Dubai : Turner Broadcasting and Rubicon Group holding have announced a new partnership to develop, produce, broadcast and merchandise children's programmes for the MENA, Asian, European and North African markets.
The deal allows the Time Warner company to open a Middle Eastern network. In turn, Rubicon will be able to create new, localised programmes with Arabic content for children's channels such as the Cartoon Network.
The Cartoon Network reaches 1.5 million homes with pay TV and 32 to 35 million homes with free TV in the MENA region. The network currently reaches more than 200 million homes globally.
Programmes scheduled to be aired will include Rubicon's animated series Ben and Izzy and Tareq wa Shireen.
"The programmes are what we call responsible entertainment which crosses cultural boundaries. Because of this, the programme will go beyond borders and appeal to a more international audience," said Randa Ayoubi, Group CEO of Rubicon Holding.
Both programmes will be broadcast in the Middle East and North Africa from the beginning of October and later on in additional regions including Europe, Asia and North America. This will expand the audience numbers to an additional 250 million viewers. Exact dates have not yet been confirmed.
This follows the success of Rubicon's Pink Panther and Pals which has proven extremely popular in the US and the UK.
The deal will also give Rubicon responsibility for the merchandising and brand-licensing of Turner Broadcasting's own intellectual property throughout the Middle East.
"We're very pleased to be working with Rubicon on this project. It further reinforces Turner's ambition and commitment to building upon the business we've established in the Middle East," said Chris Groves, Senior Vice President of Business Affairs and Managing Director ME of Turner Broadcasting. In their new partnership, Rubicon and Turner will also explore co-production opportunities for the Cartoon Network and Rubicon libraries. "We're looking to do season two of Ben and Izzy, which will take place in Africa instead of the Middle East. We will also work on a number of new shows and may also redevelop some classic properties that have previously been successful."
