Cartoonito Gets EMEA Rollout

LONDON: Turner Broadcasting is taking its British preschool channel Cartoonito across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, bringing the service to some 125 million homes in 112 territories.

Cartoonito will roll out in a number of EMEA territories as a branded block on Boomerang as of September. In Turkey and the Middle East, the Cartoonito block will air on Cartoon Network.

Turner has picked up the new series Bananas in Pyjamas as one of its flagship debut shows. The series is produced by Southern Star Entertainment/Southern Star Singapore in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Also on the roster will be Jelly Jam, with a number of additional pan-EMEA preschool series being announced for 2012 in the coming months.

Michael Carrington, the chief content officer at Turner Broadcasting, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be making such a big splash in the preschool market, with a full-scale rollout of Cartoonito across EMEA. Whilst controller of CBeebies, I’d always admired Cartoonito from afar, and having the opportunity to extend this wonderful preschool brand across EMEA was one I couldn’t resist. Building on the success of the U.K. channel, and with two fantastic launch shows at the helm—Bananas in Pyjamas and Jelly Jamm—Cartoonito is set to delight audiences across EMEA as a hub of fun, funny and imaginative entertainment for preschoolers and their parents.”

Cathy Payne, the chief executive at Endemol Worldwide Distribution, added: "We are very excited that Bananas in Pyjamas will be one of the flagship launch series for Cartoonito in the EMEA. The original series has been hugely popular around the world and now with the expansion of Cartoonito, the new animated series will entertain and delight children throughout these territories."