Following the recent PRINCESS NATASHA brand licensing deals, KOL, the children's web service from AOL, has secured its first international television deal. As part of the three-year deal with ABC Australia, 40 original episodes of PRINCESS NATASHA will air in Australia and New Zealand. Potential licensing opportunities for PRINCESS NATASHA will be explored in Australia and New Zealand as well through the newly signed licensing agent Gaffney.
"After attending MIP earlier this year, we are thrilled with the outcome of landing KOL's first international TV distribution deal with ABC Australia," said Malcolm Bird, svp, AOL Kids & Teens. "This deal is important for us because it signifies that building an online entertainment property first can translate to television both domestically and internationally."
"We are really excited about bringing PRINCESS NATASHA into the ABC Kids program lineup," said Deirdre Brennan, ABC Kids programmer, ABC TV. "Funny and fast-paced, the series represents the future in children's content proving that great ideas can be developed and attract significant audiences on other platforms. Our challenge as a broadcaster is to capture their attention online or on-screen and Princess Nastasha has already proved herself a hit!"
PRINCESS NATASHA will be featured throughout the ABC Kids schedule during the Roller Coaster block, an interactive an entertainment hosted block for the tween and teen audience.
In addition, the PRINCESS NATASHA character will also be featured in a series of public service announcements promoting healthy eating and living during the "KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS" kids block beginning in mid-September. This will mark the first time this character is appearing on network television in the U.S. The show previously aired on the Cartoon Network in the U.S.
"Gaffney Intl Licensing are thrilled to be the newly appointed agents and are very excited to commence what will no doubt be a very successful licensing program in this region," said Lim Mi-Kyoung, gm, Gaffney Intl Licensing.
Princess Natasha, the student secret agent, who came from the beautiful, friendly country of Zoravia, inspired the quaint town of Fountain Park, Illinois, to change its name to Zoravia. As the real Zoravian Princess, she has been charged to go to Zoravia, IL, to find the evil Lubek and stop him from destroying her home country.
The KOL service is the first version of the AOL service designed entirely for kids combining exclusive content from industry leading kids' brands and original programming. Reaching millions of kids each month, KOL is leading the next generation of children's entertainment with four original animated online series, PRINCESS NATASHA, SKWOD, KUNG FU ACADEMY and PILAR'S ADVENTURES.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
