New licensing agreements span television, home entertainment and toy distribution.
TORONTO, CANADA -- 9 Story Media Group has secured several deals in Australia for the hit animated series Wild Kratts, including broadcast placement with Channel Nine’s Go! Channel. The channel will begin airing the series weekdays at 7:00 am and 2:30 pm commencing November 14th and at 1:30 pm on Saturdays and Sundays commencing November 21st.
In addition to broadcast exposure, Roadshow Entertainment has picked up home video rights while master toy licensee Wicked Cool Toys has appointed Hunter Products to distribute the toy line.
Now in its fourth season, Wild Kratts premiered on PBS KIDS in the U.S. in 2011 and on TVO, Knowledge Network and Télé-Quebec in Canada. A co-production between Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group, Wild Kratts is distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Kratt Brothers Company and internationally by 9 Story Media Group. The series was created and developed by real life brothers and zoologists, Martin and Chris Kratt who star in the show as animated versions of themselves. The fourth season includes 26 episodes, which will begin rolling out in the U.S. on PBS KIDS in late 2015.
The series also has tremendous global reach, airing in over 180 countries across 18 different languages. Broadcast partners include Discovery Kids (Latin America and Asia), Super RTL (Germany), TV3 (Spain), Canal Panda (Spain), RTE (Ireland), VRT (Belgium), Minimax (Eastern Europe), Media Corp PTD Ltd. (Singapore), Primetime (Colombia), Minika (Turkey), E Junior (UAE) and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (Middle East).
Master toy licensee Wicked Cool Toys launched a broad toy offering at Toys “R” Us last year which included creature power suits, action figures, talking plush and vehicle sets. Due to strong performance, new items including the Tortuga Playset, have been developed, and the line has recently rolled out to Kmart and select Target stores.
Random House Kids released the first Wild Kratts books in the U.S. and Canada as part of the publisher’s Step into Reading Program. Sales of the book exceeded expectations, and as a result, it went into a second printing within the first few weeks of its initial release and the vastly expanded book line is in production.
Source: 9 Story Media Group
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
