Lagardère Active is launching the new kids TV channel Gulli Bil Arabi in 18 countries of the Arab World.
The first platform to offer the channel is My-HD, a pan-Arab pay DTH operator covering 18 territories in Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The channel is available in all the packages of the operator.
“In six years, Richard Lenormand, Caroline Cochaux and their teams have widely extended the international reach of our TV channels: The distribution of Mezzo has gained 40 countries while Gulli has added 45 territories, representing concrete achievements of the strong international development strategy of Lagardère Active audiovisual activities. This is also illustrated by 4 recent radio launchings outside France, the first ones since 18 years, and the acquisition of TV production company Boomerang in Spain,” said Denis Olivennes, president of Lagardère Active.
“With the launch of Gulli Bil Arabi, Lagardère Active TV division is now present in more than 100 countries, thanks to its 16 channels, including localized versions such as Gulli Girl and TiJi in Russia and 9 Eastern European countries, or Gulli Africa, launched two years ago in 22 countries of French-speaking Africa. International expansion is one of the pillars of our growth and opens up perspectives for long-term development.” said Richard Lenormand, managing director of Lagardère Active Radio and TV Division.
“With Gulli Bil Arabi we are strengthening our presence in the Middle East and North Africa market, where Mezzo Live HD is already distributed, with a specific offer for the children in the region. Gulli Bil Arabi carries the Gulli brand values – tolerance, openness and cheerfulness – and is aimed at all the children from Rabat to Muscat, with a rich and diverse program offering to make them laugh, discover, learn and dream. Through this channel, we also want to contribute to the promotion of the quality and diversity of French animation, which will have a substantial share in the grid,” added Caroline Cochaux, managing director of TV operations and president of Gulli.
“We would like to thank My-HD for its trust, and we hope that this new channel will support the operator in its development, by enriching its youth offering with a custom-made channel stemming from a powerful brand.”
