CANNES – YTV will continue to be the main Canadian outlet for Nickelodeon programming as MTV Networks International announced this week a new multi-million dollar, five-year output deal with Corus Entertainment’s YTV and Treehouse TV.
The deal was announced Wednesday at the MIPCOM television market in Cannes by Debbie Back, senior vice-president, international programme sales, MTVNI and Phil Piazza, vice-president, programming, Corus Children’s Television. The specific dollar figure was not disclosed
Covering all Nickelodeon produced programming across pre-school for Treehouse and live action and animation for YTV, the deal guarantees regional syndication rights on all current and new series produced by Nickelodeon. In addition, the two companies will pursue co-production opportunities for kids/youth content and multi-platform initiatives, says the press release.
“This deal is a natural extension of our highly successful relationship with Nickelodeon over the past decade. From Nick’s GUTS in 1993 to SpongeBob SquarePants today, Nickelodeon shows are among our most popular series, in terms of ratings and viewer response,” said Piazza. “We are looking forward to continuing our long-term exclusive partnership and the great potential for new content development.”
“For more than 10 years, Nickelodeon and YTV have partnered to bring kids in Canada the very best, cutting edge entertainment experience created especially for them,” added Back. “The extension of this successful collaboration reflects the strong, consistent performance that these shows have delivered and YTV’s confidence in Nickelodeon’s ability to continue to produce the most innovative, original content available in the kids’ market.”
YTV holds rights in Canada to all current Nick animated programming including Nickelodeon’s MIPCOM-debut properties, Avatar, Catscratch and Go, Diego, Go! as well as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and All Grown Up. YTV also airs Nickelodeon live action series, Unfabulous, Drake & Josh and Romeo. All Nick Jr. produced shows, including Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer air on Treehouse.
Back further noted that Canadian kids have already developed deep connections with Nickelodeon programming, reinforcing the power of this deal. SpongeBob SquarePants is consistently the #1 one program on the network, with Danny Phantom, The Fairly OddParents and All Grown Up are not far behind.
Canada is also one of Nickelodeon’s top performing markets for consumer products with Nick properties represented by Studio Licensing. The enormous on-air success and appeal of SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer are fueling Nick’s licensing and merchandising business in the region. Wal-Mart recently named “Anything SpongeBob and Dora” as the #2 most popular products for back to school and campus in Canada.
