DIC Entertainment has acquired the broadcast rights to 26 half-hour episodes of Hanna Barbera’s legendary animated series The Smurfs from Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution.
DIC will begin airing the episodes on the DIC Kid’s Network in January 2005. The three-hour block, which airs on more than 450 channels, was created to provide stations with FCC-friendly children’s television programming. The 26 Smurfs episodes were chosen based on their educational content.
The series tells the story of life in the peaceful Smurf Village, which is populated by friendly little blue creatures, the Smurfs, each with his own raison d’etre. The Smurfs were so popular when they originally aired on NBC in 1981that they quickly raised the network’s kids’ programming ratings.
“What a great idea for DIC to bring The Smurfs back to television,” said Fred Silverman, the former CEO and president of NBC who was the series’ first buyer. “I have no doubt that it will be as popular today as it was when it first aired nearly 25 years ago.”
According to DIC’s chairman and CEO Andy Heyward, “The Smurfs is one of those rare timeless jewels that became one of the first mega-entertainment brands for kids, and with the retro trend showing no signs of slowing down, we believe the environment is right to re-awaken this ‘sleeping giant to a new generation of young viewers.”
CBS announced today that is veteran anchorman Dan Rather will resign from the CBS Evening News in the spring of 2005.
Rather was recently embroiled in a journalism scandal regarding a news story about President George W. Bus’s service in the National Guard. CBS ran a story, which featured documents that turned out to be false.
Rather, who has been a reporter with CBS News his entire career and took over as anchor in 1981 when the venerable Walter Cronkite retired, will continue to be a correspondent for 60 Minutes.
Credit: WorldScreen.com
