In a trio of new digital deals, Netflix has secured the global streaming rights to The Jim Henson Company’s underwater CGI-animated adventure series Splash and Bubbles (pictured), while Hulu has snapped up all three seasons of hit preschool show Tree Fu Tom from FremantleMedia Kids & Family (FMK), and Amazon Prime Video has added Zinkia’s popular series Pocoyo through the Amazon Video Direct self-publishing service.
Splash and Bubbles, which is co-produced with Herschend Studios and currently airs in the US on PBS KIDS, has also been acquired by MBC3 for the MENA region (basic cabsat and worldwide Arabic language rights), Nat Geo Kids (Latin America) and POD Worldwide (free TV rights for Thailand).
In a deal secured by FMK’s VP of international distribution, Joss Duffield, CGI-animated fantasy adventure series Tree Fu Tom is now available to stream exclusively on Hulu in the US. The BAFTA-nominated series, which currently airs in 120 territories worldwide, is a co-production between FMK and the BBC for CBeebies, with animation from London’s Blue Zoo Animation.
Spain’s Zinkia, meanwhile, has inked a deal with Amazon which will distribute two seasons of Pocoyo (104 episodes), plus a range of exclusive Pocoyo content via the Amazon Video Direct self-publishing service. The deal furthers the global online expansion of Zinkia’s 10-year-old hit preschool property.
Since the fourth season premiere of Pocoyo on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app last November marked the first-ever digital-exclusive launch of a Spanish production, Zinkia has secured a Pocoyo deal with Japanese media and marketing company Aqui Media spanning TV, VOD and L&M, and bolstered the brand’s presence in Brazil where the IP is available via digital platforms including Netflix, iTunes, the Pocoyo Play House, Play Kids and the Vivo Play Kids apps.
Tree Fu Tom‘s sale to Hulu comes as the SVOD continues to grow its kids and family lineup having recently renewed its first original kids series, Henson’s Doozers, for a second season.
Amazon Prime, for its part, just picked up the first season of One Animation’s non-dialog series Oddbods for all of its territories, while Netflix recently re-upped Guru Studio’s True and the Rainbow Kingdom.