A managing director has admitted that the company who commissioned the creation of Bluey makes no money from the show, despite its wild popularity and unbridled success.
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In a recent interview with a radio program owned by ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), the managing director of the company shocked listeners with his answers about the revenue–or lack thereof–made from the global hit children’s program, Bluey.
David Anderson, Managing Director of ABC, was a guest on ABC Radio on Friday morning, and during the broadcast, Anderson was asked about the revenue ABC garners from the animated series about the Heeler family–a fabulous children’s program called Bluey.
“We don’t make money out of Bluey,” Anderson confirmed. “What Bluey does is provide joy to children and families all over the country and now all over the world. And that would be priceless.”
At the time Bluey was commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC in 2017–and when it premiered in 2018–Anderson was not yet Managing Director of ABC, but rather the Director of Entertainment. Over the years, the success of the show, as well as its warm reception from the public–and not just from young children, but their parents and grandparents as well–has nudged BBC Studios to license Bluey-inspired products in territories outside Australia–and all around the globe.
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“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Anderson continued during the interview that aired on Friday morning. “I remember sitting there with the Head of Children’s [Entertainment], and it almost starts like a joke: a little-known producer walks through the door and says, ‘Have I got something for you,’ and it’s a 2D animation about a puppy.”
“I was advised that we thought it would work,” Anderson said. “We thought it would bring joy to people. Who knew it was a unicorn from that moment? [The kudos] goes down to Joe Brumm, the creator of Bluey from Queensland.”
Anderson continued by talking about a brand-new episode of the fan-favorite children’s program that will debut sometime in 2024–one that is different from every other episode that has ever aired of Bluey.
“We have a returning series of Bluey,” Anderson said excitedly. “There’s a twenty-eight-minute episode coming for everybody. BBC Studios was a co-investor in this. They took a position. They get the revenue for merchandise.”
The new episode to which Anderson referred will last nearly four times as long as the traditional Bluey episodes, which are usually only about seven minutes in duration without the credits rolling at the end. The new episode, titled “The Sign” looks to be the next “big thing” in the Bluey-verse, and fans are thrilled to find out what it’s like to see an episode about the Heeler family that’s nearly a half-hour in duration.
This post is originally appeared on Disney Dining.