Leo & Tig arrives on DeA Junior in Italy

Brandora Redaktion - December 2020

Maurizio Distefano Licensing, which manages licensing in Italy for the delightful new Russian children’s animated series Leo & Tig, has announced that Leo & Tig is now available on the Italian pay-TV children's channel DeA Junior. It began broadcasting on 13 December, guaranteeing young viewers a feast of fun and adventure right through the Christmas holidays.

DeA Junior, part of De Agostini, one of the largest and best-known Italian publishing houses, is an Italian TV channel and entertainment site for a pre-school audience with a strong animated output. It launched on March 18, 2012, on Sky Italia. The channel is available not only in Italy but also, for Italian-speaking viewers, in Switzerland, Malta, Monte Carlo, San Marino, and the Vatican. DeA Junior programmes are aimed at a target audience aged from three to five.

Leo and Tig is created by Parovoz Studio for the Digital Television Russia company, which has agreed the deal with DeA Junior. The first series (26 x 11) has already appeared daily throughout the summer on Rai YoYo as well as on Rai Play. Children have responded enthusiastically to the adventures of the curious and brave leopard cub Leo and his cautious friend Tig, a Siberian tiger, in the beautiful Far Eastern forest they call home.

The show’s winning combination of fun with a message of respect and care for the world around us is not only popular with kids but has inspired a number of licensing deals – with more on the way – in a wide range of categories including toys, plush, apps, stationery, publishing and much more.

There has been a very positive response to the property in a very short time; brand owner 0+ MEDIA and Maurizio Distefano Licensing signed an agreement to develop the licensing programme for the property only a few months ago.

Under the deal, Maurizio Distefano Licensing secured the licensing and merchandising rights for Leo & Tig across all the main categories of consumer products, including toys, publishing, apparel, accessories, and back-to-school ranges for Italy and Italian-speaking territories. Companies to have signed deals so far include Play Press, Diramix, Mondadori and Grabo Balloons.

To date, in addition to DeA Junior, dozens of TV channels and digital platforms around the world, including Netflix and the largest Asian online cinemas, have already acquired the rights to show Leo & Tig.

“Although Leo & Tig has only been showing in Italy for a few months, it has already been embraced by its young audience and, of course, licensees, all of whom immediately saw its potential,” states Maurizio Distefano, President of MDL. “With the continuing exposure guaranteed by this deal with DeA Junior, we are confident that this property will enjoy increasing success across various media and multiple licensing categories.”