Nickelodeon UK To Premiere Brand New Episodes Of "Life With Boys" Soon

According to Nickelodeon UK's new "Don't miss brand new episodes of Life With Boys, coming soon to Nickelodeon" trailer/promo (below), Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK (Nickelodeon/HD) will be premiering and showing brand new episodes of the Canadian teen sitcom "Life with Boys" soon:

Nickelodeon UK Unveils Special "House Of Anubis Season Two" Window Display At Nickelodeon UK's Office's In Central London

Nickelodeon UK and Ireland have posted (Tweeted) on their official Twitter profile page (@NickelodeonUK) that to celebrate Nickelodeon UK starting to premiere and show brand new episodes of Nickelodeon's hit live action mystery series "House Of Anubis" in mid-April 2012, Nickelodeon UK's studios and office building (Nickelodeon Towers/Nickelodeon UK HQ) in Central London (15-18 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HU) has unveiled a special exclusive "House Of Anubis Season Two" window display in one of their windows:

OMG! It's @NickelodeonUK !!! http://pic.twitter.com/w9913YY5

@NickelodeonUK: That's us! We've got a lovely new #AnubisSeason2 window display at the moment!

Nickelodeon UK will start to premiere and show season two of Nickelodeon's popular live action mystery series "House Of Anubis" on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK from Monday 16th April 2012 at 6.00pm (repeated at 7.00pm on Nickelodeon UK's plus one (+1) timeshift channel Nick Replay UK, plus Nickelodeon UK will also be airing a exclusive sneak peek of season two of "House Of Anubis" on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon UK HD on Friday 13th April 2012 at 6.00pm (7.00pm on Nick Replay UK).

Nickelodeon UK Presenter Anna Williamson Rounds Up The Nickelodeon 2012 Kids' Choice Awards For Digital Spy

From Digital Spy:

Anna Williamson's Showbiz Peek at the Week: Celebs and gunge in LA!

This week's Peek at the Week comes from across the pond, from the capital of glamour and gluttony... Hollywood baby!

With awards season in Los Angeles in full swing, last weekend saw the turn of Downtown LA to be in lockdown, as the annual slime fest that is the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards took place.

Lucky me, I got to go along and report back on all the hype and hysteria exclusively for Digital Spy.



Arriving at LAX, it always amazes me the sheer fascination Americans seem to have with my accent. To me it's a rather plain, not quite posh enough for my mother, North London/Hertfordshire twang. To the countless taxi drivers and waiters I encountered over the course of my trip, it appeared to be bizarrely something quite to the contrary. Most flattering, when personally I can't stand hearing my own shriek on the telly, I dread to think what the rest of you lot must endure! My apologies.

The other fascination reinforced to me was this overseas obsession and intrigue with the royal family. I only had to utter the word 'hello' to my airport transfer taxi driver, and upon deciphering the origin of my accent, launched into a 'William and Kate' question and answer session so persistent it would have had David Dimbleby stuttering for words.

I digress; LA and its multi-cultural mix of people is a terrific place to visit, and it's second to none for its awards ceremonies - Nickelodeon's 25th annual awards were in safe hands.

> Kids' Choice Awards 2012: 'Victorious' cast on Will Smith, sliming

First photo © WENN / Adriana M. Barraza; Second photo © John Shearer

With 220 million votes cast worldwide, and 15,000 celebrities and kids in attendance, it was a success from the off.

Arriving on the vast 'orange' carpet, it was impossible to ignore the sheer wall of sound courtesy of the One Direction fans who had lined the streets. Now we've all heard that Harry and Co are big stars in the US, and of course their recent number one proves it, but the hysteria our five British boys created simply by getting out of a car was something to be believed. Screaming, crying, brandishing marriage proposals... and that was just from our production crew.

Seriously though, One Direction really are the surprise X Factor success story. Despite the 20-man 'PR machine' and entourage flanking them at all times, the lads appear to remain unchanged. They were polite, humble, and natural in the way they conducted themselves in such manic surroundings.

Giving the UK journalists hugs and kisses, I asked Harry, 'When are you coming home?' and grinning from ear to ear he replied, 'We miss the UK, we'll be back soon'. And in a pack formation they were swept into the venue to perform their smash hit 'One Thing', which saw even Michelle Obama and her daughters groove along in the audience.

The arrival of The First Lady had caused a buzz of excitement and tension prior to the event, with the entire Galen Centre - which played host to the awards - being evacuated for two hours beforehand for Secret Service to conduct a security sweep.


1st photo © Chris Pizzello/AP/Press Association Images; 2nd photo © Christopher Polk

With a guest list that read as the best kids party EVER, the screaming crowd were clearly in their element as the likes of Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Taylor Lautner, Halle Berry, Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green, Heidi Klum, Adam Sandler, new Spider-Man Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart and Big Time Rush all took their turn to either perform, present or get slimed with the famous Nickelodeon green goo.

Other A-listers had just turned up to watch the fun like the rest of us, and tugging at her short dress, a rather self-conscious Victoria Beckham seemed to be enjoying the event with her three boys. No sign of Daddy Beckham or baby Harper, but having clearly inherited their parents good looks and fashion sense, Brooklyn and Romeo were quite happy to dance away next to LA Reid, while a shyer looking Cruz took refuge on Mummy's knee, before all making a sharp exit at the end.

Katy Perry in Gladiatorial regalia delighted the cheering punters as she flew in with sword in hand, before performing girl power single 'Part of Me'. Brandishing an oversized diamond ring before discarding in a frenzy, one couldn't help but think a sneaky subliminal message to ex-hubby Russell Brand perhaps??

But one relationship that seemed to be well and truly ON course following recent headlines to the contrary, host Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith, along with their super talented kids, Jaden and Willow, all showed a united front and mucked in with the shenanigans.

© Kevork Djansezian

It was thanks to the Smith kids and their announcement of the final award that drew the biggest screams from the audience, as Justin Bieber won the coveted Favourite Singer 'blimp' and entered the stage from the back of the auditorium, his 'smile' quickly turned to 'slime' as he and Will Smith closed the show receiving a truly spectacular amount of green goo in the face... and the body! it was everywhere! A finale worthy of a 'blimp' award itself.

Having attending this awards show in previous years, 2012's offering of the now legendary Kids' Choice Awards proved that it really is up there in the showbiz calendar for an A-list turnout. Number 1 in the ratings over the weekend, I can't wait to see how they can possibly top it next year.

Catch the Kids' Choice Awards again this Friday, April 6 at 6pm and Saturday, April 7 at 8pm on Nickelodeon.

Interview With Robert M. Bakish, The President And Chief Executive Officer Of Viacom International Media Networks

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Viacom International's Robert Bakish on the New Paramount Channel (Q&A)

The veteran exec discusses the decision to launch in Spain, the rise of the international market and the importance of being "glocal."

Viacom International Media Networks CEO Robert Bakish was in Spain to unveil the company's newest brand, Paramount Channel, ahead of its world premiere this week. The Hollywood Reporter's Spain Correspondent Pamela Rolfe sat down with him to discuss international trends, audience demographics and future brands.

THR: Why Spain as the first country worldwide for the new Paramount Channel?

BAKISH: It was a combination of things that led us to Spain first. One was a positive experience in the market despite some obvious concerns about the current state of the economy. Second was some research showing a really significant appetite of the Spanish consumer for film product. The third thing is we have a great team here in Spain and that's from both the creative and the business side of things. And the last thing, and really the tipping point, was I had dinner with the CEO of Vocento last January and he said they were probably going to move away from one of their services and there was therefore some bandwidth available and would we be interested in that. And I said we'd be interested in having that conversation. And because we had our existing relationship with MTV, we could get the deal done very quickly because it's basically the same kind of deal. After that, we were on a path to Spain.

THR: U.S. Ratings at Nickelodeon, MTV and some other networks have been under pressure lately. How key is the international business to make up for that?

BAKISH: I don't think it's about making up for that. If you listen to our CEO Philippe Dauman, he is a huge international advocate and believes, as I do, that there are substantial opportunities in the international markets for a world-class content company like Viacom and has set a tone to make sure we exploit those opportunities, including not only maximizing the performance of our existing brands--MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central-- but looking to grow our exposure to the adult demographics. Comedy Central was our first lead horse in that race and now very quickly, we're going to look to Paramount as a second service in that.

THR: But when you talk "glocal" are there different trends that come into play or is there an international trend?

BAKISH: You have to have a broad international strategy, but you have to execute it on a country-by-country basis. The reason we've gravitated towards the glocal framework is it allows us to leverage global brands and global content libraries, but then supplement them and optimize them for local markets, not just with local language, but with local content. Each market varies. It might be a local version of one of our global shows, like a local version of Jersey Shore on MTV is Geordie Shore in the UK, the highest rated show in UK history and we have derivative product coming in a number of countries related to that. It might be a local acquisition. So in the case of Paramount Channel Spain, we're acquiring a whole set of Spanish feature films. It comes in many forms, but we've found that that is what helps the brand resonate on a local level.

THR: So is it possible that we'll see more products being created and generated abroad and traveling to the U.S.?

BAKISH: It's already happening. If you look at Nickelodeon, there's a show called House of Anubis, it's a serialized drama. We created it in the Netherlands [Het Huis Anubis] some years back, we then created a German version [Das Haus Anubis] and that last year, Nick U.S. signed on to do an English-language version for the globe shot with some U.S. talent in Liverpool.

THR: How much revenue comes from international in the Viacom business?

BAKISH: Viacom is TV and film, domestic and international. The film side is roughly 50-50. If you look at the TV side, international is still certainly a minority of the revenue. But as we built out--not necessarily more countries--but by adding additional brands whether it's Nick or Nick Jr. or Comedy or now Paramount. Adding these brands will allow us to grow our business at a significant rate and become a more significant contributor to Viacom. In the last five years, we've already become a contributor and now we're on a path to become a bigger contributor.

THR: Why opt for free-to-air on TDT rather than premium?

BAKISH: Viacom International we have a long-standing heritage of pay. And we continue to be very happy with the pay markets, including in Spain where Nickelodeon is the No. 1 pay channel. We are also in some free in Spain because we saw some opportunity. But it's not like we're ended in pay in Spain and I believe that the DTT Paramount Channel being free in Spain will end up being somewhat unusual. In general, we are very focused on the pay-TV business and have partnerships with all the leading pay-platforms in the world. And we will continue to grow that business and very much plan to use Paramount Channel to do that too. So the Spanish situation is a little unusual in that regard.

THR: Is this channel a way to drive further financial upside from the studio at a time when the DVD business has been sluggish?

BAKISH: I don't think it's a response to DVD. I know it's not. Certainly part of the appeal of partnering with us for Paramount is an economic benefit. The reality is this channel provides an opportunity to exhibit some Paramount product that might not otherwise get exhibited in Spain. That in turn provides some financial benefit to Paramount. This is a great Viacom play. You're able to leverage content that you have a Paramount with existing infrastructure at Viacom International. We're not opening up offices to do this. This is a way to create value for something we've already paid for.

THR: What are Viacom International's biggest opportunities and how does the channel fit into that?

BAKISH: If you look at our overall strategy, we've been a leader with kids with Nickelodeon for a long time and with young adults even longer with MTV. The name on the door used to be MTV, then MTV International. Now it's Viacom International Media Networks as a tangible representation that there are additional brands to develop. As I look at our growth prospects, there's certainly more growth in Nickelodeon. We have great product coming and are very excited about Turtles for our consumer products business. With MTV we're seeing great traction unlocking additional revenue our mobile brand license. This week we're launching three significant products: Paramount Channel in Spain, Paramount Comedy in Russia and our sixth mobile brand license which is our mobile MTV service in Poland. But ultimately, growth comes from building the third leg in the adult demographics. That's why we believe in pushing comedy lately. Comedy is now a significant business for us. And that's why we're so excited about Paramount because the reality is we have a very small share of that demographic. As we look to grow, penetrating that demographic is a big opportunity.

THR: So in addition to more Paramount Channels in other countries, we may see more brands, more channels.

BAKISH: Yes.

THR: How many more international Paramount channels could we see this in the next 3 years and where?

BAKISH: We're well into double digits. We're looking at other markets. There's great interest. I'm very happy with where we are today with advertiser interest in Spain. We're at a better place than I thought we'd be. I've had talks --as my team has had talks--with advertisers around the world and there is broad interest. Unlike a channel where we have to say, "where are we going to get the product from" --the beauty of this is we have the cornerstone of the channel. In the last three months, we created the look and feel. Now going to additional markets is negotiating distribution, fees, etc. You have decide how you're going to supplement the product locally, but it's something we can replicate pretty quickly which is why we're so excited about it. This is not a one-off play. This is a scale play and if you're going to drive a business, you need scale plays.

Nickelodeon Films British Taekwondo Athlete Aaron Cook For Nickelodeon's Brand New "Olympic Heroes" Show

From The Associated Press via ESPN:

UK taekwondo star Cook inspired by Power Rangers

LONDON -- If not for the Power Rangers, British taekwondo athlete Aaron Cook might be watching the London Olympics on TV instead of competing for gold.

As an impressionable 5-year-old growing up in Manchester, Cook adored the intrepid television superheroes who battle to save Earth from dark forces like evil ninja masters and cryogenically frozen criminals.

Cook liked the show so much, he started to copy some of their kicks. That prompted his parents to enroll him in taekwondo classes, despite the instructor's concerns that he might be too young to understand the Korean martial art.

"I wanted to beat all the baddies and be the hero," Cook told The Associated Press, adding his goals have changed a little since then. "I used to want to be a Power Ranger, but now I want to be an Olympic champion."

At 21, Cook is one of Britain's top prospects for an Olympic taekwondo medal. He narrowly missed out on a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games and is currently ranked second in the world in the 80-kilogram (176-pound) division.

Last year, he ditched Britain's taekwondo training academy and hired his own team of coaches. His parents even built him a customized gym in their backyard.

"Everything we have done has been to help and support (Aaron) to be the best that he can be," his mother, Christine, said in an email. "Hopefully in a few months' time, he'll be rewarded with the Olympic gold medal he's spent the last 16 years of his life working towards."

Since striking out on his own, Cook has won six major competitions -- more than his rivals at the national academy.

Some critics have slammed Cook for turning his back on Britain's taekwondo program and say he is too focused on sponsorship deals and self-promotion; he and his team frequently wear "Team Cook" T-shirts at competitions.

Still, Cook was recently named part of Britain's taekwondo team at the European Championships in May, the last major event before the Olympic squad is selected. Though he will keep his own coach and train independently, Cook will have some compulsory training sessions with the national team.

"Aaron is a really talented athlete," said Gary Hall, the performance director for Britain's taekwondo team. "How effective he is at the Olympics and world level will tell how effective his plan has been."

On a recent break from training, Cook spent a day filming clips for a Nickelodeon series, "Olympic Heroes." That included throwing a few high kicks in his taekwondo uniform as well as getting into a tight red-and-black Power Ranger costume, complete with red boots, white gloves, gold belt, and a helmet. Cook then performed a sequence of punches and blocks resembling the traditional forms of taekwondo.

He doubts whether any of the Power Rangers moves might come in handy on the taekwondo mats.

"In Olympic-style taekwondo, we don't really use our hands," Cook said. "It's all about the fancy kicks."

Cook is known for his aggressive style, often incorporating several high kicks into a single attack that lasts just seconds.

He also gets respect from his opponents, including Lutalo Muhammad, whom Cook defeated in the semifinals of the Dutch Open in March. Muhammad is competing with Cook for a place on the British team, but congratulated Cook on Twitter, describing it as "a deserved victory."

Still, Cook said some of his competitors probably wouldn't think much of his Power Ranger costume and moves.

"Some might laugh a little bit, but I'm a kid at heart," Cook said. "I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for the Power Rangers."

It's not currently known whether Nickelodeon's brand new show called "Olympic Heroes" is the same as Nickelodeon UK's upcoming "Britain's Young Hopefuls" series.

Also, Tweeted by Nickelodeon UK producer Jimmy Hunt on his official Twitter profile page (@JimmyHizzle):

@aaroncooktkd holding the punch bag whilst this guy unleashes hell, is slightly terrifying. Good job today. It's gonna look quality