Sony Pictures Television Kids
Television production and brand licensing company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Silvergate Media Limited,[1] trading as Sony Pictures Television – Kids, is a British-American television production and brand licensing company based in New York City and London[2] founded in 2011 by Waheed Alli and William Astor. It is a division of Sony Pictures Television that owns and develops children's programmes and intellectual property.
Logo used since 2022 | |
| Sony Pictures Television – Kids | |
Company type | Division |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Genre | Children's programmes |
| Predecessors |
|
| Founded | September 8, 2011 |
| Founders | Waheed Alli William Astor |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, California, U.S. London, England |
Key people | Joe D'Ambrosia (EVP & general manager) Kurt Mueller (EVP) |
Production output | Television production |
| Brands | |
| Services | Licensing |
| Parent | Shamrock Capital Advisors (2016–2019) Sony Pictures Television (2019–present) |
| Website | www |
History
Silvergate Media was created in 2011 as part of a management buyout, when Alli purchased the rights to Octonauts and The World of Beatrix Potter from Chorion, a company he was previously chair of.[3]
In 2013, Silvergate launched its television distribution arm.[4] In 2016, Netflix and Silvergate agreed to a three-year multi-territory deal for Octonauts, Silvergate's series about underwater explorers.[5]
The company signed a deal with Netflix, in collaboration with Mercury Filmworks to produce Hilda, an animated television adaptation of comic Hilda by Luke Pearson. Season 1 was released on September 21, 2018.[6] Season 2 was released on December 14, 2020. The series is available in 130 countries.[7]
Silvergate also produced Sunny Day for Nickelodeon, which started airing on August 21, 2017.[8]
In 2016, the investment fund Shamrock Capital Advisors acquired a 51% equity of the company,[9] with the valuation reported to be "between £70 and £80 million".[10]
On December 10, 2019, Sony Pictures Television announced that it would acquire Silvergate Media for US$195 million. The deal marks SPT's first in-house studio devoted primarily to children's animation since Sony Pictures Animation's diversification into television.[11]
In February 2022, former Disney Junior Senior Vice President of original programming and Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group executive Joe D'Ambrosia was named Executive Vice President and General Manager of Silvergate Media, succeeding co-founder Waheed Alli, who stepped down as CEO the following summer.[12]
In November 2022, Silvergate Media's trading name was changed to Sony Pictures Television – Kids,[13][14] although the company name was not changed.[15]
In December 2023, the company's valuation was reduced to US$50 million in impairment charges.[16] In addition, co-founder William Astor stepped down as chairman at the end of the month.[17]
On September 19, 2024, the studio relaunched their "Octonauts & Friends" content hub channel as Kidzuko, which offers content from other Sony-owned properties in addition to properties already held by SPTK as well as entirely new exclusive content.[18][19]
In March 2026 two years after Sony Pictures Television Kids sued Wanda Studios, the Chinese entertainment arm of Wanda Group over the Octonauts franchise under a long-running lawsuit back in November 2024, Sony Pictures Television Kids announced it had settled the lawsuit by selling its Octonauts franchise along with the 49% stake in its parent holding company of the series Vampire Squid Productions to Chinese entertainment & education arm of Wanda Media, Wanda Studios, giving the Chinese entertainment arm full ownership of the British holding company Vampire Squid Productions as well as giving full ownership of the Octonuats franchise.[20]
Filmography
Television series
| Title | Creator(s) / Developer(s) | Seasons | First aired | Last aired | Network / Platform | Co-production with | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octonauts | N/a | 5 | 2012 | present | CBeebies | Brown Bag Films (2012–2018) and Mainframe Studios (2020–present) | Season 2 onward; continued from Chorion
Series now owned by Wanda Media |
| Peter Rabbit | Cathal Gaffney | 2 | 2016 | CBeebies (United Kingdom) Nickelodeon (United States) |
Brown Bag Films and Penguin Books | Rights held by Paramount Global Content Distribution in North America and India[4] | |
| Sunny Day | Paula Rosenthal Sarah Blondine Mullervy |
2 | 2017 | 2020 | Nickelodeon (2017–2018) Nick Jr. (2018–2019) Amazon Prime Video (2020) |
Pipeline Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Rights held by Paramount Global Content Distribution |
| Hilda | Luke Pearson Stephanie Simpson Kurt Mueller |
3 | 2018 | 2023 | Netflix | Atomic Cartoons (2018), Mercury Filmworks, Nobrow Press (2018) and Flying Eye Books (2020–2023) | |
| Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt | Bob Boyle Michael J. Goldberg Kurt Mueller Gabe Pulliam |
4 | 2020 | Brown Bag Films | |||
| Octonauts: Above & Beyond | N/a | 6 | 2021 | present | Mainframe Studios | ||
| The Creature Cases | Gabe Pulliam Adam Idelson Bryan Korn Amy Koudelka Kurt Mueller Alex Red |
7 | 2022 | Netflix (worldwide) Tencent Video (China) |
TeamTO and Tencent Video Productions (2022–2023; 2025–present) | Produced as Silvergate Media from 2022 to 2023 | |
| SuperKitties | Paula Rosenthal | 3 | 2023 | Disney Jr. | N/a | Rights held by Disney Platform Distribution[21][22] | |
| Upcoming | |||||||
| Messi and the Giants | Guy Toubes Dan Creteur |
TBA | TBA | TBA | Disney Channel | Leo Messi Management, Sony Music Vision and Atlantis Animation | [23][24] |
| Bewitched | TBA | TBA | Flying Bark Productions | [25][26] | |||
| The Partridge Family | N/a | ||||||
| Wheel of Fortune | Sony Pictures Television Game Shows | [27] | |||||
| Shark Tank | N/a | ||||||
| Stuart Little | [28] | ||||||
| Sharks on Wheels | Bryan Korn Chantal Arisohn | ||||||
| Hotel Whiskers | TBA | ||||||
| The Powers | Sow You Entertainment | ||||||
| Slayer Family Band | N/a | ||||||
| Untitled series | CMedia | [29] | |||||
| Charlie's Angels | Floresta Productions | [30] | |||||
Specials
| Title | Released | Network | Co-production with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octonauts and the Amazon Adventure | 2013 | CBeebies | Brown Bag Films |
| Octonauts and the Mariana Trench Adventure | |||
| Octonauts and a Very Vegimal Christmas | |||
| Octonauts and the Over, Under Adventure | 2014 | ||
| Octonauts and the Great Arctic Adventure | |||
| Octonauts and Operation Deep Freeze | 2015 | ||
| Octonauts and the Great Swamp Search | 2016 | ||
| Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun | 2020 | Netflix | Mainframe Studios |
| Octonauts and the Great Barrier Reef | |||
| Chico Bon Bon and the Very Berry Holiday | Brown Bag Films | ||
| Octonauts and the Ring of Fire | 2021 | Mainframe Studios | |
Feature film
| Title | Released | Network | Co-production with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilda and the Mountain King | 2021 | Netflix | Mercury Filmworks and Nobrow Press |