NELVANA and Nickelodeon have expanded their ongoing relationship in a new long-term licence and production deal that gives the Toronto house international rights to two hit Nick series and commits the U.S. specialty net to renew two Nelvana-produced series.

The deal, which could result in millions of dollars in production and distribution, sees Nelvana secure the international distribution rights to live-action series Taina’s World, created by Maria Perez-Brown, and the animated show The Fairly Odd Parents, created by Butch Hartman.

The rights extend 20 years and Nelvana is already in sales negotiations with Nick U.K., Canal J (France), Disney Channel (Italy) and FR3.

‘We’re excited about the expansion of our ongoing and successful relationship with Nelvana,’ states Kevin Kay, exec VP, production, Nickelodeon, TV Land and TNN. ‘We believe that our hit series Taina’s World and The Fairly Odd Parents will enjoy the same popularity with Nelvana’s international television clients that they do with Nick’s audiences in the United States.’

Nelvana will debut the two Nick series at MIPCOM in October.

Also, under the agreement, Nickelodeon has renewed the currently airing Nelvana series Maggie and the Ferocious Beast and John Callahan’s Pelswick, picking up 13 half hours that make up season four and season two, respectively.

The two series are among four Nelvana properties Nick and its preschool service Nick Jr. are currently airing. The other two are Franklin and Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear.

In addition to the terms of the deal, Nick has agreed to coproduce a minimum of one new series with Nelvana, details of which have yet to be worked out.

Meantime, Nelvana’s parent company Corus Entertainment recently posted its earnings for its third quarter ended May 31, which detailed some impressive growth for the company as a whole, but some disappointing results for its 100%-owned animation house.

On a pro forma basis, revenues derived from Nelvana’s production and distribution business were down 22% for the quarter compared with the prior year’s period which saw several large library sales and delivery of episodes with higher-than-average revenue per episode.

Pro forma revenue per episode for the year is expected to be $275,000 per ep, up from $230,000/ep last year.

Since Sept. 1, 2000, 180 episodes have been delivered compared to 173 last year, before Corus took over the company. By year-end, Nelvana plans to deliver 240 episodes, compared to 199 episodes last year, increasing its library to 1,800 half-hour equivalent episodes.

The company blames the ‘soft retail market’ for losses in its merchandising business, which saw revenues drop 11% and EBITDA fall 31% in Q3. However, subsequent to the quarter, Nelvana secured a master toy licence agreement with Hasbro for the Japanese animated series Medabots, which is expected to generate significant royalties over the next three to five years.

On a pro forma basis, third quarter revenues for the company’s publishing business were 7%, but EBITDA was down 118%. Again, the loss was attributed to the weakness of the retail market, and particularly the specialty book retail segment in the U.S., as well as the merger of Chapters and Indigo in Canada.

For Corus, the earnings results detailed a 150% increase in revenues to $138 million this period, compared to $55.4 million from the same period last year. Net earnings for the period increased to $104.2 million compared to $63.1 million last year. The company’s EBITDA increased by 95% over last year’s third quarter to $31.1 million.

Earnings per share for the quarter were $2.45 compared with $1.80 last year.

Cash flow per share was $0.61 compared with $0.31 last year.