BKN Celebrates British Success of Dork Hunters

LONDON, September 2: BKN
International has released ratings data for the British terrestrial performance
of Dork Hunters from Outer Space on GMTV, where it emerged as the number one
show in its time slot for boys aged 4 to 9 over the weekend.

The comedy animation
series recently launched on GMTV’s Toonattik block on Sundays. For kids 4-9,
the show achieved an average share of 14.8 percent, which was the highest share
in that time slot on Sunday. This follows the series’ strong performance on
SABC1 in South Africa, where, in its fourth week on air, the ratings rose to a
43.3 percent share.

Nicola Andrews, the
managing director of BKN New Media in London, stated: “We are seeing a pattern
developing from Spain in the spring to South Africa in the summer and now to
the U.K. in the early fall and they all point to kids worldwide loving the
story line and characters and humor. We are very excited with these early signs
and this is only the beginning, we are looking forward to a very successful
2009 as we evolve the brand with the implementation of our licensing
activities.”

Jackie Ferguson, who heads
up U.K. licensing and merchandising at BKN New Media, stated that the strong
performance of the show “gives it an edge over many of its competitors and
gives us a great platform from which to launch the licensing program and break
into the crowded, very competitive marketplace.”

Character Options is on
board for a toy line that launches in the U.K. this October.

—By Mansha Daswani