:05 am.

Classic Media executive VP, international Chloe van den Berg said, “We’re delighted to have secured further commitment from the BBC for Postman Pat. Having aired on the children’s platform for almost 30 years now, Pat is one of the best loved characters on the BBC and the quality children’s programming it represents. It’s fantastic to see the brand still resonating with today’s young audiences.”