Consumer Products

• Germany
  Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products Germany (NVCP) has announced a Summer promotion with local motorway service station food outlet, Tank&Rast, throughout Germany. The promotion builds on the hugely successful Winter promotion in January 2009 and will see SpongeBob SquarePants give aways attached to kids’ menus at all participating outlets, as well as Serways restaurants, from June.
• Netherlands
  NVCP held a celebratory event on 15 April to officially launch and baptise Holland’s newly created and named SpongeBob SquarePants tulip. The baptism took place at the country’s famous Keukenhof botanical gardens and was hosted by Nickelodeon Netherlands presenter, Patrick Martens.
• UK Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is a mandarin-speaking pre-school heroine launching onto Nick Jr in September, whose animated adventures promise to delight and excite young pre-school audiences. She is joined in her adventures by her grandfather Ye Ye and various animal friends, with singing and dancing throughout the show.
  A two-pronged licensing programme is set to accompany the show: the first product ranges will come into stores in September and will be aimed at the teen/tween girl market, who will really engage with the irresistible design of the character and look on it as a funky, cool, quirky and collectable lifestyle brand. The first Ni Hao, Kai-Lan lines will launch in Urban Outfitters, with other young fashion/lifestyle retailers to follow.
  Pre-school toys and products are set to follow Autumn/Winter 2010.

Programme Sales

• MTV Networks International (MTVNI) has signed a swag of new programme sales deals in Central Eastern Europe. Seasons 4 and 5 of scripted reality hit show, The Hills, have been picked up by Albania’s Digitalb, along with brand new addition to the Laguna Beach franchise, The City, which recently launched at MIP-TV. Top Channel in Albania has inked a deal which will see seasons 1-3 of Comedy Central’s Drawn Together air in the market from this year, while Channel B92 in Serbia and Montenegro has relicensed multiple seasons of Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, in addition to picking up season 6 for the first time and seasons 13A and 13B of cult animation, South Park. Elsewhere in Europe, South Park will launch this year on Norway’s TV2 following a deal to purchase all seasons of the Comedy Central hit and SpongeBob SquarePants continues to celebrate his 10th anniversary by airing on TG4 in Ireland.