Sony Pictures Television has written down the value of children’s animation production and brand licensing company Silvergate Media by £39.7 million ($50.5M U.S.), which was renamed Sony Pictures Television – Kids in 2022, after its $195M acquisition in 2019. The parent studio declared the impairment in accounts for its U.K. operations banner Columbia Pictures Corporation Ltd., which reported £427M in 12-month revenues at the end of March 2023, down 8% from the previous year.
U.K.-based Silvergate was established in 2011 when co-founder Waheed Alli purchased rights to the children’s brands Octonauts and The World of Beatrix Potter from Chorion, where he was previously chair. Buoyed by the success of Octonauts (CBeebies) and Peter Rabbit (CBeebies/Nickelodeon/RTEjr), Silvergate went on to produce Sunny Day for Nickelodeon, the Annie- and Emmy-winning Hilda series for Netflix. Silvergate also teamed up with the streamer for Chico Bon Bon, with current productions including Octonauts: Above & Beyond, The Creature Cases (both Netflix) and SuperKitties (Disney Junior).
Following the Sony acquisition, Joe D’Ambrosia was named EVP and General Manager of Silvergate in early 2022, having previously served as SVP Original programming at Disney Junior and as an executive with Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group. Alli stepped down as CEO last year.
The financial hit for Sony’s U.K. ops arises during what is being referred to as a “crisis” in children’s television in the country. The Children’s Media Foundation is planning an emergency summit with top industry players in the country to address contributing issues — including competition with import productions, the drop in linear viewing among young audiences, a jump in production costs and dearth of global commercial opportunity for British-made kids’ shows.
[Source: Deadline]
