YTV president Paul Robertson and Hasbro Canada president Sheldon Klein were at the Canadian Toy and Decoration Show in Toronto last week to announce a strategic alliance involving the creation of a ytv-branded line of toy and related products to be sold exclusively in the Canadian market.

With the aim of increasing ytv branding and loyalty, the national kids’ network will receive about 10% of the revenue from the Hasbro merchandise.

Initially all toys will be ytv related and based on characters owned exclusively by ytv, but Robertson says a line of Treehouse tv merchandise could be produced under the agreement in the future.

Hasbro will include plush characters, puppets, water pals, wood-board puzzles and novelties based on the ytv interstitial characters Archee, Fezz and Boon.

Also being considered by Hasbro board-game division Milton Bradley is the Bonamatic Dark Night game. Using ‘popamatic’ technology, the game would be branded around ytv’s Dark Night theme nights, which often feature a horror-themed lineup of shows such as Protocol’s Goosebumps and Cinar’s Are You Afraid of the Dark.