Press release from Spellbound Entertainment:
London, UK -- Spellbound Entertainment has inked a new broadcast deal with ABC TV Australia for its multi-award winning pre-school series, The Koala Brothers.
Under the new agreement, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has acquired the right to screen all 78 x 10 minute episodes of The Koala Brothers plus the 46-minute Christmas special, The Koala Brothers Outback Christmas.
ABC TV now has the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to all Koala Brothers content for a further term. The deal follows a new 6 year commitment from CBeebies in the UK to air the series.
The Koala Brothers was created by Australian born animation producer/director, David Johnson. The show, which is narrated by Jonathan ‘Jono’ Coleman, began airing on the ABC in September 2004 and is regularly a top rating series on ABC4Kids.
Peter Curtis, Joint Managing Director of Spellbound Entertainment said: “We are thrilled to have secured a further term for The Koala Brothers with the ABC. ABC4Kids is the perfect home for The Koala Brothers and we hope that the series will continue to be a great success on the channel.”
Barbara Uecker, Head of Programming & Acquisitions for Children’s TV said: “We have a longstanding relationship with Spellbound Entertainment and we are thrilled to extend our commitment to The Koala Brothers and continue to be the Australian home for this much loved series.”
The Koala Brothers currently airs twice daily on ABC2 and is one of the highest rating pre-school series on Australian television.
The brand has found recent success branching out into consumer products in Australia including a new publishing range from The Five Mile Press. More licensing deals are to be announced shortly.
About The Koala Brothers
The Koala Brothers won the award for Best Pre-School Series at the British Animation Awards 2004 and The Koala Brothers Christmas Special won the Writers Award at the British Animation Awards 2006. The series has also been nominated for 4 BAFTA awards.
The Koala Brothers has now been acquired by over 50 broadcasters covering 150 territories worldwide, including CBeebies in the UK, Disney Channel in the US and Japan; Treehouse and Tele-Quebec in Canada; Discovery Kids in Latin America; Super RTL and Junior in Germany; France 5 and Canal J in France; RTL Telekids in Holland; VTM Kazoom in Begium; TVE and Cartoon Network in Spain; RTP and Canal Panda in Portugal; Denmark's TV2; Norway’s TV2; Sweden’s TV4 and Finland’s MTV Oy.
About Spellbound Entertainment
Spellbound Entertainment Limited was formed in 2002 by Peter Curtis, previous Head of Creative Development at HIT Entertainment, and Nick Barrington, a former executive at Endemol UK.
Spellbound Entertainment, a fully-integrated global brand management company, is dedicated to creating, developing, producing, distributing, marketing and merchandising children’s and family-based intellectual properties.
Curtis, whose credits include serving as the Executive Producer of Bob the Builder and creator of Rubbadubbers, is Executive Producer of Spellbound Entertainment’s The Koala Brothers and the company’s Joint Managing Director.
Spellbound Entertainment controls all rights to The Koala Brothers brand internationally and manages all TV distribution, home entertainment, publishing and licensing.
As a pre-eminent supplier of kid’s programming worldwide, Spellbound has developed strategic partnerships with key domestic and international broadcast partners throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. Spellbound is headquartered in London.
About ABC4Kids
ABC4Kids is the Australian Broadcast Corporation’s number one television destination for pre-school aged children (up to 5 years). The channel offers 13 commercial-free hours each day of safe, trusted, fun, innovative and entertaining programs. These programs are sourced from Australia and around the world and reflect Australia’s culturally-diverse pre-school audience.