Coming off a year of impressive ratings gains in the U.S. market, kids cable channel Nickelodeon is about to make additional expansionary moves this time through new international audiences and the acquisition of an important program library.

Nickelodeon will launch a kids channel in Latin America some time later this year, and, the Viacom-owned company has announced the acquisition of 15 half-hour series, and first-run rights to 65 half-hour episodes from Nelvana Enterprises.

The new 24-hour Latin American channel will be based in Miami, transmitted via satellite in Spanish and Portuguese and distributed throughout all of Latin America. The potential reach is 11 million households.

According to a Nickelodeon statement, advance research conducted with the firm Rieger Research showed that children in Latin America want a channel that is exclusively for them. ‘They want to be heard and they want to see other kids on air. They also want to be connected to issues in the world,’ according to Nickelodeon.

Nickelodeon also has channels in the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Australia and is seen in more than 70 countries.

In the Nelvana deal, Nickelodeon picks up first-run titles such as Blazing Dragons and Secret Life of Toys. Other titles from the library include Babar, Rupert and The Adventures of Tintin.