Hopster bags Hit, Gruffalo deals

Subscription-based TV and learning app Hopster TV has signed a content deal with Hit Entertainment for animated preschool shows including Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder and Pingu.

At the same time, the UK-based service has landed an exclusive deal to bring Magic Light Pictures’ The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child films to its service, available from today.

The Hit series will become available from September and includes preschool favourite Angelina Ballerina, adding to Hopster’s library of 1,200 U-rated episodes of children’s shows.

Hopster has now been downloaded more than 100,000 times since it was launched in November by former Viacom Russia boss Nick Walters and a host of industry veterans.

The Hit deal follows content agreements struck with children’s distributor eOne Family, Canadian animation house Nelvana Studios, French animation studio Millimages and Canadian producer and distributor DHX Media.

Meanwhile, Hopster’s Gruffalo agreement marks the 15th Anniversary of The Gruffalo and 10th Anniversary of The Gruffalo’s Child features.

In May, Hopster secured a seven-figure funding round from a string of investors including industry veterans Tony Orsten and Bhavneet Singh.

The ad-free iOS app, available in Apple’s App Store, offers children aged from two to six video-on-demand and access to interactive games on the iPad, iPhone and iPod. Parents can also see what their children have been watching through a smart reporting feature.

In March, the preschool app became the first in the UK to receive a British Board of Film Classification rating.