Saban buys back Power Rangers
Haim Saban's new licensing firm Saban Brands has acquired the Power Rangers property from Disney.
Saban recently set up the new firm, employing Elie Dekel as president, formerly of 20th Century Fox Licensing. The Egyptian-born billionaire sold his half of the Fox Family Channel - which included the rights to Power Rangers - to Disney in a deal worth $5.2 billion in 2001.
A new a distribution deal to show new and old episodes on Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon and Nicktoons cable channels has bee announced and there are also plans to bring a Power Rangers movie back to theaters for the first time in more than a decade. Bandai has resigned as master toy licensee.
"We believe that we could bring a lot more energy and a lot more excitement to the Power Rangers franchise," said Dekel. "We still felt there was room for the brand to be reignited and to once again grow."
Disney had been scaling back the presence of the Power Rangers, phasing out the programme on its boy-focused cable channel Disney XD in foreign markets.
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