YouTube nursery-rhyme channel with billions of views sold

One of the most popular YouTube channels in the world, which features animated nursery rhymes, has been sold.

Little Baby Bum was founded by a London-based couple in 2011 and has racked up 17.5 billion views in its time.

It was bought by a firm called Moonbug for an undisclosed sum, as first reported by Bloomberg.

Informed industry-watchers think the agency may well have paid several million pounds for the YouTube channel.

Co-founder Derek Holder confirmed to the BBC that the sale had taken place but he declined to comment on the sum offered by the buyer.

"We were looking to take the brand to the next level," he said. "We saw who the team were behind Moonbug and what their plans would be, which would be to keep the core the same, but... make episodes for TV around the world."

He added that it felt like the right time to hand the brand over, after a "fantastic run".

Little Baby Bum usually publishes long videos, often up to an hour, featuring 3D animated characters and performances of nursery rhymes.

In 2015, Mr Holder told the Guardian newspaper that his wife Cannis came up with many of the design concepts for the videos.

He also explained that the videos were intentionally long, so that parents could leave toddlers in front of them for extended periods, without having to repeatedly press "play" on lots of shorter videos.

The YouTube channel has since grown into a children's entertainment empire - with weekly video uploads, a magazine available to buy online and merchandise.