Paramount Explores Sale Of Majority Stake In Streaming Service Noggin

Paramount Global is exploring the sale of a majority stake in Noggin, its online learning service for children, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The company is looking at an opportunity to develop Noggin, which is known for content like "PAW Patrol" and "Peppa Pig", into an interactive learning platform, and is seeking an investor for the job, the report said.

Paramount wants to retain a stake in Noggin, the report added. Paramount Global declined to comment.

The reported exploration of the stake sale is part of the company's effort to support its streaming service Paramount+. The company said in February it will increase the prices of the service's premium and essentials tiers.

Paramount+ is set to integrate with the company's other streaming platform Showtime. The company expects an impairment charge of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in the current quarter from the integration.

Recap To Last Year: Hoho's 'Toad And Friends' Ready To Roll With Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA

Hoho Entertainment today announced that it has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA to bring the riverbank adventures of Mole, Toad, Ratty and Badger to life for a new generation of viewers in Toad & Friends (52 x 11’), a brand-new CG animated series based on Kenneth Grahame’s classic British novel The Wind in the Willows (1908).

“With over 85 million copies of the book sold in 29 languages, The Wind in the Willows is not just a British classic, it’s a global classic,” says Oliver Ellis, Joint Managing Director of Hoho Ent. and producer of Toas & Friends. “We can’t wait to introduce today’s children to these beloved characters, with 52 new and original stories.”

Toad & Friends is produced by London-based Hoho Entertainment, animated in Scotland by Wild Child Animation and directed by Tim Searle (Danger Mouse, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed!). The new series has been developed and supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and produced with the support of the Creative Media Program, MEDIA of the European Union, and is set to launch on Warner Bros. Discovery’s preschool brand Cartoonito across EMEA and on HBO Max in Europe in 2023.

“Toad & Friends is a beautiful series packed full of adventure and wrapped in the nostalgia of the original The Wind in the Willows stories that many parents will remember with such fondness. It’s a perfect fit for Cartoonito and HBO Max and we’re thrilled to add it to our growing slate of European productions,” comments Zia Sands, Lead – Acquisitions, Partnerships & Coproductions, Kids & Family EMEA, Warner Bros. Discovery.

Working with a diverse cast, group of writers and production team, Toad & Friends aims to honor the legacy of the original novel and its gentle values about community and citizenship while refreshing the characters and storylines to resonate with a modern audience. The original characters are joined by some ‘feisty’ new female protagonists, including fearless Hedge, scheming Tinker, diligent Heron, mischievous Adder and motherly Mrs. Otter.

The series celebrates the countryside and children’s simple joy of being outdoors as they follow their favorite characters on brand new humorous adventures in which they discover moral courage, respect and the value of friendship.

“It is a joy to bring the teeming hedgerows and bustling riverbanks of the beautiful British countryside to life using the very latest animated technology and techniques,” adds Wild Child Animation’s Ken Anderson. “We hope our reimagined version of Grahame’s world of natural adventure and discovery will encourage children to venture into the great outdoors a little more themselves.”

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Recap To The Past: Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman Was Removed From PBS Kids Lineup Ahead Of It's Linear Debut On MultiChoice's DStv

Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman was an educational game show with featured animated host Ruff Ruffman alongside real kids facing real challenges. The kids would do random tasks even play games mostly in the maths and sciences in order to win prizes.

The show was an instant hit with audiences and received critical acclaim. The New York Times praised the series, writing "The show’s creators have written in all the sarcasm and amazingness of a more sophisticated and harder-edged show, but not in a way that condones such behavior.

The series ran for five seasons and 100 episodes from May 29, 2006, to November 4, 2010, on the adult oriented, PBS. Prior to its demise, the series recieved an Emmy for Best Original Song which too is named after the program.

During its run, PBS Kids was a programming block hence the PBS. No 24 hour kids channel was available until at least 2017 and MultiChoice bundled Fetch! alongside various other content from the PBS brand in 2018 on the DStv app under the tile PBS Kids - experimental.

In May 2019, MultiChoice in partnership with PBS extended the agreement for the PBS Kids channel giving more consumers access to #1 trusted for educational content with shows like Arthur, Pinkalicious And Peterrific, Time Warp Trio and Postcards From Buster.

As seen through various promos and ads, we got to see a variety of programs some of which still remain to be unseen on the channel e.g. Super Why, Splash & Bubbles and Ready Jet Go. Of course within these adverts, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman isn't credited any of them.

Not only that it was removed from 24/7 channel and other shows which were seen on the DStv app came as a double bill amidst the removal which begs the question as to why such a popular show would get screwed over in such a manner.

In a Fetch! With Ruffman Fan Page, it was revealed PBS Kids lost rights to the program and this dated back the same year it was slotted on the DStv app. Taking that to consideration, it's likely that PBS had wanted to remove the program from the DStv app much earlier but couldn't.

So they were only able to do so once the year long agreement was expired and PBS Kids not taking to account that not everyone cares or can afford to use the DStv app removed Postcards From Buster before it could even wrap production for those who couldn't see it.

As for Fetch!, although it can no longer be seen on PBS Kids it can however be viewable on other platforms for starters there's YouTube. I mean a lot of PBS Kids content is viewed freely on that platform.

Recap To The Year: Days Of Our Lives Might Be Making It's Highly Anticipated Comeback On Showmax

In 2022, eMedia Investments in an attempt to boost their local offering halt distribution of Days Of Our Lives on e.tv after 5 years. Prior to that, SABC 3 held rights to the NBC soap currently in its 56th season and Vodacom's streaming service RED before it's untimely demise.

Last month, MultiChoice sold 30% of their stake in Showmax to Comcast's Sky and NBCUniversal which will bring some of the world's best content and technology to streaming customers across MultiChoice’s 50-market footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Days Of Our Lives is eyed as one of the most anticipated shows for the new Showmax streaming service. After ending its 57 year run on NBC, the soap has bolstered it's offering with a spinoff titled Beyond Salem alongside a holiday film titled A Very Salem Christmas.

Both of which alongside the ongoing soap have yet to be viewed in Africa unless browsing torrent sites. Although, selected content from Peacock would be added to Showmax. Businesses often prioritise their most valuable assets or in this scenario, Days Of Our Lives.

Similar to Days Of Our Lives move from NBC to Peacock, the same outcome is expected for consumers in the African market leaving millions of households without access to the soap. If they were to add it on DStv my guess would be M-Net or Telemundo.

Details of the new Peacock streaming service

The streaming service will combine MultiChoice’s growing investment in local content with international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third-party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) soccer matches. “The partnership will also provide access to all the best African content, such as Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels, including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.”

NBCUniversal and Sky will provide ongoing support through the licensing of both technology and content, the partners highlighted.

They will form the new Showmax group, which will be 70 percent owned by MultiChoice and 30 percent owned by NBCUniversal. “It will build on Showmax’s success to date and aim to create the leading streaming service in Africa,” the companies said. “Powered by Peacock’s leading, globally-scaled technology, Showmax subscribers will have access to an extensive premium content portfolio, bringing African audiences the best of local and international programming.”