With products set for North America online retail launch of new CG-animated series, ITV Studios Global Entertainment appoints licensing agent and broadcaster in Brazil.
LONDON – ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) has announced their plans to expand on their international foothold with its boys’ adventure series, Thunderbirds Are Go. The company has shared details of accelerating the series’ presence in North and South America.
In Brazil, ITVS GE has appointed licensing agent Kasmanas to build a dedicated consumer products program for the brand to support the upcoming broadcast debut of the series on popular kids’ channel Gloob in July. In North America, where Thunderbirds Are Go debuted in April on Amazon Prime, the property has already gotten off to a strong start off the back of the platform’s strong marketing launch. Merchandise launched on Amazon’s retail site this month, which includes flagship toy lines such as figures, crafts, play sets and the iconic Tracy Island.
“As the licensing community gears up to International Licensing Expo, we’re proud to share details of the significant headway we’ve recently made with Thunderbirds Are Go in North and South America. These key developments underpin the show’s outstanding global appeal as the International Rescue team continue to capture not only the imaginations of licensees, agents and retailers, but most crucially of young fans around the world,” commented Trudi Hayward, SVP, Head of Global Merchandise for ITV Studios Global Entertainment.
The show’s storytelling and top class production has enticed broadcasts and licensees across the world and ITVS GE has now sold the show into over 40 markets across Europe, Australia, New Zealand the Middle East. Season two is set to hit screens from Q4 2016 with a third season slated for release in 2017.
Internationally the show has recently become the most watched children’s program of 2015 in New Zealand. Following the launch of the series in Holland in January of this year on NPO Zapp, Thunderbirds Are Go has already become the most-watched show across all NPO channels in its family time slot. In the UK, the series is consistently top performing and has become one of the top 10 most requested shows on the ITV Hub.
ITVS GE continues to expand the brand’s international footprint with a number of additional markets now on board. In Canada the show launched for French-speaking fans in December 2015 on Telequebec, and debuts to the English-speaking market in Canada on Family and CHRGD this summer. In Singapore Thunderbirds Are Go began airing on OKTO from April and PTS channel will become the show’s home in Taiwan. This summer also will see the show hit TV screens in Sweden and the rest of the Nordics.
ITVS GE will be expanding its partnership with Amazon Prime Video and rolling-out the show through the SVOD platform to the UK, Germany and Austria in winter 2016.
The global licensing program for Thunderbirds Are Go is benefitting from this robust line-up of broadcasters, with over 80 licensees now signed up across all key categories. The show’s merchandise targets the main audience of boys aged between 4 and 11 years. Consumer products are available in six markets to date, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and Israel. An additional six markets will be launching throughout 2016, the U.S., Brazil, France, Canada, Benelux and the Nordics, with several others coming in 2017.
ITVS GE will be returning to the International Licensing Expo this month. Thunderbirds Are Go, the ground-breaking reinvention of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s iconic 1960s show, spearheads the firm’s presentation slate that will also feature Classic Thunderbirds, toy property Playmobil, the “inspired by Playmobil” TV series Super 4, 1970s music band Village People, British period drama Poldark and the animated kids’ comedy series, Oddbods.
Source: ITV Studios Global Entertainment
