Hispanic double for Gullane

Discovery Latin America has picked up kids' toon Thomas & Friends from Gullane Entertainment, with the show lined up to be the network's preschool flagship from July.

The channel, which goes out 24:7 in Spanish and Portuguese to 12m subscribers, has taken all 130 existing Thomas & Friends episodes plus the first 26 of the new ones currently in production. The channel has the rights until June 2005.

The deal {establishes a base for the start of a licensing campaign for Thomas & Friends in South America,{ said Gullane's ceo William Harris.

The Discovery Lat-Am deal, plus recent sales of the new series to Nickelodeon UK and previous video rights advances, mean that some 85% of the costs of the new episodes has been recouped, continued a Gullane spokeswoman. Delivery of the new eps is due in September.

Another Hispanic network, Telemundo, has also picked up Gullane's The Guinness World Records, a series originally produced for Fox in the US.

Telemundo, which goes to around 85% of all US Hispanic homes, has the show until May 2005.