Netflix collars Horrid Henry

Netflix has acquired seasons one to three of animated series Horrid Henry for its services in the UK and Ireland.

The deal, comprising 156 11-minute episodes, will see Netflix release the seasons of the Novel Entertainment-produced show over the next year. Season one debuts this month.

Netflix already has non-exclusive SVOD rights to season one in the US.

Horrid Henry has been a key ratings driver for ITV’s children’s channel CiTV, and has had a fourth 52x11mins season commissioned.

“We have been actively growing the digital presence of Horrid Henry, and this deal with Netflix is a major part of our plan to make the show available to audiences beyond its successful platform on linear television,” said Novel’s CEO, Mike Watts.

The series has been sold to numerous broadcasters around the world by Zodiak Kids, which picked up rights after former owner Target Entertainment went under in 2012. However, the Netflix deal was closed by Movie Partnership, a digital distribution company that handles Henry sales in the UK and Ireland.