Banijay Kids & Family Closes a range of package deals in Latin America

Introducing its distinctive portfolio of premium, high-end children’s titles, Banijay Kids & Family has completed a series of package deals in Latin America, strategically announced in the lead-up to this year’s Annecy MIFA market.

In a banner deal, Warner Bros. Discovery Latin America the undercover cop series ‘Totally Spies!’ adopted for teenage girls. Season 8 and Italian 2D adventure comedy “Topo Gigio.”

V-me Media, the American Spanish-language network aimed at families, has signed a wide range of shows for Vme Kids: preschool eco-adventure “MiniHeroes of the Forest,” musical short series “Sweet Tweets,” preschool comedy “Mumfie,” interstellar game comedy “The Game Catchers” season 1, and “Stan & Gran,” a nature-packed mystery series for kids ages 4 to 7.

Canal Once, a Mexican public broadcaster, has hosted a hodgepodge of shows for the children’s channel Once Niñas y Niños: fantasy series “Chimera Keepers”; science experiment adventure “Hey You! What If…?”; teenage vet trainee reality show “Junior Vets”; world hit “Moominvalley” Seasons 3-4; sci-fi teen series “Silverpoint” Seasons 1-2; and season 4 of ‘Street Football’, in which the two players go to a street football world championship.

In further deals, Hispanic Information Telecommunications Network (HITN) has secured what Banijay Kids & Family describes as a broad content package for its U.S. Latino and Latinx preschool platform Edye. Titles include ‘MiniHeroes of the Forest’, ‘Sweet Tweets’, CBeebies daily adventure stories for preschoolers ‘Tee and Mo’ and ‘The Game Catchers’ season 1.

More about ‘Totally Spies’, ‘MiniHeroes of the Forest’, ‘The Game Catchers’

While they range widely and Canal Once’s deal fetches more list price, three titles seem particularly important. Season 8 of ‘Totally Spies’ marks the second installment of the series following a reboot of Season 7 of the original series, a global hit that ran for six seasons from 2001 to 2012. Season 7 was a big hit in France, with a 37% share in the 4-14 demographic. Season 8 is produced by Zodiak Kids & Family France in collaboration with French children’s television network Gulli and Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA.

The Italian-French 3D comedy-adventure series “MiniHeroes of the Forest,” produced by Movimenti Production and MoBo, sees four young animal friends acquire mini superpowers. Animation design has a combo used in many BK&F animations: bold colors for characters, natural tones for richly edited backgrounds. “MiniHeroes of the Forest” reached number 1 among children aged 4 to 5 and number 2 among children aged 6 to 7 on Rai Yoyo (Italy). It was in the top 15 preschool programs for France 5 and Okoo (France).

In Season 1 of “The Game Catchers,” acquired for distribution by Banijay Kids & Family in 2023, little kids travel the universe to discover and collect new playground games.

Banijay Kids & Family strategic assets

Banijay Kids & Family’s new sales announcements in Latin America come as animation remains a key factor in viewer retention, the second most important factor behind comedy (27.0% vs. 25.4%) on Netflix and the largest (20.5%) on Max, according to PlumResearch.

To support sales, Banijay of course owns major brands in children’s entertainment, led by “Totally Spies!” and “Mr. Bean: The Animated Series.” Many of the shows play on respected IPs. “Topo Gigio” is inspired by a character who was a star in the Italian pubcaster RAI in the late 1950s.

Banijay Kids & Family also applies its expertise in building brands in non-linear environments. Titles that were once established as brands could evolve into what PlumResearch calls “neo-evergreens” – “One Piece” in anime, “Peppa Pig” in animation – helping generate a large share of global streaming services’ long-tail viewership, which accounts for 90% of their viewership, PlumResearch estimates.

“These latest deals underscore the continued demand for Banijay Kids & Family’s premium catalog, in addition to our commitment to our long-term partners across Latin America,” said Cécile Cau, SVP sales, co-productions and acquisitions, Banijay Kids & Family.

She added: “By working closely with commercial and public service providers in the region, we are able to deliver a rich content mix of entertainment and edutainment that meets the needs of audiences, strengthening our position as a provider of children’s and family programming.”

Led by Benoît Di Sabatino, Banijay Kids & Family is part of media and entertainment giant Banijay Entertainment.

The Annecy Mifa market takes place from June 23 to 26.