ABC Commercial today announced it has reached an exclusive global licence agreement with Australian children’s entertainment group The Wiggles that for the first time gives the commercial arm of the public broadcaster worldwide distribution rights to the group’s entire catalogue of music, audio books, television and video productions.
The newly signed multimillion-dollar five-year license deal includes both future releases and back-catalogue content, giving ABC Commercial the global rights to distribute The Wiggles’ complete collection of hits across a range of different platforms, including CD, DVD, Electronic Sell Through, Transactional Video On Demand, Subscription Video On Demand, mobile and more.
The agreement also gives ABC Commercial the rights to distribute both existing and future Wiggles television series to international broadcasters, including those based in the United States and Canada, throughout the life of the contract.
The Wiggles originally signed with ABC Commercial in 1991 for the release of their self-titled first album, distributed through the broadcaster’s ABC Music label. The ABC has since remained the award-winning group’s local distributor, selling well in excess of eight million Wiggles DVDs and almost two million CDs in Australia alone during that time. Globally the group has sold over 23 million DVDs, two million albums and eight million books.
This new agreement marks the first time ABC Commercial has been given the global rights to distribute The Wiggles complete content slate internationally.
Over 25 years, The Wiggles have experienced unprecedented worldwide success, selling out countless local and international tours, including iconic venues such as London’s Hammersmith Apollo, 12 shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden Theatre and 84 shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre off the back of multiple TV series and memorable hits like ‘Fruit Salad’, ‘Rock-a-Bye Your Bear’, ‘Hot Potato’ and many more.
The Wiggles’ groundbreaking content has also seen them stack up an impressive slew of awards and nominations, including 14 ARIA (the most awarded in one category) and five APRA award wins.
The original cast retired their famous skivvies in December 2012, with Blue Wiggle Anthony staying on to lead Emma Watkins, Lachlan Gillespie and Simon Pryce in a new look line up that has seen The Wiggles continue their dominance of the children’s entertainment market. Earlier this year, the group celebrated their 25th anniversary, with their end of year Australian Big Show arena tour selling over 70,000 tickets in less than 24-hours.
“ABC Commercial is pleased to extend our partnership with The Wiggles globally,” said Robert Patterson, Director of ABC Commercial. “The Wiggles are the world’s most revered children’s entertainment group, universally celebrated by kids and parents alike both here in Australia and abroad, their music synonymous with the ABC brand. By securing global distribution rights to their award-winning catalogue of content, I am confident ABC Commercial will continue to build on their immense track-record of international success.”
“The Wiggles have called the ABC home for over 25 years,” said Paul Field, Managing Director of The Wiggles. “We’re thrilled to extend that relationship to the world. By providing our trusted partners in ABC Commercial with the global rights to our entire catalogue, we believe we’re well poised to continue entertaining young children and families everywhere.”
“The whole group is just so excited to be Wiggling around the world with the ABC,” added Anthony Field, Blue Wiggle and creator of The Wiggles. “We’re taking our songs and stories to a new generation.”
ABC Commercial has already begun working with its local and international content partners to deliver The Wiggles’ complete catalogue of hits to families around the world, with further content announcements expected to come later this year.
