Nick, Rainbow Sign Up for More Winx Club

Nickelodeon and Rainbow S.p.A. have teamed up to bring the animated series Winx Club to the United States and to create more episodes of the popular series for girls.

Under the deal, Nick has bought TV rights for the United States and pay-TV rights for Latin America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Benelux.

Additionally, Nick and Rainbow will co-develop and co-produce seasons five and six of Winx Club, with each season consisting of 26 episodes. The new shows will begin airing in 2012 with Nick paving the way in 2011 by airing four hour-long specials based on episodes from the first four seasons.

‘The Winx Club franchise is a big hit with young girls and we think there is great opportunity for it domestically as a property that allows us to fill a gap for girls in the 6-to-8-year-old range,’ said Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.

‘We are very proud to start this collaboration with the most prestigious network in the world,’ said Iginio Straffi, founder and president of Rainbow. ‘This is a new challenge for our fairies who, I’m sure, will find a place in the hearts of American and British children.’

Winx Club is an animated action and fantasy series set in the mystical dimension of Magix where three schools educate modern fairies, witches and supernatural warriors from all over the universe. Winx Club first debuted in Italy six years ago and quickly became a hit.