Press Release from Ludorum
LONDON, June 8 -- Ludorum plc, a leading specialist in the creation of global pre-school childrens' IP, announced today that it has licensed CHUGGINGTON, its successful train based pre-school series, to Disney Channel for its Playhouse Disney programming block in the United States.
Disney Channel will launch the series, consisting of 52 episodes, on Playhouse Disney block in the U.S. in the Spring of 2010. The channel has access to more than ninety-seven million viewing households and has acquired all broadcast rights to the property.
CHUGGINGTON has been licensed to 145 territories worldwide and, since the start of this year, has already established a highly successful ratings record in several key international markets including the UK (BBC - CBeebies), Germany (Super-RTL), France (TF1), Australia (ABC) and Canada (Treehouse). A major all rights agreement was announced in March to license CHUGGINGTON to Fuji Television, the dominant commercial broadcaster in Japan with broadcast scheduled to launch in the summer of this year.
Learning Curve Brands, a subsidiary of RC2 Corporation (NASDAQ:RCRC), holds the global master toy licensee, and they, along with several other key licensees, will launch major licensed product lines worldwide in 2010.
CHUGGINGTON is a new CGI animated pre-school train based series aimed at 2-5 years olds. The series was created by a leading creative team led by Sarah Ball, Director and Writer of Bob the Builder, and Don Toht who led the creation of the toys systems for THOMAS & FRIENDS for 12 years as well as BOB THE BUILDER. The property promotes positive life lessons and teaches emotional intelligence and social readiness. Ludorum has commenced production this year on a further 26 x 10 minutes episodes which have also been acquired for the UK by the BBC.
