Cannes – Canada’s Nelvana Enterprises, owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., and China’s Ciwen Media Group, have entered into a major content acquisition and representation deal for the territories of Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong.

Nelvana has granted Ciwen exclusive distribution representation rights to over 1,000 half-hours of animated and live-action Nelvana programming, which includes titles such as Franklin, Babar, Rolie Polie Olie, Mr. Young and The Detentionaire, as well as exclusive merchandise representation rights for Franklin and non-exclusive rights for Ruby Gloom, 6teen and Grossology.

“In terms of the number of episodes, the number of properties involved and the breadth of rights and distribution channels granted to Ciwen, this deal is certainly significant and likely one of the largest kids media deals for Western properties ever to be concluded in China,” commented Ms. Anke Redl, Managing Director of CMM-I, a Beijing-based media research and consulting firm.

Ciwen will work to place the shows with the top free TV, cable and satellite broadcasters after dubbing them into Mandarin or other regional languages. Where broadcasters aren’t available, it will focus on the burgeoning VOD and Internet television market in China. In addition, Ciwen plans to release as many titles as possible on DVD.

On the merchandising side, Ciwen will undertake a comprehensive brand-building and licensing program across a broad array of categories that will include toys, apparel and accessories, and channels, including digital media, traditional and digital publishing, and themed entertainment.