CBS and DIC Ent. will partner to launch an all-new, Saturday morning branded kids programming block, CBSs Secret Saturday Morning Slumber Party, in fall 06.
As part of the multi-year deal, CBSs Secret Saturday Morning Slumber Party, will feature three hours of FCC-compliant childrens programming and serve as a platform to introduce new kids programs created by DIC.
The block will also will feature successful series from DICs extensive library of animated product, including the Emmy Award-winning series MADELINE and WHERE ON EARTH IS CARMEN SANDIEGO, SABRINA: THE ANIMATED SERIES, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, LIBERTYS KIDS, TROLLZ, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE 22ND CENTURY, ARCHIES WEIRD MYSTERIES, THE LITTLES, INSPECTOR GADGETS FIELD TRIP and SONIC UNDERGROUND.
Kids programming players and observers might remember it was CBS that turned over its Saturday morning schedule in the early 90s to another animation company, Nelvana Ltd. in an industry stunning deal brokered by Toper Taylor who now heads Cookie Jar Ent. in Canada, with former Nelvana chief Michael Hirsh.
Also, CBS has been programming its schedule with programs from sister company Nickelodeon after Viacom acquired the network.
DIC and CBS executives will collaborate with the DIC Educational Advisory Board, a group comprised of leading media experts, educators and pediatricians created to provide information, guidance, advice and general expertise to executives, creative professionals and staff in the development of multimedia programs and projects for children.
Robby London, evp of creative affairs at DIC will chair the advisory board. Among the panel of esteemed board members is Stanford professor of communications and children's media expert Dr. Donald Roberts, who is recognized around the world for his research on children and the media and specializes in determining how children process and respond to media. Also on board are Gordon L. Berry Ed.D., who is presently professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA, and Daniel D. Broughton, M.D., who serves as the professor of pediatrics at the esteemed Mayo Medical School and is a consultant to the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
DIC is a leader in childrens entertainment with a deep library of kids programming and a successful track record for launching and running an E/I block in the U.S, said Nancy Tellem, president, CBS Paramount Network Television Ent. Group. Their numerous Emmy, Humanitas, and other awards speak to their attention to quality and their impressive educational advisory board speaks to their commitment to providing children with the highest educational and entertainment values in their programming.
We are thrilled to partner with CBS to develop a platform to showcase our existing library of programming with brand recognition on broadcast television, as well as to create a launching pad to introduce new and exciting brands to the kids marketplace in the U.S., said Andy Heyward, DIC chairman/ceo. CBS is Americas most watched Network and an organization with a great tradition of high-quality, successful programming, and we look forward to future collaborations on innovative ventures in the childrens television market using new and emerging technologies.
DIC Ent. (www.dicentertainment.com), a leading children's entertainment company, is a full-service studio dedicated to creating, developing, producing, distributing, marketing and merchandising family-based intellectual properties. DIC has built one of the largest libraries of western-style animation with more than 2,800 half-hours of programming. As a pre-eminent supplier of kid's programming worldwide, DIC has developed strategic partnerships with key domestic and international broadcast partners throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. DIC is headquartered in Burbank, California, with international offices in Paris, London and Cologne.
CBS Television is comprised of the CBS Television Network with more than 200 owned and affiliated stations reaching virtually every television home in the U.S.; the network's programming arms CBS Ent., CBS News and CBS Sports. CBS also manages UPN, which broadcasts primetime programming on five nights with an average of 90% total coverage throughout the country.
