JimJam acquires Emmy award-winning animated series, Jakers!

JimJam acquires Emmy award-winning animated series, Jakers!

London, 31 January 2011: International pre-school entertainment channel JimJam, part of the Chello Zone channel portfolio, today announced the acquisition of the children’s animated series, Jakers!, from Parthenon Entertainment Limited.

Totalling two series (52 x 30 minute episodes), the multi-Emmy award-winning programme from Mike Young Productions will launch on JimJam in February 2011. It will be broadcast in several languages across all JimJam channel feeds, spanning Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Jakers! is a state-of-the-art children’s television series chronicling the boyhood adventures of Piggley Winks, a charming eight-year-old pig from Ireland.  The stories are told through the eyes of Piggley Winks as an old pig, entertaining his grandchildren with his young escapades. ‘Jakers!’ is their often-used Irish expression of amazement and delight.  Advanced computer generated imaging (CGI) allows life-like 3D characters to be rendered in richly coloured, lush backgrounds.

The deal was brokered by Dermot Shortt, Chief Executive Officer for leading international broadcaster Chello Zone, who commented: “The top class storytelling and cheeky characters in Jakers! make it one of the best series around for pre-school children. Piggley Winks and his friends are the perfect addition to JimJam’s line-up, which showcases some of the world’s most entertaining and best-loved pre-school TV characters”.

Since its launch in 2006, JimJam has rapidly expanded across four feeds and into more than 50 territories, including Poland, Russia, Hungary, Switzerland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, the Middle East, Singapore and Indonesia.  It is available in 12 languages and has a strong online presence with 11 localised websites via www.jimjam.tv.