Teletubbies is to be shown by Brazil’s main broadcaster TV Globo Network from early in the New Year, and also throughout Spanish speaking Latin America by cable and satellite broadcaster Discovery Kids Latin America, it has been announced in New York by The itsybitsy Entertainment Company, agents for the Americas for the British creators and producers of the pre-school children’s series, Ragdoll Production (UK) Ltd.

In addition, Discovery Kids Latin America plans to follow its broadcasts to Spanish speaking Latin America countries with versions in Portuguese for Brazil.

The announcement of the sale of the series to TV Globo Network and Discovery Kids Latin America follows the continuing success of Teletubbies in the United States on the Public Broadcasting System, and in Canada where it is shown on channels serving both English and French speaking children. Broadcasters in more than 20 other countries transmit Teletubbies, which was first shown on the BBC at Easter 1997.

The initial agreement with TV Globo Network will enable 130 specially edited half hour episodes to be shown from Mondays to Fridays inclusive throughout Brazil, in Portuguese.

Discovery Kids Latin America also has an agreement to show 130 programmes which will be dubbed into Spanish, and new ‘inserts’ featuring children from various countries in Latin America will be produced locally. (The ‘inserts’ are the section of the programme where the televisions in the Teletubbies’ tummies glow, leading to a short film of real children playing.)

Ragdoll’s Founder and Creative Director Anne Wood says:

"Big Hugs are spreading round the world. There is joy in Teletubbyland that all the children of the Americas – North, South and Central – will now be able to share in the laughter and fun which Teletubbies brings."

Ragdoll Productions was founded by Anne Wood in 1984, with the motto: "Ragdoll Works For Children". The company is now based in Stratford upon Avon, and its productions for the very youngest children are shown in more than 60 countries. They include (for the ITV Network) Rosie and Jim, Tots TV, and (for the BBC) Brum and Open A Door.

Recent awards to Ragdoll Productions include three consecutive BAFTA Awards for Best Children’s Series, the Grand Prize at the 24^th Japan Prize International Contest in Tokyo for an episode of Teletubbies, the award to Anne Wood of Fellowship of the Royal Television Society, and, reflecting the Midlands’ roots of the company, the City of Birmingham Award at the Birmingham International Film and Television Festival.