Michael Carrington, head of children’s content at the British media conglomerate BBC, and Magnús Scheving, author of LazyTown, signed an agreement between LazyTown and the BBC yesterday, for the sale of broadcasting rights to the television programs about LazyTown for the next five years. It is estimated that the episodes of the shows will begin in the UK on October 3, 2005 and that they will reach 57 million viewers. This is the right to show 35 TV episodes of LazyTown that have already been produced.
Carrington says the BBC has a huge responsibility as a government broadcaster and she wanted to respond to the problem that childhood obesity had become. Magnús Scheving and LazyTown then drifted to the shores of the TV station. It made sense to collaborate with him, “since the shows meet the BBC’s requirements for children’s content, which is to educate, entertain and inform” says Carrington.
Fréttablaðið – Volume 5 2005, Issue 260, Page 31
LazyTown will reach the BBC’s 57 million TV viewers in Great Britain after a contract signed yesterday. Magnús Scheving says Latabæ is growing faster than any other TV show in history.
Yesterday, LazyTown signed a landmark agreement with the BBC, one of the largest media conglomerates in Great Britain. The BBC operates eight television channels, including CBBC and CBeebies which are the UK’s most popular children’s television channels, ten radio channels and more than 50 local television stations. The deal follows LazyTown’s success in Germany and Norway, where viewing figures have shown up to 57 percent of all children between the ages of two and eleven watching. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland and guest of honor at the gathering, addressed the guests.
He said that he has been a big fan of LazyTown since the beginning, which he considers not only a good business idea, but suitable for having a positive effect on society itself with the message that the show brings to young viewers. Michael Carrington, one of the directors of the BBC, who was in Iceland to sign the agreement, took the same line as the president. He said the BBC had been looking for ways to address the obesity problem in society and LazyTown fits well with their idea of a television program that encourages children to live a healthy lifestyle while also being fun entertainment.
LazyTown has grown tremendously in recent years and is now shown in 46 countries around the world. The agreement with the BBC is a big step forward, as it involves the BBC buying the rights to Lazy Town, which will be shown on the BBC and followed by the children’s channels CBBC and CBeebies. This gives access to the BBC’s 57 million viewers and the group has a 95.6 per cent market share in the UK. Among the children’s content the BBC is known for are the shows Teletubbies and Bubbi bijir, both of which have been huge hits with children around the world and each generate around US$500 million in retail sales per year. The series is scheduled to begin airing on the BBC next October 3.
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