Knightscove Buys into U.S. Kids’ VOD Network

TORONTO: Knightscove Media has purchased a 51-percent stake in Studio 4 Networks’ KIDMAZING Network, a children’s on-demand channel currently available in some 10 million VOD households in the U.S. and Canada.

KIDMAZING is expected to increase its distribution to more than 15 million in the first quarter, growing to approximately 25 million to 30 million over the next 18 months. KIDMAZING and the soon-to-be-launched Knight TV will provide full VOD packages of preschool, kids and tween programming. A linear TV launch will follow in the latter half of 2010.

"Today, with our acquisition, Knightscove becomes an owner of one of North America’s only cross-border TV properties," said Leif Bristow, the president of Knightscove. "And with our focus on family entertainment we become attractive to advertisers which face increasing difficulty trying to reach the family market, which is the largest viewing constituency. Producers around the world are continuously faced with the problem that without U.S. exposure it’s difficult to maximize their show’s international revenues. We intend to become the leading family network of choice both for creators and viewers with a solid mix of family movies, TV series and edutainment for the entire family."

Through separate agreements, Knightscove has retained Studio 4 founder Ed Stansfield and principal Colin Philips as ongoing consultants to assist in the continued growth of KIDMAZING and the launch of Knight TV.

"Knightscove is well-positioned to take KIDMAZING to the next level," said Stansfield, Studio 4’s founder and CEO. "With its library of family-friendly programming and extensive production experience, Knightscove is the ideal home for KIDMAZING’s distribution assets. We’re looking forward to our continued involvement over the next two years to continue to expand distribution of KIDMAZING and the new Knight TV channels on VOD and linear platforms."