Fremantle moves into kids formats

FremantleMedia’s Kids & Family unit has moved into formats, striking a deal for a Swedish version of CBBC live-action show Marrying Mum and Dad.

The show is made in-house by CBBC in the UK, but building upon an existing coproduction deal between the pair, FremantleMedia has taken the format to market and secured a deal for a local version of the show with Sweden’s SVT.

The Swedish pubcaster will air a 10x29mins version of the show, which will be produced by Fremantle’s local production unit FM Sweden.

Format deals in the kids TV business are thin on the ground, and the deal marks FMK’s first ever format sale and SVT’s first ever kids format commission.

Marrying Mum & Dad has run to six seasons on CBBC. The fact-ent format is aimed at 6-to-11s and sees kids organise their parents’ wedding day.

The SVT show will go out in late 2017 on the pubcaster’s kids net Barnkanalen.

“Marrying Mum and Dad is a truly feel-good creative format which will help us grow a broader family audience share,” said Petter Bragee, head of Children’s and entertainment at SVT. “We are looking forward to starting production with our partner Fremantle Sweden in the Spring prior to its autumn debut.”

Magnus Karlsson Lamm, managing director, FM Sweden added: “We are very happy to produce our first show for SVT’s kids’ channel, and even more excited that it is such a great format as Marrying Mum and Dad. I really love this programme and believe it has great potential to become a returning series in Sweden as it is in the UK.”

The deal sees BBC Childrens and FremantleMedia move beyond coproduction and into distribution and formats. The pair already make several series together, which air on the BBC’s kids nets and which Fremantle sells internationally.