BBC creates new unit: Children’s and Licensing

BBC Worldwide has restructured its kids business and renamed it Children’s and Licensing. The newly minted division will focus its efforts on preschool, pre-teen and adult licensing.

The BBC said the name change reflected the “importance of maximising global licensing opportunities for adult brands such as Top Gear and Planet Earth in addition to award winning titles such as In the Night Garden, Teletubbies, Doctor Who and Charlie and Lola.”

The Children’s and Licensing business will be run by managing director Neil Ross Russell.

Worldwide is also looking to fill a new position, global head of licensing, which will be based in New York and working alongside Susanna Pollack, senior VP, TV sales and coproduction and children’s.

Worldwide also announced that it has extended the terms of its deal with kids producer Ragdoll and will oversee licensing activity for its shows, which include Teletubbies and In the Night Garden.

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