London – Acamar Films and its global distribution partner Aardman have signed a string of key international broadcast deals to take the award-winning pre-school series Bing to new channels globally.
Bing, Flop and his adored cast of friends continue their worldwide travels, with the series recently launching on Zappelin in Netherlands, Poland’s Canal + and BBC Worldwide in Africa. The series is also set to air on Nick Jnr in Australia, Disney Junior in South East Asia and Latvia’s LTV. The deals were negotiated by Aardman’s Rights and Brand Development division.
These channels join current broadcast partners for Bing including: CBeebies in the UK, Australia’s ABC, S4C in Wales, Irish broadcaster RTE, SVT in Sweden, DR in Denmark, Gulli and TiJi in France (part of the Lagadere Group), Clan in Spain, Portugal’s Canal Panda, Norwegian broadcaster NRK, New Zealand’s TVNZ, and HOP in Israel. The series also airs across Eastern Europe through Minimax and reaches Belgian audiences via broadcaster VRT.
Alison Taylor, Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Aardman added: “We are delighted to be announcing further sales for Bing in even more of our key territories. It’s always good to see our clients’ enthusiasm for new content and they certainly seem excited about sharing Bing with their audiences. It’s fantastic to see so many broadcasters realising the charm and originality of the series, and the many opportunities the brand presents.”
The UK licensing programme has committed with already 19 licensees for development with global partners Fisher Price and HarperCollins. New additions across key categories will be announced in line with the airing of the TV series and appointment of agents so as to develop local licensing campaigns around the globe. Bing has been adapted for television from the insightful books by award-winning author and illustrator Ted Dewan.