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JustLaunched
The Octonauts
Chorion’s new preschool series
sets sail on international waters
With almost four months’ air time under its belt on CBeebies in
the UK and Discovery Kids across Latin America, The Octonauts is
moving into its second round of territory rollouts while its owner
Chorion prepares to introduce the brand to the toy aisle.
The 52 x 11-minute CGI series for kids three to six, animated
by Dublin, Ireland-based Brown Bag Films, is about an adorable
team of undersea explorers born from a pre-existing book
series. Set against a pastel palette, the critters—including a
valiant polar bear, daredevil kitten and big-hearted penguin—
embark on missions to explore, rescue and protect the fragile
underwater environment.
On-air
Discovery Kids
Latin America
Argentina: 7:30 a.m.
Chile: 10:30 a.m.
México: 7:30 a.m.
Venezuela: 10 a.m.
Brazil: 7:30 a.m.
Colombia: 9:30 a.m.
42 February/March 2011
RTE 2 (Ireland)
Weekdays at 2:20 p.m.
CBeebies (UK) Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. and 4:50 p.m.,
Saturday, 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m.
TF1 (France) every Sunday at 7 a.m.
ABC1 (Australia)
Weekdays at 8:15 a.m.
ABC2 (Australia)
Weekdays at 1:45 p.m. and 5:10 p.m.
Recently announced broadcast partners
Yoopa (Canada), Disney Channel (Japan), RTP (Portugal), MNet (South Africa), Truevisions (Thailand)
So far so good In December the series was already rating as
the number-one show among boys four to six and number two
among all kids two to six on CBeebies, according to Chorion
EVP of global licensing and sales Steve Cipolla.
“All territories watch what the rest are doing,” says Cipolla.
“When we’re negotiating an opportunity to open up new markets,
just the fact that it’s doing well in the UK and in Latin America is a
strong indicator to a lot of international markets that it’s a hit.”
Cipolla adds that negotiations over scheduling are largely
at the discretion of the broadcasters. CBeebies, for example,
strips the show from Monday to Friday, and Discovery Kids
Latin America airs the series every weekday morning. France’s
TF1, however, has soft-launched the series through a Sunday
morning slot. “TF1 will do that for a period of time and then see
how it rates and build from there,” says Cipolla.
Territory tactics Cipolla says CBeebies put a lot of resources
behind launching the series, including a huge on-air, tune-in
campaign and highlighting The Octonauts as a major property
on its free online iPlayer service, where it has become the
most popular kids program. The Discovery Kids launch, which
spanned several different markets in Latin America, relied on
more regionalized efforts. And Cipolla says Chorion followed
the broadcaster’s lead and expertise in marketing to those territories.
For example, Discovery generated localized outdoor
advertising, which Cipolla says is unique to Latin America in
driving audience awareness.
Hands on For its part, Chorion educates broadcast partners
about special themed episodes and provides content calendars
to help create tentpole events. “We can work strategically with
them to see the year ahead so they can tap different episodes
for any season or holiday,” says Cipolla. The company has also
created an immersive online experience designed to live within
broadcasters’ sites that includes games and activities as well as a
card-collecting component and personalization features.
Keeping close tabs on the fi ckle mommy blog scene is another
priority for Chorion. So far Cipolla’s seen good reviews
of the show and signs of viewer engagement like homemade
Octonauts products and YouTube clips featuring kids singing
The Octonauts’ theme song cropping up online. Another nice
surprise has been that dads as well as moms are chatting about
the show. Though it’s early to really put that anecdotal feedback
to use, he foresees the comments and emerging play patterns
helping to shape Chorion’s plans for future content programming
and products.
Next moves Besides broadcast sales, Chorion is in the throes of
prepping the rollout of Octonauts merchandise. Master toy partner
Fisher-Price is developing a line for this fall that will feature boytargeted
Octonauts vehicles as well as the Octopad home base.
Additionally, a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster in the UK will
see the TV tie-in books roll out this year. –Kate Calder