DHX Media

DHX Media Ltd.
Public corporation
Traded as TSX: DHX.A, DHX.B
Industry Television
Predecessor Decode Entertainment
Halifax Film Company
Founded 2006
Headquarters Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Number of locations
 10[1]
Key people
  • Michael Donovan (Executive Chairman)
  • Steven Denure (President, COO)
  • Dana Landry (CEO)[1]
Products Animated series
Services Cable channels, distribution, development
Number of employees
 est.1000 (2015)[2]
Divisions
Subsidiaries
Website dhxmedia.com

DHX Media, formerly Decode Halifax Media, is a Canadian media production, distribution and broadcasting company. Formed in 2006 by the merger of Decode Entertainment and Halifax Film Company, the company is a prominent producer and international distributor of children's television. Following a number of acquisitions, its library grew to include those of Cookie Jar Group (which, in turn, consisted of the libraries of Cinar, DIC Entertainment, FilmFair), Epitome Pictures, Ragdoll Productions, Studio B Productions, WildBrain and Nerd Corps Entertainment, along with those of DHX's two predecessors, Decode Entertainment and Halifax Film Company. DHX later entered the broadcasting industry with its acquisition of Family Channel and three other Family-branded networks from the former media company Astral Media. The company is the largest independent owner of children's television programming in the industry.[3]

Predecessors

Decode Entertainment

Decode Entertainment was established 1997 by Neil Court, Steven DeNure and John Delmage. Decode produced such shows as Radio Free Roscoe, Naturally, Sadie, The Zack Files, Angela Anaconda, Undergrads, The Hoobs, Chop Socky Chooks, Waybuloo, Bromwell High, Planet Sketch, The Adrenaline Project, Be the Creature, The Blobheads, Grandpa in My Pocket, How to Be Indie, The Latest Buzz, Our Hero, That's So Weird, Clang Invasion, Delilah and Julius, Dudson's Modern Tales, Freaky Stories, Girlstuff/Boystuff, Kid vs. Kat, King, Rastamouse, Naughty Naughty Pets, Olliver's Adventures, Rainbow Fish,The Side Show Christmas, Urban Vermin, Watership Down, Little Ninjas Karate, What About Mimi?, Animal Mechanicals, Bo on the Go!, Dirtgirlworld, Franny's Feet, The Mighty Jungle, Poko, Poppetstown, The Save-Ums and Plumo's Mysteries. It currently co-produces Super WHY! with New York City-based Out of the Blue Enterprises for PBS Kids in the USA and Kids' CBC in Canada. It currently co-produces Emma's Theatre for Disney Junior in the USA & Kids' CBC in Canada.

Halifax Film Company

Halifax Film Company was established by former Salter Street Films executives Michael Donovan and Charles Bishop in May 2004.[4] The company produced such television shows as the satirical comedy This Hour Has 22 Minutes (begun as a Salter Street production); children's stop-motion series such as Poko and Lunar Jim; CGI productions such as Bo on the Go!, The Mighty Jungle and Animal Mechanicals; as well as the dramas The Guard and North/South.

History

The DHX Media name derives from the combination of the names Decode and Halifax from the 2006 merger between Decode Entertainment and Halifax Film Company.[5][6] Studio B Productions was acquired by and became a subsidiary of DHX Media on December 4, 2007.[7]

A reverse merger deal with Entertainment One was considered and dropped in 2008.[8] On March 25, 2008, DHX Media acquired Bulldog Interactive Fitness.[9] On September 8, 2010, all related subsidiaries and divisions were rebranded under the label DHX Media.[10] On September 14, 2010, DHX Media acquired WildBrain.[11]

On August 20, 2012, it was announced that DHX Media would acquire Cookie Jar Group for $111 million, a deal which would make DHX the world's largest independent owner of children's television programming.[12][13] The acquisition of Cookie Jar Group by DHX Media closed on October 22, 2012.[3]

In May 2013, DHX introduced three premium, subscription-based channels on YouTube; DHX Junior, DHX Kids, and DHX Retro. DHX executive Michael Hirsh explained that the offerings were meant to leverage the company's library and the growth of digital distribution in the children's television market. DHX was among the first 30 content partners for YouTube's premium channel platform.[14][15]

Ragdoll Worldwide, a joint venture between Ragdoll Productions, BBC Worldwide and an investment group that manages and licenses Ragdoll programming, was bought by DHX on September 16, 2013 for $27.7 million.[16] On November 28, 2013, DHX announced that it would acquire four children's oriented specialty television channels from the former Astral Media for $170 million, consisting of Family Channel, Disney Junior, Disney Junior (French), and Disney XD. The networks were being sold as a condition of Bell Media's 2013 acquisition of Astral Media; its purchase of the networks marks DHX's first foray into television broadcasting.[17][18] The deal was approved by the CRTC on July 24, 2014, and closed on July 31, 2014.[19] The channels were incorporated into a new unit, DHX Television.[20]

In early 2014, DHX Media acquired Epitome Pictures, the producers of Degrassi, but Epitome did not own international distribution rights. In November, DHX Media purchased Echo Bridge Entertainment, US distributor that owned the international distribution rights to Degrassi and Instant Star and The L.A. Complex, two other Epitome productions plus 117 children’s and family series consisting of about 1,200 half-hours and another 34 series' distribution rights. Other shows in the purchase were Lunar Jim, Beast Wars: Transformers and Emily of New Moon.[21] Nerd Corps Entertainment, a Canadian animation studio founded by former Mainframe Entertainment producers Asaph Fipke and Chuck Johnson, was acquired by DHX Media on December 24.[22]

In April 2015, Corus Entertainment announced that it had acquired Canadian rights to the program libraries of Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD as part of a deal with Disney–ABC Television Group; DHX's existing deal with Disney, which covered programming across the four DHX Television services, ended in January 2016. In preparation for the end of these agreements, DHX re-branded its Disney Junior and XD networks as Family Jr. (English), Télémagino (French), and Family Chrgd respectively, reached new output and development deals with AwesomenessTV and Mattel, and acquired additional Canadian-produced series to make up for the loss of Disney programming.[23][24][25]

In December 2015, DHX entered into an output deal with DreamWorks Animation, a majority owner of AwesomenessTV. DHX and DWA will co-produce 130 episodes of animated programming for the Family networks, with DHX handling Canadian distribution and Dreamworks handling international distribution. DHX will also license DWA's original animated programs for the Family networks beginning in June 2016.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Profile: DHX Media Ltd (DHXb.TO)". Reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/dhx-acquires-nerd-corps-to-create-700-employee-canadian-mega-studio-106483.html
  3. 1 2 Sylvain, Matthew (October 23, 2012). "DHX purchase of Cookie Jar completed". KidScreen. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ Bracken, Laura (September 13, 2004). "Salter team reborn at Halifax Film Company". PlayBack. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  5. ↑ DeMott, Rick (May 22, 2006). "DECODE and Halifax Film Go Public as DHX Media". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  6. ↑ Stewart, Lianne (June 1, 2006). "Decode teams with Halifax Film Company to create DHX Media". KidScreen. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  7. ↑ Ball, Ryan (December 5, 2007). "DHX Media Acquires Studio B Prods.". Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  8. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (2010-09-14). "DHX buys Wildbrain for $8 million". The Hollywood Reporter. AP. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ Rusak, Gary (March 24, 2008). "DHX purchases Bulldog Interactive Fitness". KidScreen. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  10. ↑ McLean, Thomas J. (September 9, 2010). "DHX Media Rebrands Across Divisions". Animation Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  11. ↑ Schneider, Michael (September 14, 2010). "DHX Media acquires Wildbrain". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  12. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (August 20, 2012). "DHX Media expands by buying Cookie Jar Entertainment". KidScreen. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  13. ↑ Clarke, Steve (August 20, 2012). "DHX grabs Cookie Jar: Canuck kids' entertainment companies combine". Chicago Tribune (Variety). Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  14. ↑ Zahed, Ramin (May 12, 2013). "DHX Media Sets Up Three YouTube Pay Channels". Animation Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  15. ↑ "YouTube’s 30 Pay-Channel Partners Run from Kid Fare to Cage Matches". Variety. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Wendy Goldman Getzler (2013-09-16). "DHX Media purchases Ragdoll for US$27.7 million". Kidscreen. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  17. ↑ "DHX Media to buy Family, other children’s channels". Toronto Star. November 28, 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "DHX to acquire Family Channel, three others from Bell Media". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). November 28, 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  19. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (July 25, 2014). "DHX Media approved for Family Channel takeover". KidScreen (Brunico Communications Ltd.). Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  20. ↑ "DHX Media closes Family Channel acquisition and announces management changes". Canada Newswire. July 31, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  21. ↑ Franks, Nico (November 20, 2014). "DHX takes Echo Bridge titles". c21media. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  22. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (December 2, 2014). "Canada's DHX Media to Acquire Cartoon Maker Nerd Corps". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  23. ↑ "DHX to Bring AwesomenessTV Shows to Canadian Television". Variety. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  24. ↑ Dickson, Jeremy (August 21, 2015). "DHX TV reveals fall skeds for rebranded channels". Kid Screen. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Corus Entertainment snaps up Disney content from DHX Media, plans to launch Disney channel in Canada". Financial Post (Postmedia Network). April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  26. ↑ "DreamWorks Animation Inks Strategic Content Pact With DHX Media". Deadline.com. Retrieved 19 December 2015.

External links

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