Kids

BBC launches CBeebies iPlayer

Published

17 years ago

May 11, 2009

MUMBAI: The BBC has announced the launch of CBeebies iPlayer.

This is part of the BBC‘s commitment to deliver creative and engaging content to audiences in new and innovative ways, and put parents in control of their children‘s viewing.The specially designed child-friendly BBC iPlayer offers children six years old and under the chance to watch many of the programmes they love, from Aardman Animation‘s new series Timmy Time to Charlie And Lola and Kerwizz at a time which suits the whole family.

Designed to be a shared and flexible online experience with parents, the new service follows the launch of the popular CBBC iPlayer last year for six to 12-year-olds. Through the CBeebies website, the service provides a dedicated place on the internet for the BBC‘s youngest viewers to view BBC children‘s programmes on demand.

The service is designed to restrict inadvertent access to non-children‘s programming and puts children‘s viewing priorities first. Most programmes will be available to view for a week after broadcast with some available for up to 13 weeks as “series catch ups”.

The BBC iPlayer has received over 414 million requests to view BBC television content (TV streams and downloads) since its launch in 2007.

While a significant number of requests each day for CBeebies content are received via the main BBC iPlayer, requests to view BBC Children‘s programmes are expected to increase with the new service. The BBC adds that the CBeebies website reached more than one million unique users in the UK during the first week of February.

The BBC adds that its children‘s department is a leading exponent for child-safe internet products that reflect the concerns of children growing up in Britain today and works extensively to promote home-grown content. The new service follows user-testing, with the design produced by a combined team of children‘s interactive experts from BBC Vision and video-on-demand specialists from the BBC‘s Future Media and Technology division.

The BBC iPlayer extension for CBeebies is just one of a number of new and enhanced services being introduced for young viewers this year, with exciting developments coming soon to the CBeebies Red Button service.

Pressing Red on the CBeebies channel will take viewers into a new and enhanced interactive area mirroring the content on the channel, as well as brand new games featuring CBeebies favourites In The Night Garden and Green Balloon Club.

CBeebies radio is also set to launch later this year on the Red Button service, as well as a new grown-up section containing useful information for parents.

The new design features a ‘carousel‘ making the interactive service simple to use for all ages, and will now be tailored to optimise the performance on whichever platform the viewer is using ie Sky, cable or Freeview.

BBC Future Media and Technology director Erik Huggers said, “The children‘s BBC iPlayers bring the flexibility of on-demand viewing to the BBC‘s younger viewers to a more familiar environment – designed specifically for them. We are constantly innovating to improve our audiences‘ experience of the BBC‘s first-rate children‘s programming, and hope CBeebies iPlayer will be a hit with parents and children alike.” BBC Children‘s controller Richard Deverell says, “Children live in an on-demand age and with the launch of the new BBC iPlayer designed for the under sixes, children can now watch some of their favourite programmes whenever they want and parents have greater flexibility and freedom to choose what their children watch and when. This is why I am so delighted that we are launching the CBeebies iPlayer and I hope it will significantly increase the public value we deliver to this important audience.”

The main BBC iPlayer incorporates industry-standard guidance labelling, allowing parents to make informed choices about potentially challenging content as well as the parental guidance lock. This safeguard allows parents/guardians to ‘lock‘ potentially challenging content as well as the parental guidance lock.

This safeguard allows parents/guardians to ‘lock‘ potentially challenging guidance-labelled content, which may then only be accessed by first inputting a user-defined password. This new release is designed from a child‘s perspective and works irrespective of whether parents have set the password protection system

Approximately 40 per cent of CBeebies‘ output is currently available on BBC iPlayer and this will remain the case with the introduction of the CBeebies iPlayer. This is the equivalent of an average of 35 hours a week which includes a mix of first run series and repeats.

The majority of titles will be available for seven days after showing, with some series available in their entirety (series stacked) until seven days after the last episode is transmitted (up to a maximum of 13 weeks and in accordance with permissions and approvals granted by the BBC Trust).

Kids

Om Nom bites into India as Warner Bros. Discovery picks up the series

Published

4 weeks ago

January 20, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: The little green hero is making a big leap east. Zeptolab has struck a major distribution deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing its hit animated series Om Nom Stories to audiences across the Indian subcontinent.

Under the agreement, Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired the series for exclusive Pay TV broadcast and non-exclusive digital streaming in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The move marks a significant expansion for Zeptolab as it pushes one of its most successful original IPs into one of the world’s fastest-growing entertainment markets.

As part of the deal, all 26 seasons of Om Nom Stories will be rolled out across Cartoon Network, Pogo, Discovery Kids and Discovery+, offering both linear and digital access to the franchise’s slapstick humour and expressive, dialogue-free storytelling.

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring Om Nom Stories to the Indian subcontinent,” said Zeptolab executive producer Manaf Hassan, noting that the broadcaster’s reach and legacy make it a strong fit for the series’ growing global fanbase.

Warner Bros. Discovery, meanwhile, sees the acquisition as a natural addition to its children’s portfolio. Warner Bros. Discovery head of factual entertainment, lifestyle and kids for South Asia Sai Abishek, said the series aligns with the network’s focus on cheerful, imaginative and universally appealing content for families across the region.

The timing adds an extra layer of significance. The expansion coincides with Om Nom’s 15th anniversary, underlining the franchise’s staying power and its evolution from a mobile game character into a global animation brand. With this latest bite at the Indian subcontinent, Om Nom’s adventures look set to find a whole new generation of fans.

Kids

Colour outside the lines Chhota Bheem sketches a new play with Faber Castell

Published

1 month ago

January 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: If childhood memories had a colour palette, Chhota Bheem would likely be right in the middle of it and now, quite literally, in children’s pencil boxes too. Green Gold Animation has announced a landmark licensing partnership with Faber-Castell India, marking the global stationery major’s first-ever licensed character collaboration. The association brings Chhota Bheem to a specially curated range of student art and creative products, blending everyday learning tools with one of India’s most recognisable homegrown characters.

The move is a notable expansion of Chhota Bheem’s footprint beyond screens, reinforcing the character’s status as a multi-generational IP that has steadily grown from a television favourite into a cultural constant. For Green Gold Animation, the partnership signals a sharpened focus on extending its intellectual property into daily touchpoints, where entertainment meets education and habit.

In its first phase, the collaboration will roll out Chhota Bheem-themed products across key student art categories, including watercolour cakes, wax crayons, poster colours, sketch pens, oil pastels and creative bundling kits. The range is aimed squarely at school-going children, tapping into Bheem’s strong emotional connect while encouraging imagination, creativity and hands-on expression.

Green Gold Animation founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka noted that Chhota Bheem’s journey has long moved beyond episodic storytelling. He said the partnership reflects a deliberate attempt to embed the character into moments of learning and creativity, while building a more purpose-led licensing ecosystem around Indian IP through collaboration with a globally established brand.

From Faber-Castell India’s perspective, the tie-up marks a strategic first. Faber-Castell India director marketing Sonali Shah said the collaboration opens a new chapter by pairing the brand’s long-standing reputation for quality and safety with a character that already commands trust and affection among Indian children. The aim, she added, is to make creativity more engaging and relatable without diluting product standards.

The launch will be backed by a 360-degree promotional push, spanning digital campaigns, social media storytelling, creative usage content and on-ground retail activations across select markets. Both companies have confirmed that this is only the starting point, with additional Chhota Bheem-themed products across new categories planned in the months ahead.

Headquartered in Hyderabad, Green Gold Animation continues to scale its ambition of building globally competitive Indian IPs, with Chhota Bheem leading the charge. This latest collaboration suggests that the brand’s next phase of growth may be less about what children watch and more about what they create.

Kids

Sony tightens grip on Peanuts with $457 million stake buy

Published

2 months ago

December 22, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

JAPAN: Sony has doubled down on the power of legacy brands, snapping up a majority stake in the Peanuts intellectual property in a late-year deal valued at about $457 million.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan have acquired the roughly 41 per cent holding in Peanuts Holdings LLC previously owned by Canadian children’s entertainment company WildBrain. The move lifts Sony’s ownership to 80 per cent, with the Schulz family retaining the remaining 20 per cent.

The deal brings one of pop culture’s most durable franchises, home to Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang, firmly under the Sony umbrella. The characters were created by Charles M Schulz, whose daily comic strip ran for half a century before ending in 2000.

Sony had already been a long-time partner in the business. The latest transaction consolidates control and sharpens the group’s hand as it looks to keep the characters front and centre across film, television, music and consumer products.

President and group ceo of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Shunsuke Muramatsu, said the additional stake would allow Sony to further elevate the Peanuts brand by drawing on the group’s global reach and creative expertise, while preserving the legacy of Schulz and his family.

President and ceo of Sony Pictures, Ravi Ahuja, said the combined ownership gives Sony the ability to protect and shape the future of the characters for new generations, expanding their relevance without diluting their charm.

Peanuts long ago escaped the confines of the comic strip, cementing its place in popular culture through perennial television specials such as A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. More recently, WildBrain kept the franchise active with animated series including Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show.

Now, with Sony firmly in control, the message is unmistakable. In an industry obsessed with the next big thing, nostalgia still sells and Sony is betting big on a doghouse that refuses to age.