Entertainment Rights Secures Broadcast Deals for Postman Pat

July 21, 2008 World Screen

LONDON, July 21:
Entertainment Rights (ER) has completed a raft of international deals for Postman
Pat—Special Delivery Service,
alongside the Chinese launch of the original Postman Pat series.

Postman
Pat—Special Delivery Service
will air on CBeebies this fall. Newly signed deals for the second series in the
Postman Pat franchise include
ABC in Australia, DRTV in Denmark, TV4 in Sweden, RAI Sat in Italy, MNET in
South Africa, MBC in the Middle East, ATV in Hong Kong and True Vision in
Thailand. SF Norge in the Nordic region and Lusamondo in Portugal have become
DVD partners for their respective territories.

In this new BBC
commission, unveiled at MIPTV, Postman Pat has been promoted to head of special
delivery service and outfitted with new vehicles, locations and supporting
characters.

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Additionally, China
Central Television (CCTV) started airing on July 7 the 106 episodes it acquired
of the original preschool series Postman Pat.

DVD distributor YiZhouRen
will serve as CCTV’s DVD partner for the brand in Chinese-speaking territories.
CCTV’s advertising agency U Young is acting as ER’s exclusive licensing agent
for the region. ER is currently in discussions with two major publishing
partners to be finalized in the third quarter of 2008, with consumer products
set to roll out in 2009.

Chloe van den Berg, the executive director of international for ER,
said: “We are incredibly excited about Postman Pat’s launch on CCTV. This leading broadcast platform
offers excellent exposure for the brand and is testament to Postman Pat’s global appeal. We look forward to building the Postman
Pat brand with YiZhouRen and U
Young in this key territory. Brand new Postman Pat SDS is also continuing to receive significant interest
from international broadcasters and has now been sold to over 110 territories
worldwide. The show is set to premiere on CBeebies in the autumn and is
anticipated to bring in strong ratings for the channel. A new Postman Pat
SDS DVD will hit shops later in
the year, followed by a nationwide toy launch at retail in early 2009.”

—By Jackie Stewart