Boat Rocker buys Fremantle’s Kids & Family Entertainment division

The acquisition brings popular FremantleMedia kids properties including Danger Mouse and Bitz & Bob into the Boat Rocker fold.

In its ongoing expansion efforts, Toronto-based Boat Rocker Media has acquired the kids and family entertainment division of U.K.-headquartered FremantleMedia.

Effective immediately, the division will be integrated into Boat Rocker’s global distribution arm, Boat Rocker Rights, and is expected to bolster international growth opportunities, particularly in Europe and Asia. No monetary figures have been disclosed.

Popular FremantleMedia kids properties Danger Mouse (pictured) and Bitz & Bob will continue to be developed under Fremantle’s existing co-pro agreement with the BBC.

Since launching in 2010, FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment has amassed a portfolio of more than 45 brands consisting of 150 series and 1,600 half hours of children’s programming from preschool to tweens/teens.

FremantleMedia’s current co-productions include Danger Mouse (season two) and Bitz & Bob (season one) with BBC, live-action sketch comedy The Who Was? Show (season one) with Netflix and Penguin Young Readers, and animated comedy Tasty Tales of the Food Truckers with Shellhut Media.

Boat Rocker’s expanded team will begin rolling out a new development slate timed with Kidscreen Summit in February.

Boat Rocker launched its kids-content strategy in 2015 with a stake in animation studio Industrial Brothers. In March 2016, it acquired Toronto-based kids production company Radical Sheep and later that year acquired  Ottawa-based 2D-animation service studio Jam Filled Entertainment. Most recently, formed an exclusive global video partnership with New York-based mobile-centric kids media company MarcoPolo Learning.

With its banners Boat Rocker Studios (which includes Temple Street, Jam Filled and Radical Sheep), Boat Rocker Rights, Boat Rocker Brands, Boat Rocker Ventures and Boat Rocker Digital, Boat Rocker Media creates, produces and distributes premium media content for all platforms.

It also recently named Fisher-Price as master toy partner for its upcoming Industrial Brothers preschool co-pro Kingdom Force.

From Kidscreen 

Update: this article was updated Jan 24 to include Boat Rocker’s 2015 investment in Industrial Brothers.