Monday, March 22, 2021

Fetch TV in Australia to Add Nick Music

Nick Music and BBC Kids are joining the Australian platform Fetch TV, as replacements for Cartoon Network and Boomerang, which are leaving the service on April 23rd.


The ViacomCBS-owned NickMusic, which launched in Australia in July 2020, is a dedicated 24-hour music channel for kids, offering a dedicated 24-hour music channel for kids featuring chart-topping hits by the world’s most popular artists. From Ariana Grande and The Weeknd to Sia and Taylor Swift, Nick Music is curated by Nickelodeon with a line-up of the latest music videos and Top 40 hits kids will love.

Nick Music joins Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. in the Fetch Kids Pack, bringing the total ViacomCBS subscription channels on the platform to nine, including Spike, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV Music and MTV Dance.

BBC Kids, meanwhile, is aimed at 6- to 10-year-olds, and offers comedy, drama, entertainment, natural history and documentaries. The programming roster at launch includes the dance drama The Next Step; football drama Jamie Johnson, featuring cameos by some of the UK’s biggest soccer stars; adaptations of David Walliams’ hilarious best-selling children’s novels Gangsta Granny and Mr StinkHorrible Histories, the hit show that explores the side of history that they don’t teach you about in school; Deadly 60 on a Mission, with wildlife presenter Steve Backshall coming face-to-face with some of the world’s deadliest animals; and the teen spy drama MI High.

Described as "entertaining, energetic, unpredictable and clever", BBC Kids is making its Australian debut on Fetch, and will sits alongside the BBC’s pre-school channel CBeebies in the Fetch Kids Pack.

Beverley McGarvey, chief content officer and executive vice president (EVP) for ViacomCBS Australia & New Zealand, said: “We know Aussie kids love music, so we wanted to create a safe place for them to be able to watch their favorite artists and listen to chart-topping hits from around the world, curated just for them. Nick Music is a channel kids will love, and parents can trust.”

Tim Christlieb, director of branded services for BBC Studios ANZ, said: “We are delighted to launch this new virtual playlist channel on Fetch that fits perfectly with our preschool channel CBeebies, offering a destination for older kids to enjoy a diverse range of programming all with the hallmark of BBC quality.”

The new channels will be added to the $6 Kids Pack from April 24, as replacements for Cartoon Network and Boomerang, which will become exclusive to Foxtel from April 23rd.

Fetch has been left furious after Foxtel used its programming deal with Warner Bros to secure exclusive Australian rights to Cartoon Network, Boomerang and news channel CNN. Fetch is now taking its complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and is urging subscribers to write to the ACCC.

Today’s announcement brings the number of BBC channels now available on Fetch to 7, with BBC Kids joining BBC First, UKTV, BBC Earth, BBC Brit, BBC World News, and CBeebies on the Fetch service. Fetch also recently added SVOD service BritBox, which is a JV between BBC Studios and ITV.

Sam Hall, chief content and commercial officer at Fetch TV, said: “Fetch TV is excited to be the Australian launch partner for BBC Kids and to further extend our partnership with BBC Studios demonstrating our commitment to offering quality British content.

“Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. are the two top-rating kids’ channels on Fetch. We are delighted to add another great offering from Nickelodeon, and are confident that Nick Music will fill a void in the market.”

Scott Lorson, CEO of Fetch TV said: “As a master aggregator, Fetch continues to expand and enhance our content offerings to ensure that we cater to all audiences and viewing preferences. We recognize that free-to-air channels and BVOD apps, subscription channels, SVOD services, and transactional on-demand content are all critical to a complete content offering, and our focus remains on delivering on our consumer promise of ‘All your Entertainment, easy.’”



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