French broadcaster Gulli has acquired the CoComelon series from Moonbug Entertainment in a deal that also sets it up to manage the brand’s licensing business in France with Germany’s Super RTL.
The two broadcasters will be responsible for identifying new French licensees, overseeing the existing consumer products program in France, and managing retail partnerships. They partnered in 2021 to co-develop licensing programs across Europe, and Super RTL already reps CoComelon in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
CoComelon uses songs and nursery rhymes to teach kids basic concepts and activities, such as getting ready for bed and why they should eat vegetables. The CG-animated preschool series will start airing on Gulli’s linear channel in early November.
This acquisition marks Moonbug’s first free-to-air TV deal in France, but the London-based prodco—which acquired CoComelon in 2020—has already sold it to BBC iPlayer and WarnerMedia’s Cartoonito preschool network in the UK. And Netflix commissioned the spin-off CoComelon Lane (24 x seven minutes) last year.
CoComelon was one of the most in-demand preschool shows globally last year, according to Parrot Analytics. It launched in 2016 on YouTube, and has 145 million subscribers on that platform alone, where it generates more than 4.3 billion monthly views, according to a release.