CBeebies


ABC Oz buys Mister Maker and Waybuloo

The ABC has acquired a 30-hour package of programming from Zodiak Kids. The Australian pubcaster has picked up live-action show Mister Maker (pictured) and preschool hit series Waybuloo as part of the deal. Both shows are on CBeebies in the UK and the UK digital channel recently extended arts and crafts show Mister Maker with […]

First UK producers receive tax break confirmation

A pair of CBeebies toons and three BBC One dramas are the first UK projects to officially qualify for new television production tax breaks. The CBeebies series are Karrot Entertainment’s Sarah and Duck (pictured) and Famous Flying Films and Mackinnon & Saunders-produced Calamity Island, while Red Planet Pictures’ crime series By Any Means, Origin Pictures’ […]

CBeebies goes for Melody, Minibeast

UK digital kids net CBeebies has ordered a pair of new series, one themed around classical music and the other a wildlife series about tiny animals and insects. Melody is a 20x7mins mixed media series co-commissioned by BBC Learning from Wish Films and LAAH Entertainment with support from the RNIB. It will attempt to introduce […]

CBeebies launches Playtime app

UK pubcaster the BBC has launched an app to accompany a range of shows on its preschool channel CBeebies. The CBeebies Playtime app works on Apple and Android devices. It allows parents to create profiles for kids and they can collect rewards for progressing in a range of games themed around key shows on the […]

CBeebies’ Mister Maker gets companion app

Mister Maker, the CBeebies preschool TV series, has got its own companion app. Mister Maker: Let’s Make It! has this morning (August 12) launched on the Apple Store, available for iPad, iPad Mini, iPhone and iPod touch for £2.99 (US$4.63). The P2 Entertainment-produced app allows users to create pictures using nearly 400 different digital art […]

Reinventing the classics

Children’s TV is something that binds and defines peer groups. With new versions of Thunderbirds, Noddy and various others in the works the commercial power of nostalgia is clearly intense, but when updating a classic respect and modern-day relevance are key, reports Jane Marlowe. Turner’s Cartoon Network was built with classic properties and senior VP […]

CBeebies pre-buys toon series, Union handles sales

UK preschool channel CBeebies has pre-bought a new animated series from indie studio Beakus, with Adam Selly’s Union Media lined up to sell it on the international market. The 52x5mins Toggle will launch on CBeebies in 2015. The show is billed as an “an inventive, unique and fun series with a bright eye-catching design”. It […]

FremantleMedia and BBC on kids partnership

Earlier this year the BBC and the Kids and Family division of FremantleMedia inked a multi-year deal that will see them co-develop and produce a range of kids series for preschool and older audiences, across live-action and animation. BBC Children’s boss Joe Godwin and FremantleMedia Kids and Family Entertainment’s Bob Higgins tell Stewart Clarke about […]

Foxtel-BBC channel deal ‘disappoints ABC’

Australian pay TV provider Foxtel is to launch a premium BBC content channel on its platform. The move has reportedly upset BBC Worldwide’s long-term partner in the territory, the ABC. Yesterday, Foxtel unveiled what it described as a “significant multi-platform deal” with the BBC’s commercial arm BBCWW to create an ad-free subscription channel offering premieres […]

Tree Fu Tom springs up at Sprout

US children’s cable channel Sprout has bought FremantleMedia Kids and CBeebies coproduction Tree Fu Tom. The preschool CGI animated programme will debut on Sprout this month on April 22 following a deal with distributor and coproducer FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment. FremantleMedia Kids & Family described the deal as a landmark for its business, as […]