DreamWorks Animation Television (formerly DreamWorks Television Animation, abbreviated as DWATV) is an American

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animation, animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales ...

that serves as the television production arm of

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

, itself a subsidiary of

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and a division of

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

. Its first programs from the 1990s and early 2000s used the live-action television logo, and were produced by

DreamWorks Television DreamWorks Television was an American television distribution and production company based in Universal City, California, that was a division of DreamWorks. History DreamWorks Television was formed in December 1994 as DreamWorks Pictures ag ...

, before DWATV and its parent company were spun off into an independent company in 2004 and later purchased by NBCUniversal in 2016. In total, the division has released 59 programs, with 7 in development.

History

The company was first formed in 1996 as the animation division of

, a subsidiary of the main DreamWorks studio. The TV division was spearheaded by

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

and

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and was headed by former

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA; also shortened to Disney TVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is an American animation production company that serves as the television a ...

executives Gary Krisel and David Simon. DWTA only produced two series: ''

Invasion America ''Invasion America'' is an American animated science fiction television series that aired in the prime time lineup on The WB from June 8 to July 7, 1998. Produced by DreamWorks Television Animation (then part of DreamWorks proper, now owned b ...

'' and '' Toonsylvania''. In a move to consolidate, DreamWorks Television Animation was shut down in 1999 with the direct-to-video subsidiary subsequently merged into the studio's feature animation division, as a way for the company to reorganize its animation divisions to operate under one umbrella. More than two-thirds of the TV division's 50 employees were transferred to the direct-to-video unit and it was expected that only a minimal number of employees would be affected by the reorganization. In 2013,

entered a multi-year content deal with

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

to provide 300 hours of exclusive original content. The intent of the deal was to establish a reliable income for the studio to defray the

financial risk Financial risk is any of various types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Often it is understood to include only downside risk, meaning the potential for financi ...

of solely relying on the theatrical film market. The next day, DWA completed a five-year licensing agreement with

Super RTL Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investment ...

for the Classic Media library and the Netflix slate. DWA announced executive hiring for its new television group, DreamWorks Animation Television in late July. Former Nickelodeon senior executive Margie Cohn became Head of Television for the group. In September that same year, DreamWorks announced that it has acquired the TV library of London-based

Chapman Entertainment Chapman Entertainment Limited was a British television production company founded by Keith Chapman and Greg Lynn and based in London. The company focused on producing content aimed at pre-school audiences. History 2001-2008 The company was foun ...

with the programs to distributed through DWA's UK-based TV distribution operation. In late 2014, DreamWorks Animation launched its own channel called the DreamWorks Channel. DreamWorks made a deal with

HBO Asia HBO Asia is the Asian division of HBO, headquartered in Singapore. Originally launched on 1 May 1992 as MovieVision, it was rebranded on 1 June 1995 to its current name upon Home Box Office, Inc. purchase. The Singapore-based broadcast networ ...

to handle affiliate sales, marketing and technical services, the network will launch in several Asian countries (excluding China and Japan) in the second half of 2015. The channel first premiered in English on August 1, 2015, and a Thai-dubbed channel launched in September 2015. In 2016, DreamWorks Animation Television and its parent company were purchased by

through its

subsidiary.

Television series

Released

Upcoming

Films

Television specials

Short films

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1996 establishments in California Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq American animation studios Television production companies of the United States Companies based in Glendale, California American companies established in 1996 Mass media companies established in 1996 Steven Spielberg DreamWorks Animation Universal Pictures NBCUniversal 2016 mergers and acquisitions Corporate spin-offs American corporate subsidiaries Jeffrey Katzenberg David Geffen