Italian pubcaster Rai TV has commissioned a slew of new children’s programming, including an animated series set during the Second World War.
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Meanwhile, Alfio Bastiancich, director of Làstrego & Testa Multimedia (L&T), has told C21 that another season of preschool toon Amita & the Jungle has been produced with Rai Fiction for kids channel Rai YoYo.
The renewal doubles the number of episodes to bring the series total to 52×7′, added Bastiancich, who previously ran animation festival Cartoons on the Bay.
Also joining the Rai roster will be a third season of Milan-based Animabit’s 3D animated preschool show Ripples (aka Ondino), with 26×10′ new episodes currently in pre-production for Rai YoYo. Previous episodes of the maritime toon were broadcast on ABC Australia, TV2 (Norway) and in 20 Arabic-speaking countries by Al Jazeera Children’s Channel.
Furthermore, the second season of Atlantyca Entertainment’s toon Geronimo Stilton (26×22′) will air from March 1 on another of Rai’s kids channels, Rai Gulp, after a successful run on Rai 2. The series is produced alongside Moonscoop Productions, with France Télévisions and M6.
The new greenlights come as Rai, which employs around 13,000 staff, battles to bring its budget under control and reduce a multi-million euro debt.
Earlier this month, the pubcaster announced it was shutting its North American arm Rai Corp with the loss of 66 jobs. C21 understands this was due to high running costs and a desire to boost content distribution through the web.
A source said the pubcaster’s satellite and technical services arm RaiWay could also close, putting hundreds more jobs under threat. “The division would be partly integrated into Rai, so it won’t close completely. But the other part would be outsourced,” the source added.
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