Sunny Bunnies hop into Russia

Sunny Bunnies launched on YouTube in 2016

A group of pay TV channels in Russia have picked up Belarussian animated preschool series Sunny Bunnies from distributor Media IM.

The first four seasons of the show will air on pay TV in Russia and the CIS territories on Moolt, Ani, Mama and Multimusic, and will also be available on the Moolt SVoD app, following a deal with 0+ Media.

Owned by the All-Russia State Television & Radio Broadcasting Company, 0+ Media specialises children’s content and consumer products across TV and VoD channels, multiple licensing and retail outlets, live events and gaming.

Under the deal, 0+ Media has also secured the licensing and merchandising rights to Sunny Bunnies across all the main categories of consumer products, including toys, publishing, apparel, accessories and back-to-school ranges.

Sunny Bunnies follows five beaming balls of light that cause mischief wherever they go. It made its debut on the Sunny Bunnies YouTube channel in 2016.

Gavin Metcalfe, brand licensing director at Media IM, said Russia was an important territory for the brand, whose YouTube audience has grown “hugely” over the past two years, with a 75% increase in the last quarter.

Valentina Kursanova, director of licensing and business development at 0+ Media, added: “Nowadays, when TV viewing is growing, it is a very good time to launch a brand new show on our TV channels. We plan to launch the series on screens from the end of April and the licensing programme will follow right away.”