Monday, March 03, 2014

Nick Jr. UK To Premiere Brand-New Episodes Of "PAW Patrol" And "Dinosaur Train" From Monday 10th March 2014

Nick Jr. UK and Ireland has announced on Vimeo the very exciting news in their brand-new "Jurassic Bark" promo, below, that Nickelodeon UK's preschool channel will be premiering and showing back-to-back brand-new episodes of the popular CG-animated series "PAW Patrol" and "Dinosaur Train" every weekday at 4:00pm (repeated at 5:00pm on Nick Jr.+1) from Monday 10th March 2014 as part of a brand-new programming block called "Jurassic Bark"!


To celebrate and promote Nick Jr. UK and Ireland airing all-new episodes of "PAW Patrol" and "Dinosaur Train" in March 2014, Nickelodeon UK has unveiled Nick Jr. UK's brand-new "Jurassic Bark" promo/trailer, which pays homage to the classic movie "Jurassic Park".

The advert brings the two popular preschool shows together and sees characters from the worlds of "Dinosaur Train" and "Paw Patrol" playing together.

Nick Junior UK's "Jurassic Bark" advert also features a Richard Attenborough-style narrator and the classic theme tune from "Jurassic Park", and recreates some iconic moments from the film.

"We're passionate about producing innovative content in-house and our creative team has revived a classic to create a concept which fuses two very different shows together," said Alison Bakunowich, Vice President (VP), creative, marketing and communications of Nickelodeon UK and Ireland.

"We know that our pre-school audience aren't and shouldn't be familiar with the film but parents watch the channel as well and our playful nod to Jurassic Park was created with them in mind."

This marks the second time Nickelodeon UK's preschool channel has payed homage to a popular film or TV show, following on from the channels "Game of Thrones" tribute in October 2013 to promote Nick Jr. UK premiering brand-new episodes of "Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom". The promo paid tribute to HBO's "Game of Thrones", a American fantasy drama television series which airs on Sky Atlantic and Sky1 in the UK, by utilising both music and a filming manner that tips its hat to the HBO fantasy epic's opening titles. In the trail, viewers are taken to some of the various locations around the enchanted magical kingdom - The Elf Windmill, The Little Castle, The Great Elf Tree, The Marigold Castle, Gaston's Cave, and The Meadow - to visit and meet the various fairies, elves and insects who inhabit the land.

Go on a Jurassic Bark-sized adventure with brand-new episodes of "PAW Patrol" and "Dinosaur Train", daily at 4:00pm (repeated at 5:00pm on Nick Jr.+1) from Monday 10th March 2014, only on Nick Jr.!

The 30-second promo spot can be seen on air starting this week on Nick Jr. UK and can be watched in full in the online streaming video clip below:

Jurassic Bark from Nickelodeon UK on Vimeo.

NICK JR. PAYS HOMAGE TO JURASSIC PARK IN PROMOTIONAL SPOT FOR DINOSAUR TRAIN AND PAW PATROL
Watch new episodes of Paw Patrol and Dinosaur Train from 4:00pm, as of the 10th March on Nick Jr.

From Licensing.biz:
Nick Jr pays homage to Jurassic Park with new advert

The advert brings Paw Patrol and Dinosaur Train together in 'Jurassic Bark'.

Nick Jr is paying homage to classic movie Jurassic Park with its new advert for Dinosaur Train and Paw Patrol.

The advert brings the two popular shows together in 'Jurassic Bark', and sees characters from the worlds of Dinosaur Train and Paw Patrol playing together.

The Jurassic Bark advert also features the classic theme tune from Jurassic Park and recreates some iconic moments from the film.

“We’re passionate about producing innovative content in-house and our creative team has revived a classic to create a concept which fuses two very different shows together,” said Alison Bakunowich, VP, creative, marketing and communications of Nickelodeon UK and Ireland.

“We know that our pre-school audience aren’t and shouldn’t be familiar with the film but parents watch the channel as well and our playful nod to Jurassic Park was created with them in mind.”

This marks the second time Nickelodeon has payed homage to a popular film or TV show, following on from the Game of Thrones spoof back in October.

The 30-second promo is on air from this week on Nick Jr and can be watched in full below:

TAGS: jurassic park, dinosaur train, nick jr, jurassic bark, paw patrol

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Viacom Puts In Bid To Buy UK's Channel 5

The entertainment industry news outlets Broadcast, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety are reporting the exciting Viacom news in the following articles that The Financial Times recently reported that Viacom, the parent company of the Nickelodeon and MTV brands, is one of the media companies which has put a bid in to acquire the Free-To-Air (FTA) UK commercial Public Service Broadcaster Channel 5!


Fellow US companies Saban Capital, the investment company run by multi-billionaire "Power Rangers" owner Haim Saban, Discovery Communications and Scripps Networks have also submitted bids in the first bidding round for the Northern & Shell-owned broadcaster.

Discovery had been in discussions with BSkyB to table a joint bid, with BSkyB taking over Channel 5’s advertising sales operation, the Financial Times reported last week.

None of the companies are currently commenting on the sale, which has also attracted bids from a number of unnamed European media firms.

Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell put the broadcaster, acquired for £103.5m in 2010, up for sale in January 2014. A request for bids was sent out by bankers Barclays in February 2014, after which it emerged that Desmond and key C5 executives Paul Ashford and Stanley Myerson exited the board at the end of 2013, Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond is seeking a price of about £700 million ($1.17 billion) for the channel.

The sale process will now heat up as the US businesses fight to secure the public service broadcaster.

Viacom's kids network Nickelodeon could benefit from tapping into C5's Milkshake! and Shake! programming blocks, which currently airs a raft of popular Nick Jr. UK programming, including "Peppa Pig", "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom", and "Tickety Toc".

Meanwhile, Discovery has been expanding its channel distribution strategy in recent months and is keen to expand its free-to-air presence. C5's factual-based schedule fits with the bidder's programming and the channel already airs a number of Discovery shows such as Deadliest Catch.

While Scripps Network, which owns 50% of UKTV, Food Network and Travel Channel, already operates a slew of free-to-air channels in the UK, a deal with C5 would significantly increase its profile.

Saban Capital has long been interested in the UK broadcasting market and previously considered a bid for ITV. Run by the hugely influential political power-broker Saban, the investment division owns US Spanish language broadcaster Univision as well as stakes in Indonesian pay-TV network MNC Sky Vision and Asian pay-TV operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment.

Elie Dekel, president of Saban Brands, the division that owns Power Rangers and Paul Frank, told Broadcast in September that the firm was focusing on UK IP, in line with its parent company’s strategy.

Channel 5 declined to comment.

From Broadcast:
Discovery and Viacom bid for C5

Discovery, MTV-owner Viacom and UKTV-backer Scripps Network are among the companies battling to acquire Channel 5.

Saban Capital, the investment company run by multi-billionaire Power Rangers owner Haim Saban, has also submitted a bid for the Northern & Shell-owned broadcaster.

The Financial Times reports that these four US companies were among the bidders for the free-to-air channel, along with a number of unnamed European media firms.

Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell put the broadcaster, acquired for £103.5m in 2010, up for sale in January. A request for bids was sent out by bankers Barclays last month, after which it emerged that Desmond and key C5 executives Paul Ashford and Stanley Myerson exited the board at the end of last year, paving the way for a sale.

The sale process will now heat up as the US businesses fight to secure the public service broadcaster.

Discovery has been expanding its channel distribution strategy in recent months and is keen to beef up its free-to-air presence. C5’s factual-based schedule fits with the bidder’s programming and the channel already airs a number of Discovery shows such as Deadliest Catch.

Meanwhile, Viacom’s kids network Nickelodeon could benefit from tapping into C5 kids brand Milkshake.

While Scripps Network, which owns 50% of UKTV, Food Network and Travel Channel, already operates a slew of free-to-air channels in the UK, a deal with C5 would significantly increase its profile.

Saban Capital has long been interested in the UK broadcasting market and previously considered a bid for ITV. Run by the hugely influential political power-broker Saban, the investment division owns US Spanish language broadcaster Univision as well as stakes in Indonesian pay-TV network MNC Sky Vision and Asian pay-TV operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment.

Elie Dekel, president of Saban Brands, the division that owns Power Rangers and Paul Frank, told Broadcast in September that the firm was focusing on UK IP, in line with its parent company’s strategy.

Channel 5 declined to comment.
Also, from THR:
U.K.'s Channel 5 Draws First-Round Bids From Discovery, Viacom, Others

Haim Saban's Saban Capital is also among those in the running for the British network that airs such shows as "Big Brother."

LONDON – First-round bids for British broadcaster Channel 5, which were due late on Thursday, came from several bidders, including U.S. cable networks giants Viacom and Discovery Communications, according to sources.

It wasn't clear on Friday though if U.K. pay TV giant BSkyB, in which Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox owns a 39 percent stake, was part of the Discovery bid, had submitted its own offer or wasn't in the running at all. The Financial Times had reported that Discovery and BSkyB recently discussed a joint approach.

Spokespeople for Channel 5, Discovery and BSkyB declined to comment.

Cable networks powerhouse Viacom, the owner of the likes of MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, also handed in a first-round offer for Channel 5, sources said. The company could look to further expand its U.K. operations by adding a broadcast network, one industry observer suggested. A spokesman declined comment.

Discovery has also added free-to-air networks as part of its growth push in Europe.

Meanwhile, Haim Saban's Saban Capital was also among the companies that made an initial bid, one source said. A banker told THR that Saban would likely need a strong partner though. One observer said Saban could join another bidder at a later stage. A spokeswoman for Saban wasn't available for comment.

The Financial Times late Friday also mentioned Scripps Networks as having submitted opening bids for Channel 5.

Financial details weren't immediately clear. It also wasn't clear which other companies had made first-round bids.

Suitors that the banking team of current Channel 5 owner, entrepreneur Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell, had been trying to attract include John Malone's Liberty Global, U.K. telecom giant BT, Vodaphone and NBCUniversal,whose oner Comcast is currently busy with a proposed deal to acquire Time Warner Cable.

Meanwhile, U.K. TV networks giant ITV on Wednesday ruled itself out of the bidding process, with CEO Adam Crozier saying the company wouldn't go after Channel 5.

The timetable for the auction beyond the first round of bids, designed to gauge the amount of interest, isn't clear.

Desmond acquired Channel 5 in 2010 for $171 million from European TV giant RTL Group, which is controlled by Bertelsmann.

Sources said that Desmond is now seeking $1.15 billion-plus (£700 million) for the network as Channel 5 has recently at times outperformed rival Channel 4. But at least one analyst said the company was unlikely to attract initial bids close to that level.

Channel 5 airs such shows as the local version of Big Brother.

Amid recent deals to expand in Europe via acquisitions of SBS in Scandinavia and a stake in pan-European sports network Eurosport, Discovery is widely seen here as a strong contender for Channel 5.

"Discovery is a logical buyer because the focus of management has been abroad and they can leverage their sales force," said Macquarie Securities analyst Amy Yong earlier this week.

INTERNATIONAL
Also, from Variety:
Viacom, Discovery, Scripps, Saban Bid for U.K.’s Channel 5: Report

Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond is seeking bids of about $1.17 billion

LONDON — Viacom, Discovery Communications, Saban Capital and Scripps Networks are among the bidders to buy U.K. free-TV network Channel 5, according to the Financial Times, which cited a source familiar with the process.

Discovery had been in discussions with BSkyB to table a joint bid, with BSkyB taking over Channel 5’s advertising sales operation, the Financial Times reported last week.

None of the companies would comment on the sale, which has also attracted bids from European buyers. The sale is being managed by Barclays.

U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV, one of Channel 5’s main rivals, ruled itself out of the auction earlier this week.

Channel 5 owner Richard Desmond is seeking a price of about £700 million ($1.17 billion). He bought the net for £104 million ($174 million) in 2010, and has since slashed costs, and revamped its skeds.

It is a major buyer of Hollywood movies and series. This week's sked [schedule] include movies "Legally Blonde," "The Covenant" and "The Last of The Mohicans," and series "NCIS," "The Mentalist" and "American Idol."

Its biggest success has been "Big Brother."

FILED UNDER: Channel 5, Discovery Communications, Richard Desmond, Saban Capital, Scripps Networks, Viacom

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