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ABC says Bananas in Pyjamas are ‘safe’

Bananas in pyjamasThe ABC has issued a statement in response to recent speculation the iconic children’s program Bananas In Pyjamas has been scrapped, saying the show is “safe.”

An article published by the Sydney Morning Herald today reported that the Bananas in Pyjamas had been dumped by public broadcaster and quoted Tim Brooke-Hunt, ABC’s head of children’s content, as saying the program “does not generate enough revenue to justify a fourth season.”

The statement said:

ABC TV confirms that it will continue to broadcast Bananas in Pyjamas, one of the globe’s most popular and iconic children’s programs.

The latest series has 156 new episodes with the current block of episodes premiering in May this year.

In order to make the most of our significant investment in the hugely popular program, we will continue airing these episodes to a new generation of Australian pre-schoolers, as has been our standard practice in children’s television for more than two decades.

Another series of Bananas in Pyjamas will go through the usual commissioning process to determine future production of the programme. This process does not relate to current Government funding

In 2012 ABC4 Kids was the highest ranking children’s television service for pre-schoolers aged 0 – 4 and we acknowledge the invaluable contribution Bananas in Pyjamas has made to that success.

However, other media, including the ABC News website, continue to speculate on the future of the program and the Sydney Morning Herald news story is still active (as of 2pm Thursday, June 6).

 

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