Pocoyo Airs 7 Days A Week On Nick Jr.
Press Release from Zinkia and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment
Madrid, 4 June 2010 – The multi-award winning animated series Pocoyo (104 x 7 minutes), co-produced by Zinkia and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment, is now airing seven days a week on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s 24-hour commercial-free, educational preschool network in the US. The series currently airs regularly, every day of the week, in the 4-5pm afternoon slot, as well as other time slots during the day.
Aimed at young children, parents and care-givers, the smash hit series advocates tolerance, curiosity, love and laughter; encouraging children to learn through laughter. With over 150 million hits on YouTube and over 25 million downloads from the official Pocoyo website, the series, licensed to over 100 territories worldwide, is recognized as a global hit property.
On the consumer products front, Bandai America Incorporated, master toy licensee for Pocoyo in the U.S. and Canada, is currently launching an extensive toy line for the multi award-winning series, including Squeeze n’ Play plush, Bath Fun figures and a Bump n’ Go electronic car, enabling children to learn and discover right along with Pocoyo. Products are due to hit the shelves at national retailers in North America this fall.
Pocoyo follows the adventures of an inquisitive, fun-loving three-year-old and his animal friends, Elly (the elephant), Pato (the duck) and Loula (the dog). In addition to the successful TV series, the virtual world Pocoyoworld.com has attracted over 4.5 million viewers, enabling children and care-givers to share a host of fun and educational activities with their favourite characters.
International rights for Pocoyo are handled by ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment, excluding Spain, Portugal, Italy and Latin America which are handled by Zinkia. Bandai America has the master-toy licensing agreement in the USA and Canada.
About Zinkia (www.zinkia.com)Zinkia Entertainment, which specialises in the creation and management of entertainment brands for the international market, is primarily involved in the animation business, creating quality content for the audiovisual market as well as interactive content for multi-player console and online games.
Founded in 2001, Zinkia is headquartered in Madrid, with a commercial office in Peking, China. Zinkia’s TV series and associated merchandising and licensing products are distributed to over 100 territories worldwide. TV credits include the multi-award winning series Pocoyo and the successful series Shuriken School. Zinkia also created and recently launched the virtual universe PocoyoWorld.com, targeted at young children.
About ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment is one of the world’s leading international TV distribution, home-entertainment, merchandising and licensing businesses. ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment proudly represents a world-class portfolio from ITV Studios, Granada and over 200 leading independent producers. Showcasing more than 35,000 hours of critically celebrated and hugely-popular original and formatted programming, including all new Hell’s Kitchen, Come Dine with Me, Dancing on Ice, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, Coronation Street, Agatha Christie’s Marple and Poirot, Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect and The Prisoner
About PocoyoThe TV series Pocoyo (104 x 7 minutes), co-produced by Zinkia Entertainment and ITV Studios Global Entertainment, is produced using 3D Softimage XSi technology and rendered with Arnold. The property, which started as a TV series, is now a multi-platform global brand, licensed to over 100 countries worldwide, with extensive publishing, merchandising, licensing and home entertainment products. In October 2009 Zinkia launched a virtual universe, Pocoyoworld.com, enabling children and carers to share a host of fun and educational activities with their favourite characters.
The series has notched up a host of accolades including a BAFTA, 3 Pulcinella awards and Best Animated Series at Annecy.
About Bandai America IncorporatedA leader in developing engaging, quality toys that capture children’s imaginative spirit and provide endless "Fun for the Future," Bandai America Incorporated is the manufacturer and master toy licensee of some of the most popular brands in children’s toys and interactive entertainment today. The Bandai
America best-selling brand family includes Power Rangers, Ben 10, Harumika, Tamagotchi, Pocoyo and Teeny Little Families among other boys, girls, pre-school and hobby product lines. Bandai America Incorporated is a subsidiary of NAMCO BANDAI Holdings (USA) Inc., an entity that resulted from the integration of Namco Ltd. and Bandai Co. Ltd. of Japan. Global interests encompass four strategic business units: toys and hobby, amusement facilities, game contents & visual and music content. The company is headquartered in Cypress, California. Find out more about our expertise in connecting with kids in fun and fresh ways at www.Bandai.com.