Nickelodeon Consumer Products Kicks Off Merchandising Program at Licensing International Expo for Four Red-Hot New Properties!

LAS VEGAS, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Four of Nickelodeon's newest hit series, Big Time Rush, Victorious, Fanboy and Chum Chum, and Team Umizoomi, will take center stage at Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas, as Nickelodeon Consumer Products (NCP) launches a program for major merchandising and promotional partners for the properties.  The program will span apparel, toys, accessories, home decor, packaged goods, social expressions and more.

"Big Time Rush, Victorious, Fanboy and Chum Chum, and Team Umizoomi are breakout hits that are attracting loyal audiences who want to deepen their relationship to the shows through relevant merchandise," said Leigh Anne Brodsky, President, NCP.  "Team Umizoomi is an incredibly innovative property that has the hallmarks of being educational, fun and filled with adventure.  Fanboy and Chum Chum is a proven hit with its unique look and contagious humor.  Victorious and Big Time Rush offers a great opportunity to tap into the loyal tween audience and leverage the properties strong musical core."

Big Time Rush is a live-action series that chronicles the journey of four best friends who are given the opportunity of a lifetime when they get a chance to be part of the glamorous L.A. pop music scene.  The show boasted a record-setting premiere as one of basic cable's top five most-watched entertainment telecasts on January 18 and is the highest-rated show in all TV with Boys 6-11 and Boys 9-14 on Fridays at 8:30 p.m.  Source: Nielsen (1/22/10-5/16/10).

Produced in partnership with Sony Music, Big Time Rush is from producer Scott Fellows, creator of the top-rated Nickelodeon comedy Ned's DeClassified School Survival Guide.  Big Time Rush features original songs performed by the group under the guidance of Sony Music, with music by some of today's most successful songwriters and producers, including Desmond Child (Katy Perry, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith), Matthew Gerrard (Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne), Charlie Midnight (Hilary Duff, Britney Spears), Kevin Rudolph (Let It Rock) and Eman (David Archuleta).  The Big Time Rush theme song had a strong debut on iTunes in November, and more original music will be made available to download throughout the season.

Written and developed by Dan Schneider, Victorious is a series about a teen named Tori (Victoria Justice) who has grown up in the shadow of her older sister Trina and after a fluke accident thrusting her into the spotlight, lands an invitation to enroll in an elite performing arts high school.  As she navigates her way through the school and its challenging curriculum, she meets other teens who are a lot like her – gifted in the arts.  Each has something unique to offer to others and they struggle to turn their raw skills into refined talent.  They face the same difficulties as teens at other schools – mean girls (or guys), crushes/romances, teachers, homework, discovering who you are and how to pursue your dream.

Victorious debuted immediately following the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards (Saturday, March 27, 9:30 p.m. [ET/PT]) and ranks as the second biggest live-action series premiere in Nickelodeon's history, drawing 5.7 million total viewers (P2+).  The telecast averaged 7.6/2.7 million K2-11 and held up to 76% of Nickelodeon's 23rd Annual Kids' Choice Awards audience across key demos.  Victorious premiered in its regular timeslot on Sunday, April 11 at 8pm (ET/PT).  Since the launch in its timeslot, Victorious is the #1 program in the Sunday 8p time period with tweens 9-14.

The premiere of Fanboy & Chum Chum on November 7, 2009, and was the highest rated premiere with K2-11 in the network's history.  The show averages 32 million monthly viewers.  Fanboy and Chum Chum is the hilarious story of a boy named Fanboy and his best friend and trusty sidekick, Chum Chum.  They share a hyper imagination that enables a wide-eyed acceptance of the bizarre.  The series was created by Eric Robles (Ni Hao, Kai-lan, The X's, Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy) and executive produced by Robles, Steve Tompkins (The Bernie Mac Show, Entourage, The Simpsons) and Fred Seibert (Frederator's Random! Cartoons).

David Hornsby (The Mullets, Jake in Progress) voices Fanboy with Nika Futterman (My Gym Partner's a Monkey) as Chum Chum, joined by a star-studded cast including Jamie Kennedy (Ghost Whisperer, The Jamie Kennedy Project), Josh Duhamel (Transformers, Las Vegas) and Estelle Harris (Seinfeld) as Fanboy's untrusting wizard friend Kyle, Fanboy's uber-geek mentor Oz and Oz' mother, respectively.

The first preschool series to focus entirely on math, Team Umizoomi combines action-adventure missions with an interactive math curriculum designed to help kids develop self-confidence in their math abilities and appreciate the many ways in which mathematics shapes their world.  Since its debut in January 2010, Team Umizoomi currently ranks as the number one preschool program on all of television with kids 2-5.  Source: Nielsen: 2010-to-date (12/28/09-5/16/10).

Created by Blue's Clues alumni Soo Kim (Creator/Producer/Design Director/Writer), Michael T. Smith (Creator/Producer/Writer), and Jennifer Twomey (Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer), Team Umizoomi features the voice of Donovan Patton (Joe from Blue's Clues), and mixes 2D and 3D animation with live action to create Umi City, a uniquely patterned urban environment.  The team of miniature, animated, math-powered superheroes – siblings Milli (Sophia Fox) and Geo (Ethan Kempner) and their robot best friend Bot (Patton) – help live-action preschoolers solve everyday problems.  Their team is not complete without their Umifriend (home viewer), who helps the team along the way while practicing various math skills set to a soundtrack of preschool-friendly pop songs.

About Nickelodeon Consumer Products

Nickelodeon Consumer Products manages the world's third largest licensing business, representing leading properties such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, and managing merchandising for Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTVN International, and Spike TV.

Nickelodeon, now in its 31st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids.  It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does.  The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 16 consecutive years.  For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Nickelodeon