BBC Children’s and FremantleMedia Enterprises’ (FME) Kids & Family Entertainment division have signed a long-term deal that will see them develop and produce a continuous sequence of new programmes for children of all ages. The deal will see FME and BBC Children’s co-developing, co-producing and co-funding a number of new children’s shows over the next five years, and investing tens of millions of pounds in order to fulfil the production requirements of the agreement.

The partnership brings together two of the strongest players in the kids and family entertainment space. The organisations have a proven track record of working together: the preschool hit Tree Fu Tom was one of the highest rated new series on CBeebies in 2012 and received multiple BAFTA Children’s Award nominations; and Wizards vs Aliens, created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford (Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood), was CBBC’s number two premiering show last year. 

Under the terms of the partnership, the BBC Children’s in-house production teams will produce the shows in conjunction with the FME Kids & Family team including Sander Schwartz, President, and Bob Higgins, Executive Vice President. This partnership does not affect the first-look deal that BBC Children has with BBC Worldwide who continue to invest in children’s programming and also operate the CBeebies international channels. BBC Children will continue to collaborate with a wide range of creative partners, broadcasters, distributors and indies.

“When we started FME’s Kids and Family Entertainment division just three years ago, our goal was to join forces with leading broadcasters and producers of kids’ content in order to inspire, transform, challenge and stimulate our young audiences who will grow to be the world’s next generation of leaders,” said Sander Schwartz, President, FME Kids and Family Entertainment.