Broadcast Takes An In-Depth Look At Entertainment One's Animated Preschool Property "Peppa Pig"

From Broadcast:

Peppa Pig (Entertainment One)

Last month, Entertainment One Family announced that it had secured a slot for its pre-school show Peppa Pig on Gulli, the French free-to-air kids’ channel owned by Lagardère Active.

The cartoon is already available on LA’s Pay-TV kids’ network TiJ, but for eOne head of global licensing Andrew Carley, carriage on Gulli is “the key if we are going to try to replicate the kind of licensing and merchandising success we’ve had in the UK. It’s harder to get the trade to support the development of licensed product if you don’t have a free-to-air partner.”

Peppa has already had a free airing in France on public broadcaster France 5 from 2006-2008. “But that was probably a bit early for the property in terms of consumer demand for licensed product,” says Carley. “This time around, we’ve done a lot of work with Gulli about the way Peppa will be marketed.”

Eight years since Peppa launched in the UK on Channel 5 and Nickelodeon, it’s become a pre-school sensation worth an estimated £200m in UK retail revenues. When eOne considered putting itself on the market last year, analysts suggested it could fetch as much as £400m largely as a result of Peppa’s licensing potential. Talk about bringing home the bacon…

The talk now is of 2012 being a year of acquisitions for eOne. Could this include the Family division? “We would look at acquisitions, but only if they fit the portfolio and are available at the right price,” says Carley.

The key message that eOne has taken from the UK is not to rush things, says Carley. “It took Peppa seven years to become the UK’s number one pre-school brand, so we’re not going to hurry the process in other countries. When you have a property like this, you have to manage the process carefully because you’re not likely to get another with the same potential.”

Entertainment One has been taking it slowly in the US, where the company is finally on its way to establishing Peppa as a 360-degree brand, says Carley. “We licensed Peppa to Noggin [now Nick Jr] for free in 2008 to be used as an interstitial. We hoped that would lead to something bigger and it did, because Nick US launched Peppa as a series in February 2011. Initially, that was a weekend show, but in June it became a daily one-hour block.”

Off the back of the Nick US deal, Mattel-owned Fisher Price came on board as the toy partner and there is now a publishing deal in place, reportedly with Penguin. “Perhaps most importantly, we’re seeing the same kind of consumer demand start to build in the US as we saw in the UK,” says Carley. “As in the UK, we’re not forcing things but we’re on course for a substantial licensing programme in 2013.”

Of the 180 countries in which Peppa airs, there are only about a dozen where a UK-style licensing success is a genuine possibility. “After the US, you’re looking mainly at the major European economies, Australia and parts of Asia. In many places, it’s not just getting the right broadcaster that matters, but whether there is a cultural taste for licensed products and the distribution channels to sell them.”

Outside the US, says Carley, “we need a strong free-to-air player to position the brand the way we want it”. Recent deals include improved distribution with ABC Australia, new free-to-air deals in Scandinavia and partnerships with TVE Clan in Spain and RAI Yoyo in Italy.

Also, Tweeted (posted) by Nickelodeon UK and Ireland's Press Office on their official Twitter profile page (@NickelodeonUKPR):

@NickJrUK did you know Paul Weller [from the Jam] was a huge fan of #PeppaPig he even prefers it to the Xfactor [The X Factor]! Go Peppa!! http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/10/paul-weller-tv-talent-shows?newsfeed=true