HONG KONG – FUN Union, global children’s animation content creator and rights owner, has announced new deals with ITV, Kabillion, PlayKids, and Hong Kong-based Now TV, for three of its animated series BabyRiki, KikoRiki and PinCode.
BabyRiki to premiere in the UK
FUN Union has signed an exclusive deal with broadcaster ITV, the most popular commercial television network in the UK, for pre-school animation series BabyRiki. BabyRiki is a 5-min animated show, combining 3D CGI and live video, where preschoolers are entertained, and learn through play. Each episode introduces an age-appropriate learning concept, illustrated with a song, helping the young child absorb and process through kinaesthetic learning. Seasons 1 and 2 (total of 104 episodes), will form part of ITVBe’s newly created weekday morning zone and will premiere on 3 September 2018.
“We are thrilled to be bringing BabyRiki to preschoolers in the UK. It is a fun and visually outstanding show, and an excellent addition to our growing slate of new pre-school content on littleBe,” said Darren Nartey, ITV’s Programme Acquisitions Executive.
BabyRiki on demand in the US
FUN Union’s deal with Kabillion (the only independently owned company ranked among the U.S. Top 10 Kids Free On Demand TV Networks) will bring BabyRiki Seasons 1 and 2 to viewers of its VOD services from mid-September 2018. The Kabillion network reaches 60 million homes.
David Di Lorenzo, President of Kabillion, has welcomed the agreement, stating: “We are excited to be working with FUN Union as both a broadcaster and a distributor for BabyRiki for North America and believe that U.S. audiences are going to love this wonderful series.”
BabyRiki, KikoRiki and PinCode to feature on educational SVOD app in North America
PlayKids, the worldwide educational SVOD app launched in 2013 by Brazil-based Movile, will offer BabyRiki, KikoRiki and PinCode to its North American viewers from 23 August 2018. PlayKids has accumulated a global reach of 10 million monthly average users.
“PlayKids is committed to contributing to children’s education and development by offering curated content and helping families to use technology in the favor of kids’ education. The new titles have been selected by our team of curators, and will provide content aligned with the concepts of cognitive development, education and learning that we advocate across all platform products,” said Fernando Collaço, head of content management for PlayKids.
Deals in Asia with PCCW AND POPS Worldwide
These new agreements are the latest in a series of international distribution deals for FUN Union. In Asia, FUN Union has signed an agreement with NOW TV (HK-based PCCW Media’s Pay-TV platform, and one of the world’s largest commercial deployments of IPTV and Hong Kong’s largest pay-TV provider) for BabyRiki to be part of its SVOD service “Watch & Learn” programming targeting kids, with launch on 9 August 2018.
Recently, FUN Union also partnered with POPS Worldwide to launch BabyRiki, KikoRiki and PinCode in Vietnamese language on its POPS Kids channel, with launch slated for 17, 18 and 19 August 2018, respectively.
“Our series are celebrated for bringing entertaining and educational content to children worldwide,” shared FUN Union CEO, Christine Brendle. “These latest deals, from North America to the UK and Asia, are testament to the series’ global appeal, resulting from the close cooperation with education experts, child psychologists, parents and an exceptional team of creative talents.”
