New Teletubbies heads to Italy

The Teletubbies reboot is heading to Italy after pubcaster Rai bought the series.

The deal, with producer and distributor DHX Media, also covers a raft of classic episodes of the iconic preschool series.

Rai will air the series on its YoYo channel. The new show is in production, and commissioning broadcaster CBeebies will debut it in the UK later this year. Rai has not set a launch date.

The Italian broadcaster has 60x12mins of new Teletubbies under the terms of the deal and fourteen seasons of the classic show.

DHX acquired the Teletubbies brand as part of a deal for the library of Anne Wood’s UK prodco Ragdoll. It has already shopped the series to French kids channel Gulli and in Canada it will run on DHX’s Family Channel Jr. In the US it has been acquired by Viacom’s Nick Jr.

Josh Scherba, senior VP Distribution of DHX Media, said: “This deal with Rai and recent sales in the US and France underscore the considerable appetite globally for Teletubbies. That broadcasters are keen to snap up both the new and classic series highlights that this is a property with enduring appeal, poised to win a new generation of fans.”

The new series is being produced out of the UK by indie prodco Darrall Macqueen. The original series started on the BBC in 1997.