Apple Has Won The Rights To All New ‘Peanuts’ Content After An Intense Bidding War

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Apple has been preparing to get into the streaming game by building up a catalog of original programming which will begin launching next year, and the tech giant just acquired a huge property with Charles M. Schulz’s beloved creation, Peanuts. In what was apparently a highly competitive bidding war, Apple eventually made the deal with DHX Media, a Canadian kids programming that acquired a stake in Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang in 2017.

Likewise, DHX has also been tapped to produce all of the forthcoming Peanuts projects, including a series, specials, and shorts — as well as Apple-exclusive original short-form STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) content which will feature “astronaut Snoopy.” More from Hollywood Reporter:

Kids programming is an increasingly lucrative area of original television programming. Apple previously inked a content partnership with Sesame Workshop for a new slate of children’s programming. Netflix’s massive push into the genre, HBO’s decision to invest in Sesame Street and the built-in library of the upcoming Disney+ all heavily cater to kids in an effort to develop brand loyalty early on. (Kids who watch Peanuts content on their family’s Apple products will, presumably, segue into other arenas and buy devices of their own as they grow older.)

The last original Peanuts undertaking was 2015’s The Peanuts Movie, which was a commercial and critical success, grossing $130 million at the box office in the United States, and $246 million worldwide. An original Peanuts series that first aired in France in 2014 also appeared on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang network until recently.

Peanuts now joins other huge Apple television deals including a series starring Steve Carell and Reese Witherspoon and a comedy from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator starring Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

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