Chinese OTT service iQIYI picks up a block of animated kids shows from Cbeebies.
British animation company Pesky announced that it has signed a licensing deal with iQIYI, China’s largest online video platform, to carry its preschool series Boj.
iQIYI will offer Boj in both English and Mandarin to its tens of millions of paid subscribers.
The show is one of the top ten of most-watched children’s programs on Cbeebies in the U.K. The series will be joining other popular shows from the channel following last month’s announcement that the Chinese streaming video-on-demand service will be launching a CBeebies-branded block this summer featuring some of BBC’s most popular pre-school programming.
Boj has already sold to RTE Ireland, S4C Wales, France Television, YLE Finland, RTVE Spain, ABC Australia, PBS Sprout, Knowledge Network/BBC Kids Canada and CBeebies Latin America. When the series of 50 x 11 minutes (plus a 22-minute special) began airing across four feeds on Jim-Jam in 2016 a further 100 territories were added to Boj’s reach, taking the global total to over 200.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, this summer Pesky will be opening a themed attraction, “Boj Giggly Park,” at West Midland Safari Park in the heart of England.
Source: Pesky
