DreamWorks Animation Reaches For New Markets

DWA expands parts of its non-feature business.

Lagardère Active, one of France's biggest media groups, has entered a carriage deal with DreamWorks Animation.

The pact gives Lagardère free-to-air and basic pay-tv rights for its family and kids channels to broadcast DreamWorks Animation’s television series, including "Dragons: Race to the Edge," "The Adventures of Puss in Boots," "All Hail King Julien," "Turbo FAST," "The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show," and "Dawn of the Croods." ...

The deal is the latest example of how DreamWorks, which co-owns with Hearst Corp. the YouTube teen network Awesomeness TV, has been ramping up its television business to lessen its reliance on the performance of movies. ...

DreamWorks Animation has faced the same challenge for some time: It has to expand beyond animated features, because building a business on a string of never-fail blockbusters isn't a viable foundation for a budding entertainment conglomerate.

I used to marvel at DWA's performance with theatrical motion pictures. One hit followed another, but I kept thinking Jeffrey's company was performing a high-wire act that couldn't be sustained. Then under-performers crept into DreamWork's release schedule, and times grew tougher.

So it's good to see the company building a library for the small-screen and selling that library around the globe. Definitely several steps in the right direction.