Fetch TV

BBC Studios is gearing up to launch a new BBC Kids channel on Australia SVOD Fetch TV next month. Aimed at kids ages six to 10, the channel will feature BBC series including The Next Step, Jamie Johnson, Deadly 60 on a Mission and Horrible Histories.

Many of the pubcaster’s channels—including CBeebies, BBC Earth and the BBC World News—are already available on Fetch.

Fetch has also inked a deal with Nickelodeon to stream its 24-hour Nick Music channel, which features music videos from artists such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd. The streamer already hosts Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. on its platform, as well as other ViacomCBS channels like Comedy Central and MTV Music.

The new BBC Kids and Nick Music channels will be available as part of a kids content package that also offers CBeebies, the rest of the Nickelodeon channels, ZooMoo and BabyTV for US$5 (AUD$6) per month. The service’s newest nets will both launch on April 24, one day after Fetch loses Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Portfolio Entertainment

Canada’s Portfolio Entertainment has secured a handful of new broadcast deals for its The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That! 2D-animated series.

Sky Kids in the UK has picked up seasons two and three (80 x 11 minutes), and will also add the brand’s “Builda-ma-loo,” “Invention Engine,” “Camp Time” and “Arcade Escape” educational games to its Sky Kids app.

French-language broadcaster Unis TV has picked up seasons one and two to air in Canada. And KiKA (Germany) and NRK (Norway) have both acquired the one-hour holiday movie The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About Christmas. 

Portfolio produces the series with Collingwood O’Hare Productions, in association with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Random House Children’s Entertainment, Treehouse and PBS KIDS. It’s based on The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library book series (published by Random House), and sees the titular character and his two best friends go on adventures to learn new things.

One Animation

The Singaporean studio has signed several new broadcast deals for its Oddbods and Insectibles (pictured) animated series.

In Latin America, WarnerMedia has picked up 22-minute Halloween special “OddBeard’s Curse” for Boomerang and Cartoon Network, and Mexico’s Televisa has acquired seasons one and two of Oddbods (120 x seven minutes).

Meanwhile in Europe, France’s teleTOON+ has bought “OddBeard’s Curse” and renewed its rights to other seasonal specials, including “Party Monsters,” “The Festive Menace” and “Zee Force Five.” Studio N in Poland has picked up free-TV and SVOD rights to seasons one to three (160 x seven minutes) of OddBods, as well as all the seasonal specials.

In Asia, Singapore-based distributor Bomanbridge Media has sold season three of OddBods (60 x seven minutes) and a handful of specials to True Visions Group (Thailand), Canal+ (Myanmar) and Astro (Malaysia & Brunei).

On the Insectibles front, Russian broadcaster TRO has acquired season one of the 52 x 11-minute adventure series, with RedHead SARL picking up free-TV distribution rights in South Africa. Insectibles, which skews to kids ages six to nine, is about a kid who gets shrunk down and has to work with friendly insects to help them fight against an evil mosquito gang.

Mondo TV Iberoamerica 

Mondo TV Iberoamerica has picked up TV distribution rights to Nina & Olga for Spain, Portugal, LatAm and Spanish-speaking US. Produced by Mondo TV Producciones Canarias and Enanimation, the 52 x seven-minuter is about a little girl who goes on adventures with her best friend, who happens to be a fluffy cloud. It has already been pre-sold to Italian pubcaster Rai, and is scheduled to premier later this year. Earlier this month, Beyond Rights in the UK snagged all other international distribution rights to the 2D-animated series.

Meta Media Entertainment

UK-based Meta Media Entertainment has picked up worldwide distribution rights to Turkish studio Maara Animation’s Dodohando stop-motion short series. Maara is producing a new batch of 52 x three-minute shorts that will be ready to air in Q4 2021. This non-dialogue claymation series for kids ages three to eight centers around an excitable protagonist named Dodo, who must work with different foreign objects and creatures to learn something new.

Dodohando originally consisted of 13 shorts, which Turkish kids channel TRT Çocuk picked up to broadcast on its YouTube channel in 2017.