The home of the famous mouse ears is growing wheels, rolling on skateboards and is into sports, rock music and superheroes. Disney XD, which made its Asian debut on leading payoperator Astro Malaysia on September 15, is unabashedly boy-skewed. Disney says it’s for “kids aged 6 – 14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humour.” “The channel boasts of many firsts,” says Natasha Malhotra, General Manager, … [Read more...] about Disney XD powers into Asia
children's guide
BabyTV, TV for Tots
How many of us, when told of a channel with hardly any dialogue, a higher-than-usual repeat rate, and babies as target audience – would take such a channel seriously? For the management team at BabyTV, the initial struggle was to convince affiliates that there was a market for pre-preschool content to begin with. “At first we had a difficult time letting platforms know they were missing this niche,” says Maya Talit, Global Marketing, BabyTV at FIC, and one of three co-founders … [Read more...] about BabyTV, TV for Tots
New Discovery Kids on the block
If Discovery Channel had a younger sibling, what would it look like? The answer was revealed on April 2 when Discovery Kids officially rolled out in India, The Philippines and Indonesia. Since then, the network has added Singapore to its growing distribution road map (launched on StarHub TV on September 14); offering Hindi, Tamil and Bahasa Indonesia full dubs in addition to English; and surpassing the 13 million subscriber mark. Despite recent news of The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia … [Read more...] about New Discovery Kids on the block
Toonami and Cartoonito, It’s TOON time in Asia
In an already-crowded market competing for childrens’ eyeballs, Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. is making ambitious plans to launch two new channels over the next few months. Toonami, a programming block in the U.S. and soon a full channel here, is “a channel dedicated to bringing highoctane action and anime entertainment to fanboys (and girls) across the region.” Cartoonito, which has enjoyed considerable success as a European brand, “will feature colourful … [Read more...] about Toonami and Cartoonito, It’s TOON time in Asia
What’s Trending in Kids’ TV?
The rapid evolution of technology not only has created new opportunities for receiving and broadcasting content, but also has changed the playing field when it comes to TV programming. The digital revolution and the growth of new technologies—the internet and consumer electronics devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets—have made it even more challenging for TV networks and broadcasters to capture a significant share of their markets. According to a new research report … [Read more...] about What’s Trending in Kids’ TV?
Rides, Slides and Flights
Multi-platform potential is the way to go in the global kids entertainment business. Just ask MIPJunior, whose International Pitch competition this year will specifically judge finalists on the very criterion of how much potential there is for an idea to extend into as many platforms across as many territories as possible – from digital games to web-series; and apps to merchandise. It seems that broadcasters are less willing to take the plunge until an idea has been proven to have the … [Read more...] about Rides, Slides and Flights
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