Chinese Publishing, DVD Deals on In the Night Garden

LONDON: BBC Worldwide has announced the launch of a magazine and range of books for the hit preschool series In the Night Garden in China, along with signing a DVD partner for the Ragdoll-produced show.

Licensing agent U Young has been appointed to develop a comprehensive licensing program across categories in China for In the Night Garden, with the first product deals confirmed to hit retailers this year.

The magazine for In the Night Garden will launch in China on June 1. The magazine, licensed to You You Xing Media Co, a branch of U Young Media, will be published in Chinese. The title will have an initial print run of 150,000 copies, increasing to 500,000 with subsequent issues. This is the second international licence for the magazine, with In the Night Garden Middle East having launched in December 2008.

BBC Children’s Books has secured Children’s Fun as their Chinese publisher for In the Night Garden books. Children’s Fun also handle publishing another Ragdoll series, Teletubbies. Children’s Fun will be launching eight Mandarin storybook titles, followed by a range of activity books, with further publishing rolling out in 2010.

Excel Media will release DVD titles for In the Night Garden. Igglepiggle and the friends will debut on DVD in June in China with two titles, the initial production run is 5,000 copies. Two titles will be slated for release every month thereafter.

Neil Ross Russell, the managing director of BBC Worldwide Children’s and Licensing, commented: “We’ve seen great success to date in the U.K. and in markets like Canada, Australia and Spain in bringing the characters and stories from In the Night Garden to life across DVD, publishing, magazines and merchandise. Now, we’re delighted to be able to celebrate our partnerships with Chinese businesses CCTV, U Young and Excel Media to bring In the Night Garden to a whole new audience.”