BBC Studios Asia announces two licensing agency deals for global character IPs in South Korea.

BBC Studios Asia has agreed licensing deals with SMG Holdings for Bluey and Studio Acorn for Hey Duggee, two of BBC Studios most loved and prestigious kids hits. The deals cover a wide range of children’s products across key categories up to and including publishing, apparel and accessories, homeware, local food product and live events.

The deals will be specific to character IP for Bluey and Hey Duggee as BBC Studios Kids & Family look to bring these smash hits to life for fans across Asia.

The Emmy award-winning preschool animation Bluey follows a Blue Heeler puppy who is characterised by her abundance of energy, imagination and curiosity of the world. The young dog lives with her father, Bandit; mother, Chilli; and younger sister, Bingo, who regularly joins Bluey on adventures as the pair embark on imaginative play together. Loved by both parents and kids, Bluey is a global hit, the most-watched series ever on ABC iview in Australia where it is produced by Ludo Studio. Bluey series one and two are now available on EBS in Korea.

Hey Duggee is based around ‘The Squirrel Club’ run by a big friendly dog called Duggee. It’s a place where children take part in all kinds of activities, have adventures and earn activity badges along the way. Duggee teaches the Squirrels about being responsible, working as a team, taking acceptable risks and most importantly… having fun! Produced in the UK by Studio AKA, Hey Duggee continues to be a leading success for BBC Studios Kids & Family slate performing as the #2 programme on CBeebies in the UK in 2022 and is the winner of three international Emmy Awards for best pre-school animation. Hey Duggee is available to view in South Korea on:

• Coupang Corp.
• DAEKYO CO. Ltd
• Home Choice Corp.
• KBS Media Limited
• LG Uplus
• SK Broadband
• Watcha Inc.
• Woongjin Thinkbig Co. Ltd.
• Homechoise
• Daekyo

BBC Studios is expecting to see huge growth across Asia for their Licensing and Consumer Products business with a newly formulated LCP team headed up by VP for Marketing and Brands Sophia Spinelli.

Sophia Spinelli VP Brands & Marketing, BBC Studios Asia says: “This is a really exciting development in our ambitious plan to build a Consumer Products and licensing team to service the Asia market with our hero IP and global hits. Commercially we see huge potential in this area across Asia and with the development of our specialist team in 2023 we are really excited to announce such a big start.”

Keke Oh, Chief Brand Officer, Studio Acorn says: “We are thrilled to represent Hey Duggee in Korea. Hey Duggee is the top-notch TV animation for kids learning to respect others by playing in their unique way. All these are illustrated in vibrant colors and styles. We are very excited and looking forward to the adventure with Hey Duggee.“

SMG Holdings CEO, Choi Joon Seok says… “I fell in love with the unique nature of Bluey and am looking forward to bringing this special product to Korean audiences. This heartwarming show focusses on the importance of family and at SMG we truly believe this is where Bluey’s global resonance comes from.

Products will be available for distribution by Q3 2023 across South Korea.