FremantleMedia Looking To Reboot Classic British Cartoon "Danger Mouse"

The television industry news website Broadcast is reporting the kids' television news that, following a repeat of a episode of the classic British animated series "Danger Mouse" during CITV's Old Skool weekend retro programming stunt, which the UK children's channel recently held to celebrate 30 years of Children's ITV, becoming CITV's highest-rating programme since the channel launched in 2006, the content and production company FremantleMedia may be planning to reboot and remake the series for today's audiences!

Originally produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television, "Danger Mouse" follows the eponymous Danger Mouse, an English mouse who works as a superhero/secret agent, and his nervous sidekick Ernest Penfold. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and the Danger Man series starring Patrick McGoohan. The show originally ran in the United Kingdom from 28 September 1981 to 19 March 1992. In the English-language version, Danger Mouse was voiced by David Jason ("Only Fools and Horses"), with DM's faithful sidekick being voiced by Terry Scott ("Terry and June"). "Danger Mouse" also aired on Nickelodeon USA in the 1980's and early 1990's.

"Danger Mouse" also inspired a British animated television series spin-off created by British studio Cosgrove Hall called "Count Duckula", which has also aired on Nickelodeon USA and on Nickelodeon UK:

FremantleMedia eyes Danger Mouse reboot

Classic cartoon Danger Mouse is set for a return to TV after FremantleMedia has begun eyeing a reboot, following CITV’s Old Skool retro weekend.

The show, which follows the adventures of a mouse voiced by David Jason who works as a secret agent and his nervous sidekick Penfold, became CITV’s highest-rating programme since its launch in 2006 when an episode aired as part of its nostalgic weekend in January.

The show drew a consolidated audience of 569k (6%) in the half hour from 11.35am on 6 January as CITV celebrated 30 years on-air.

FremantleMedia Kids and Family Entertainment is now considering revamping the property following the success and will begin conversations later this year.

President Sander Schwartz said it was buoyed by the CITV ratings performance. “That’s something that we might be looking to do in the not too distant future,” he said. “Nothing did better than Danger Mouse.”

FremantleMedia is likely to approach CITV as a first port of call given the show’s history, but the RTL-owned producer and distributor struck a five-year deal with the BBC to co-develop and produce kids programming in January, which could see it pitched to CBBC.

Danger Mouse was originally created in 1981 by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall and produced by their production company Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television.

Mint Interviews Robert M. Bakish, The President And Chief Executive Officer Of Viacom International Media Networks, About Viacom's Future Plans

The Indian business newspaper Mint has unveiled a exclusive interview that reporter Vidhi Choudhary recently held with Robert M. Bakish, the President and Chief Executive of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), who is responsible for all Viacom media networks and associated businesses outside the US, including those operating under the multimedia entertainment brands such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Channel, VIVA, TMF (The Music Factory) and Game One, in South Korea, the UK, Australia, Italy and India where it operates a joint venture with the Network18 group, on the paper's official website, livemint.com, in which Robert M. Bakish talks about the entertainment giants future plans:

ETV is a good strategic opportunity for the business: Robert M. Bakish

Robert M. Bakish, president and chief executive of Viacom International talks about firm’s future plans

Robert M. Bakish is responsible for all Viacom media networks and associated businesses outside the US.

Mumbai: Robert M. Bakish, president and chief executive of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) since January 2011, is responsible for all Viacom media networks and associated businesses outside the US, including those operating under the multimedia entertainment brands such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Channel, VIVA, TMF (The Music Factory) and Game One. Bakish oversees the company’s businesses in South Korea, the UK, Australia, Italy and India where it operates a joint venture with the Network18 group.

In Mumbai to attend the Ficci Frames conference on the media and entertainment industry, he spoke in an interview about the company’s plans to launch new channels in the country and the impact of digitization on the Indian television entertainment sector. Edited excerpts:

Could you elaborate on plans for more channels in India?

As I said, we do plan to have additional services in the national space. We see the Indian opportunity as a very compelling one.

As we look to capture the growth, we absolutely look at driving this by launching new products that would include new national television products. I’d very much like it to happen in 2013. We started by taking our existing assets with Nick and VH1.

We then launched Colors. Last year we launched Comedy Central, Sonic which is a Nickelodeon derivative, and Nick junior. They have helped us in the distribution market with digitization and beginning to help us in the ad market as well.

How much is Viacom paying to acquire the remaining 50% stake in ETV’s entertainment channels? Are they worth the price?

As part of a clarification, Network 18 bought half the entertainment channels of ETV and all the news channels and Viacom’s currently looking at doing due diligence on acquiring the other 50% of the ETV assets with the idea of combining Network 18’s half and half inside of Viacom18. I’m not going to get into valuations. We think it’s a good strategic opportunity for the business and regional markets have very strong growth potential. If you look at all the projections for India you’ll see that regional markets have higher growth projected than the national markets. We think being a combined national and regional player is very adequate to our position in the Indian market and we think there are opportunities to create value across those businesses. So there are a number of reasons why we are intrigued by this possibility.

Viacom has an option to increase its stake in the joint venture with Network18 for Colors. Would you do that?

We at Viacom are very happy with our Viacom18 joint venture, very happy with Network 18 as a partner. The joint venture has had significant success in this market... partially as a result of good management. We think the model works as it is. So we are fine with our current position.

Any concerns about the business in India?

Sure, very few things are ever perfect. If you look at our Indian business, we would like the ad market to be better. By the way, I can say that about a lot of countries in the world, certainly all the southern European countries—those are in much worse shape. But the Indian ad market is operating in a place with GDP growth in the 4.5% range, this is coming from a place where GDP was 9% growth and the ad market was growing at 15%. That’s not where we are today. We are hopeful that that equation will begin to improve as we look at the government’s forecast for next year, the 6.5% GDP range, we believe we’ll see ad market growth.

The second challenge is ensuring the second phase of digitization goes well. Phase one was and is a big deal and represented profound change in the business. Now it’s time for us as an industry to ensure phase two fulfills that promise.

Any dramatic shifts that you may have noticed in the television entertainment sector?

Certainly the most dramatic thing that’s happened in recent history is the whole digitization movement. I think it is a positive shock to the industry. You don’t usually see a whole category of business shift like that on a short time frame. I would put that one in the dramatic category... Paying for channel slots versus getting paid for fees—that equation has changed dramatically in our favour. We look forward to the second phase of digitization.

With consumption of entertainment going multi-screen, what are Viacom’s plans to tap into this new segment?

We used to have a product that could only be consumed on the living room couch and if you’re in India there is probably only one television in the house and so whoever was in control of that remote control, probably the woman of the household, would be dictating what could be watched.

Today, all around the world people have multiple television sets connected to better-than-ever pay television plans with more channel capacity. And of course they might have a wireless connection and a tablet they could use to consume content, probably a smartphone to get content on that. We have greater linear television consumption than any other point in history and then we have all these other vehicles. So at Viacom and Viacom 18 we are focused on creating great content that either spans all these devices maybe in an OTT form, or we license the same product probably in a different window.

How do you plan to maximize revenue from the content Viacom owns?

Well, because there are so many opportunities to display content, its vitally important that you own the rights. If you look at companies that are fundamentally built on acquiring content versus creating content, you much prefer to be in a creating content.

Look at Netflix as an example. Though it is not in India but in the US and UK, Viacom is becoming a very big supplier for Netflix. That has produced significant revenue. Our strategy is to own rights and then look for opportunities to expand the content through distribution fees with pay TV operators.

It is about participating in the related ad markets whether its a linear television ad market, a broadband video ad market or even a mobile market. For example, not in India but in five European countries, we have an MTV mobile service where consumers can get a handset, minutes and data in that we also have some ad inventory. So, if content is at the centre, we are looking to use these evolving media platforms as a way of fortifying existing revenue streams and generating new ones.

Also, from Advanced Television:

Viacom planning new Indian channels

Robert Bakish, Viacom’s International Media Networks President/CEO, speaking at the Ficci Frames media event in Mumbai, India said that India’s adoption of digital TV, and an improved and trustworthy ratings system, could lead to Viacom launching new channels.

Viacom is a 50/50 joint-venture partner with TV-18 in Viacom 18, and the partnership is looking at launching more channels and developing more regional offerings, which are seeing “fast growth,” said Bakish. TV18 already owns 5 ‘general entertainment channels’ and it has been reported locally that Viacom is conducting due diligence on the possibility of expanding its joint-venture into these channels.

“The success of a JV is all about having a cultural fit. Our venture has had challenges and we have been forced to evolve. We decided to get into film production. We launched more channels like Sonic. Then we created IndiaCast to take advantage of digitisation. We see an opportunity to export content from India. We created a channel in the UK, Rishtey, using content from Colors and MTV.”

The IndiaCast system has seen the JV’s ‘Colors’ channels exported to 70 countries in what Viacom described as “reverse migration”. “Indiacast has a global multiplatform mandate.” Bakish said. “Star and Zee surprised people by coming together. We responded by creating one entity and partnered with Disney UTV to unlock the value of digitisation. While Nickelodeon and Disney compete fiercely with each other globally, the fact is that you have to look at each country differently.”

Also, from BestMediaInfo.com:

FICCI Frames 2013: Breaking the barrier between local and global

Content is still king, and Viacom 18’s push into the non-English space with foreign content has helped break down barriers

In the session at FICCI Frames 2013 on Day 1 on “Breaking the barrier between the local and global”, the focus shifted to regional play with Sai Kumar, President and CEO, Network 18 and Board Member, Viacom 18, and Robert Bakish, President and CEO, Viacom 18 International Media Networks and Board Member, Viacom 18, holding forth.

Sai Kumar said, “Success is a very strange thing. TV18 and Vaicom18 both believe that India is a dynamic market. We have pride to say that we saw a dynamic market and a big opportunity into multi-geography and platform distribution. Viacom18 started its broadcast venture with four channels until they realised that they need to enter the regional space as well.”

He added, “The company had great success with Colors and the venture has flourished and evolved with changing markets including MTV, Nickelodeon and others. They also entered into film production and multi channel networks.”

Robert Bakish said, “We also brought in content from the UK and the US and our main IP has been content creation in the Indian media market. Content travelling from other countries, such as Fear Factor, seems to be evolving. There have tremendous changes in content for the past 10 years.”

Sai Kumar said, “It takes me back when I once said ‘Content is King’. Already monetisation of television content is at its best. Today again I stand by the same thought that ‘content is king’”.

Additionally, distribution is also improving due to the tough advertising market. “Advertising has been the softest for the longest time and the pressure from digital has amplified,” Sai added.

Also, from exchange4media:

It's not all about biz, but about culture: Robert Bakish

Local and global content creation and distribution has been of high significance since the longest time. The joint venture between Viacom and TV18 has been an interesting journey, which has observed a number of milestones, thereby breaking the barrier between local and global.

According to Robert Bakish, President & CEO, Viacom International Media Networks & Board Member, Viacom18, it is not all about business but about culture. He points out that it is not enough to have a shared vision; a correct management fit and a lot of hard work is required. The venture has flourished and today includes a bunch of national services such as MTV, Colors, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Junior, and film units, among others. A major step has been the creation of India Cast.

“We can safely say that it has been a great journey, even if not a long one, since five years is not a long period of time. Given the tremendous opportunities, not only will we introduce new content, but we will export content as well in the near future,” Bakish shared.

Sai Kumar, Group CEO, Network18 and Board Member, Viacom18 believes that it is critical to be extremely aligned with the challenges. He finds the learnings from Viacom to be invaluable as the group has seen success in various markets. With India Cast there might be reverse migration. According to Kumar, it is also important to export linear TV and syndicate programmes; though it is not only about syndication, but about formats that can be picked up by the rest of the world.

Elaborating further, Bakish stated, “We will continue to evolve in various ways. When the two partners came together in India, we were influenced by both local and global learnings. There were two elements that we kept in mind. The first is that we are committed to creating content for India, which needs a good team. The second is brand positioning for the content. We are an interconnected world and want to be entertained, and that is leading to productions that are not only travelling to the US and the UK, but to other parts of the global market as well. This is also when India Cast came to the fore, since today the important IP is a hit television format. Hence, the possibility of replicating content increases and formats today are a great value of scale.”

Where is the market heading?

Kumar remarked that today content consumption is at an all time high and is available on multiple platforms and devices such as mobiles, tablets, etc., even though monetisation through these varied platforms is not very high.

Commenting on India Cast, Kumar stated, “It is the second phase of partnership, which though out of adversity, has worked for us. We are extremely bullish about non-linear platforms.”

Bakish noted that the world is evolving from the economic and structural stand point, and added that there has been a rise in services such as video on demand and OTT, which have observed tremendous changes. “This creates its own set of risks and opportunities, but we need to focus on the later part. Today, one can watch programmes on tablets, television, mobiles, etc.,” he further said.

He called it an important development on the distribution part where the primary enabler is the wireless network in the house and the tablets. “Nevertheless, we have always tried to create great content since opportunities remain very significant,” Bakish added.

The outlook

Bakish maintained that the Viacom-TV18 venture is in great shape and is a great opportunity to unlock the value of digitisation. He believes that if one operates in different countries, they need to look at them differently, since each country has its own set of opportunities, even though one might have a global plan.

Kumar stressed that measurement is the need of the hour. He added, “Advertising has been the softest in the longest of time. We need to be realistic. There is lack of measurement in India. For niche channels, even though measurement of upscale viewers is difficult, we need to make an effort at an industry body level.”

Bakish concluded by saying that India is a significant market and that Viacom is looking to invest in great content to ensure that it reflects a balance. The company will continue to bring varied choices to viewers in terms of content, national launches and also a play in the regional markets.

Robert Bakish and Sai Kumar were expressing their views on day one at FICCI Frames 2013, being held in Mumbai from March 12 to 14, 2013.

Also, from IndianTelevision.com:

Viacom18 looking at regional play and more channel launches: Bob Bakish

MUMBAI: Viacom18, the equal joint venture company between Viacom and TV18, is looking at launching more channels, expanding into regional markets and creating content for new media.

Viacom is conducting a due diligence on the ETV general entertainment channels (GECs), Viacom International Media Networks President, CEO and Viacom18 board member Robert Bakish said today. "The regional markets are seeing fast growth," he added.

Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that TV18 had offered Viacom the option to buy 50 per cent stake in five ETV GECs and 24.5 per cent equity interest in ETV Telugu. If Viacom decides to buy stake, the ETV GECs would move to Viacom18.

When asked about what kept the joint venture alive (the only surviving one in the M&E space between a global media giant and a local company), Bakish said that it is not enough to have a shared vision. “The success of a JV is all about having a cultural fit. Our venture has had challenges and we have been forced to evolve. We decided to get into film production. We launched more channels like Sonic. Then we created IndiaCast to take advantage of digitisation. We see an opportunity to export content from India. We created a channel in the UK, Rishtey, using content from Colors and MTV.”
The aim of Viacom partnering with Network18 was to make a local cultural connection. “In 2006 we realised that India offered opportunities we could not ignore. Viacom has resources but we felt the need for a local partner. JVs are a tradeoff. You don’t have complete control. Therefore it is important to have productive dialogue. In Korea, we have a JV with SBS which started a year ago,” said Bakish.

In India, the company realised that brand positioning would be key. Therefore the decision was taken to make Colors edgier and more of a risk taker. “The good news for India is that more local production money is coming in. Out of this will come quality content.” He also noted that a hit television format is the most valuable IP. “After all, a local version of ’Fear Factor’ played a key role in Colors’ launch and success.”

Network18 Group CEO Sai Kumar said the joint venture had been helped by the alignment between the two companies in terms of the scale of ambition and challenges that would have to be met. He noted that IndiaCast has allowed for reverse migration. Colors is now in 70 countries. “It is not just about the channel going abroad. Even shows like Ballika Vadhu have been being picked up abroad,” he said.

Talking about new media, Sai Kumar said while platforms like OTT and VoD represent a risk and an opportunity, Viacom18 prefers to focus on the latter. Kumar noted that 13 years ago distribution became king as there was a lack of platforms to showcase content. Today the good news is that content is once again king. "The challenge today is that while consumption of content is at its highest it has gone multi device. The different platform windows are each a kingdom. With these platforms the possibility of milking content for revenue has gone up. The long tail will stand a better chance in the future,” he averred.
Kumar called IndiaCast the second phase of the JV partnership.

“Indiacast has a global multiplatform mandate.” Bakish said. “Star and Zee surprised people by coming together. We responded by creating one entity and partnered with Disney UTV to unlock the value of digitisation. While Nickelodeon and Disney compete fiercely with each other globally, the fact is that you have to look at each country differently."

Referring to film business in India, Kumar noted that it is a great adjunct for Viacom18’s other businesses. “There are opportunities for synergies in our film business with Colors and other channels. At the same time, our exposure to film will be strategically limited. Having two films that are hits does not mean that the next three will also work. With each film you start from ground zero.”

Bakish noted that film production business is not for the faint at heart. “We had long conversations about why we were in the film production business. We have had hits and misses but that is the nature of the game. Not everything will work.”

In terms of the challenges facing the media and entertainment industry, Bakish spoke about the lack of reliability in measurement globally due to multiple platforms. “India is great to do business in but it isn’t perfect. Could digitisation have happened sooner? Sure. Could Phase one of DAS have been a solid four cities? Sure! Phase two is now happening and the industry needs to keep up the pressure to see that things work”, he noted.

Kumar noted that advertising is now at its softest. Things will not change unless the measurement system improves. More homes for SEC A could help the niche genre, he added.

International Superstar Pitbull, Featuring Christina Aguilera, And Global Pop Sensation Ke$ha To Perform Live At Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards, Saturday, March 23, At 8 P.M. (ET/PT)

Nickelodeon has announced in the following Press Release, from PRNewswire, the exciting Nickelodeon news that, in their first-ever live performances at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, multi-talented global superstars Pitbull, featuring Grammy Award-winning superstar vocalist Christina Aguilera, and Ke$ha will ignite the KCA 2013 stage! Pitbull remains unstoppable as he is set to perform his explosive hit "Feel This Moment," featuring Aguilera, while Ke$ha will captivate the kids with her Billboard Top 10 smash "C'Mon." Live from USC's Galen Center on Saturday, March 23 2013 from 8 p.m. (ET/tape delayed for West Coast), both artists join previously announced host Josh Duhamel at the 26th annual event where kids rule and honor their favorites from the worlds of film, music, sports and television. Kids around the world can cast their votes until Saturday 23rd March 2013 in 22 total categories across all of Nickelodeon's digital outlets, including kca2013.com, Nick.com, Nick Mobile app (US voters only) as well as on official local Nickelodeon Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. After the live US telecast of Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, March 23 2013, the awards show will then start to roll out internationally, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show faster than ever, including on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK on Sunday 24th March 2013 at 5.30pm (repeated at 6.30pm on Nickelodeon +1), less than 24 hours after the initial US broadcast!:

International Superstar Pitbull, Featuring Christina Aguilera, and Global Pop Sensation Ke$ha to Perform Live at Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards, Saturday, March 23, at 8 P.M. (ET/PT)

LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2013 /Nickelodeon Press Release via PRNewswire/ -- In their first-ever live performances at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, multi-talented global superstars Pitbull, featuring Grammy Award-winning superstar vocalist Christina Aguilera , and Ke$ha will ignite the stage on Saturday, March 23, at 8 p.m. (ET/tape delayed for West Coast). Pitbull remains unstoppable as he is set to perform his explosive hit "Feel This Moment," featuring Aguilera, while Ke$ha will captivate the kids with her Billboard Top 10 smash "C'Mon." Live from USC's Galen Center, both artists join previously announced host Josh Duhamel at the 26th annual event where kids rule and honor their favorites from the worlds of film, music, sports and television. Kids can cast their votes until March 23 in 22 total categories across all of Nickelodeon's digital outlets, including Nick.com, Nick Mobile app as well as Nickelodeon's Facebook page and Twitter feed.

(Download Image: Photo of Pitbull: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130312/NY75216-a)(Download Image - Photo of Christina Aguilera: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130312/NY75216-b )(Download Image - Photo of Ke$ha: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130312/NY75216-c )"Can't wait to play the Kids' Choice Awards for the first time," said Pitbull. "Look forward for fans to also see the first performance of 'Feel This Moment' with Christina Aguilera . It's gonna be fun, DALE!!!"

"Kids' Choice is always one of the most fun awards shows of the year," said Ke$ha. "I can't wait to come out and party with all of my ANIMALS!!!"

Pitbull has risen to become a global superstar as both a recording and performing artist. The Miami-native recently added to a long-and-growing list of hits with his first #1, "Give Me Everything." Pitbull's "Don't Stop The Party" is a global radio and video hit, and is also featured on his new album Global Warming. It's the highly anticipated follow-up to Planet Pit, which earned critical acclaim and enjoyed massive commercial success with sales of more than 1.7 million albums and 19 million singles. "Don't Stop The Party" comes on the heels of Pitbull's 2 million-selling single "Back In Time," the chart-topping anthem from the action-adventure-comedy Men In Black 3. Look for Pitbull's new single "Feel This Moment," featuring Christina Aguilera , to be another global smash to complement his worldwide success as an artist.

Global superstar Ke$ha has taken the world by storm since the release of her debut album Animal in 2010, selling over 2.5 million units worldwide and certified Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum in 15 markets. She has had seven consecutive Top 10 hits including four #1 singles in " TiK ToK ," "Your Love Is My Drug," "We R Who We R" and the latest, "Die Young." Ke$ha recently released the track "C'Mon," the second single from her critically acclaimed second album, Warrior. Ke$ha recently announced that MTV will premiere the docu-series "Kesha: My Crazy Beautiful Life" on April 23 at 11 p.m.

Nickelodeon kicks off the 2013 Kids' Choice Awards digital experience on www.Nick.com/KCA13. Fans are able to relive the slimiest moments from years past, play KCA-themed games, and receive updates on all things KCA. Additionally, on the day of the show, March 23, viewers can visit the site to watch a live webcast of the Kids' Choice Orange Carpet pre-show, and stay logged on during the event to see all the backstage action.

The 2013 Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards will be seen in more than 350 million households around the world and in more than 25 languages. Within hours of airing live in the United States and Canada, the show will roll out internationally, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show faster than ever. In many international markets, the 2013 KCAs will feature country-specific award categories and nominees, such as Favorite Asian Act and Favorite UK TV Show. Voting for the 2013 KCAs will span over six continents across 16 localized voting sites, giving kids practically everywhere the chance to decide who takes home a coveted blimp. Ratings for the 2012 KCAs were up double-digits YOY internationally, and the show was rated #1 in its timeslot among kids channels in key international markets, including the UK, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Singapore and more.

Last year, Nickelodeon's 2012 Kids' Choice Awards, ranked as basic cable's top telecast for the week (March 26, 2012–April 1, 2012) with 6.2 million total viewers and was the number-one telecast for the week with kids and tweens across all TV. The celebrity filled telecast scored the most votes in the show's history—a record 223 million (+11%, over last year). Votes were cast across Nick.com, Nick's mobile site, a brand-new iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch apps, an iPad-optimized site, an application on Nick's Facebook page and via Twitter and custom hash tags. Nickelodeon kicked off the 2013 Kids' Choice Awards digital experience on www.Nick.com/KCA13. Fans will be able to relive the slimiest moments from years past, play KCA-themed games, and receive updates on all things KCA. Additionally, on the day of the show, March 23, viewers can visit the site to watch a live webcast of the Kids' Choice Orange Carpet pre-show, and stay logged on during the show to see all the backstage action.

Presenting sponsors of Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards are General Mills, Hasbro Twister Rave Games and Target. Associate sponsors are Bounty™, McDonald's®, nabi, Wii U from Nintendo, Toyota and Skechers.

Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards is being produced by Nickelodeon Productions in association with Bob Bain Productions. Bob Bain , Marjorie Cohn and Paula Kaplan are Executive Producers. Media outlets can reference the most up-to-date information on Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards by logging onto www.NickKCApress.com.

Nickelodeon, now in its 33rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 18 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

SOURCE Nickelodeon

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Below is Nickelodeon UK's official Press Release announcing the news:

INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR PITBULL, FEATURING CHRISTINA AGUILERA, AND GLOBAL POP SENSATION KE$HA TO PERFORM LIVE AT NICKELODEON'S 26TH ANNUAL KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS

London, 12th March 2013 – In their first-ever live performances at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, multi-talented global superstar Pitbull featuring Grammy Award-winning superstar vocalist Christina Aguilera will ignite the stage on Sunday, 24th March at 5.30pm with a performance of the explosive track “Feel This Moment.” Pop megastar Ke$ha will also captivate the kids with her smash hit, “C’Mon.”

Performing from USC’s Galen Center, both artists join previously announced host Josh Duhamel at the annual event where kids rule and honour their favourites from the worlds of film, music, sports and television. Kids can cast their votes in the UK specific categories until Friday 15th March across all of Nickelodeon’s digital outlets, including kca2013.com plus Nickelodeon’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

“Can’t wait to play the Kids’ Choice Awards for the first time,” said Pitbull. “I look forward for fans to also see the first performance of ‘Feel This Moment’ with Christina Aguilera. It’s gonna be fun, DALE!!!”

“Kids’ Choice is always one of the most fun awards shows of the year,” said Ke$ha. “I can’t wait to come out and party with all of my ANIMALS!!!”

Pitbull has risen to become a global superstar as both a recording and performing artist. The Miami-native recently added to a long-and-growing list of hits with his first #1, “Give Me Everything.” At the same time, his world tour sold out concerts in Latin America Canada and Europe, before bringing the party to the United States, Japan and Australia. Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop The Party” is a global radio and video hit and is also featured on his new album Global Warming. It’s the highly anticipated follow-up to Planet Pit, which earned critical acclaim and enjoyed massive commercial success with sales of more than 1.7 million albums and 19 million singles. “Don’t Stop The Party” comes on the heels of Pitbull’s 2 million-selling single “Back In Time,” the chart-topping anthem from the action-adventure-comedy Men In Black 3. Look for Pitbull’s new single “Feel This Moment” featuring Christina Aguilera to be another global smash.

Global superstar Ke$ha has taken the world by storm since the release of her debut album Animal in 2010, selling over 2.5 million units worldwide and certified Fold, Platinum or multi-Platinum in 15 markets. She has had seven consecutive Top 10 hits including four #1 singles in “TiK ToK”, “Your Love Is My Drug,” “We R Who We R” and the latest, “Die Young.” Ke$ha recently released the track “C’Mon,” the second single from her critically acclaimed second album, Warrior.

Nickelodeon kicks off the Kids’ Choice Awards 2013 digital experience on kca2013.com. Fans are able to relive the slimiest moments from years past, play KCA-themed games and receive updates on all things KCA.

Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2013 will be seen in more than 350 million households around the world and in more than 25 languages. Within hours of airing live in the United States and Canada, the show will roll out internationally, providing kids around the world the opportunity to tune into their local Nickelodeon channel to enjoy the show faster than ever. In many international markets, the KCAs 2013 will feature country-specific award categories and nominees, such as Favourite UK TV Show and Favourite Asian Act. Voting for the KCAs 2013 will span over six continents across 16 localised voting sites, giving kids practically everywhere the chance to decide who takes home a coveted blimp. Last year Nickelodeon UK emerged as the #1 kids’ channel during the premiere broadcast of the KCAs 2012 (including pre-show) reaching 280,000 kids (446,000 viewers) and the audience was up 26% year-on-year.*

Confirmed Pan Regional Sponsors are 20th Century Fox, The Croods, Activision and Skylanders Giants.

Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2013 is being produced by Nickelodeon Productions in association with Bob Bain Productions. Bob Bain, Marjorie Cohn and Paula Kaplan are Executive Producers.

Nickelodeon has been bringing audiences in the UK and Ireland hit international and locally-produced kid’s content since 1993. Reaching 14 million homes, Nickelodeon offers a schedule packed with innovative, playful and heartfelt programming featuring top shows such as House of Anubis, SpongeBob SquarePants and iCarly. Viewers can also catch Nickelodeon in high definition through Nickelodeon HD and have the opportunity to catch up with the schedule through Nick +1. Exclusive games, behind the scenes clips, show information and more are available on nick.co.uk Nickelodeon is on Sky 604, Virgin 712, through BT Vision and TalkTalk channel 315.

Nickelodeon UK comprises seven dedicated entertainment channels for kids aged 4-15 and is a joint venture between Viacom International Media and BSkyB Networks. Launched in 1993, the Nickelodeon Network is a top-performing commercial kids TV network in the UK and Ireland with Nickelodeon channels available in over 14 million cable and satellite homes.

* figures and comparisons for live and same day time shift only. Source: BARB/ C&S homes/ Nickelodeon/ K4-15/K4-14/Ind 4+(includes live data)