Shopping Odyssey

January 24, 2011 World Screen

 

This article originally appeared in the NATPE 2011 of TV Kids.

Slowly but surely, it appears that the children’s television business is pulling out of the recession. Channels are starting to commission again, and as distributors witnessed at a healthy MIP Junior, buyers are willing to open their pocketbooks, eager to get some new shows on their schedules. Acquisitions, in fact, have picked up in all genres, from animation to live action, for all age groups, from preschool to teens.
 
There are new players buying from the market as well. One of the newest networks, The Hub, rebranded from Discovery Kids last fall, is available in some 61 million households across the U.S.
 
A joint venture of Discovery Communications and Hasbro, the channel’s launch slate included The 99, Family Game Night, Dan Vs., G.I. Joe: Renegades and Pound Puppies.
 
The Hub has been able to tap into the existing brand portfolio of its parent company Hasbro to line up original programming, which represents 25 percent of its overall schedule. The rest is culled from third-party product, with acquisitions that include In the Night Garden, picked up from BBC Worldwide; Cosmic Quantum Ray, produced by Moonscoop; Atomic Betty, from Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group; and The Jim Henson Company’s Fraggle Rock.
 
To fill the schedule in the future, Donna Ebbs, the senior VP of programming for The Hub, says, the channel is "open to developing programs with any legitimate production entity." And as for acquisitions, Ebbs says, "We are keenly interested in the boys’ animated action space and are always looking for great co-viewing programming opportunities in prime time."
 
STAYING IN TOON
It’s animated comedy, not action, that Canada’s TELETOON has its eye on as it aims for co-viewing in prime time, according to Caroline Tyre, the channel’s director of programming. "We are focused on comedy for boys ages 6 to 11, but we don’t want to exclude girls and parents," she says. "The perfect show for us would make a 10-year-old boy laugh and also be girl- and parent-inclusive. A perfect example of this would be the punchy, high-octane hit comedy series Johnny Test."
 
For TELETOON, 60 percent of the total schedule (6 p.m. to midnight) is made up of original Canadian programming, and so is 60 percent of the prime-time schedule (4 p.m. to 10 p.m.). The rest consists of acquisitions, Tyre explains, which have included Ben 10: Ultimate Alien; Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Batman: The Brave and the Bold; The Super Hero Squad Show; and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
 
As for where she looks when buying for this part of the slate, Tyre says, "TELETOON has established great relationships with independent producers across Canada, as well as abroad. We work with studios as well as larger independent distributors, from all over the globe. TELETOON also attends markets such as MIPCOM, MIPTV, the L.A. Screenings, Banff and Ottawa International Animation Festival."
 
The channel’s spending on programming steadily increases every year, Tyre notes. "We are putting a real emphasis on TELETOON at Night/TELETOON la Nuit, a programming block in English and French, respectively, for older teens and adults. It’s a competitive market out there, with [other channels] trying to buy the same programs that we target, such as The Simpsons, Futurama, etc. And with the addition of a second channel, TELETOON Retro, our programming needs are even higher."
 
This has led TELETOON to increase its 2011 acquisitions budget. "Kids’ and adult television is a very competitive landscape for eyeballs, and we want to be offering the best entertainment and value to our audience," says Tyre. "This doesn’t come cheap."
 
With 25 years of experience and know how in the kids’ programming industry, France’s Canal J divides its grid fifty-fifty between acquisitions and commissions. Though the French network is restructuring its schedule, it does plan to keep the same buying budget for acquisitions as in years past, according to Julia Tenret, Canal J’s director of acquisitions.
 
Tenret says she often looks to trade magazines dedicated to the kids’ industry, as well as markets such as NATPE, for finding out what’s new in the programming arena. Currently, Tenret is looking for more shows geared toward 8- to 12-year-olds, both for boys and girls, but notably game-show formats for this age group. She’s also keen to pick up animated and live-action series in the categories of adventure and slapstick comedy. Tenret further points to TV movies as an area she’s actively buying from.
 
A WIDE NET
The acquisitions budget at Turner Broadcasting in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) must satisfy the needs of a number of international channels. Boomerang caters to preschool audiences and their families, while Cartoon Network skews older, ages 6 to 12, and tends to attract more boys. Also aimed at the 6-to-12 set, Boing operates as a free-to-air channel in Italy and Spain and as a pay-TV channel and free-to-air block in France. Cartoonito, meanwhile, broadcasts as a preschool service in the U.K.
 
The ratio of commissioned shows to in-house programming for each of these services varies widely, according to Cecilia Persson, the VP of acquisitions and co-productions for EMEA at Turner Broadcasting. On average, Persson says, 30 percent of the schedules consist of acquisitions.
 
"We prebought Pink Panther and Pals from MGM for Boomerang a couple of years ago and it launched across EMEA [in 2010] and is doing very well for us," she says of her recent buys. "Angelo Rules, from CAKE Entertainment, launched in October across our channels and is another strong performer."
 
Persson says she does most of her shopping at events such as Cartoon Forum, Annecy, MIPTV and MIPCOM, but also takes direct pitches from producers and distributors. She points out that the budgets for Turner’s channels have increased over the last year, and that they should remain steady for 2011.
 
"In the short term, we have a strong lineup of content coming up across all our channels, but we are actively looking for original comedy animation for Cartoon Network," Persson says. Though the channel is well served by the pipeline of content from Cartoon Network U.S., Persson notes that she is always keen to add more animation with strong character-based, story-driven comedy or action-adventure. "For Boomerang we’re looking for new ideas that complement Boomerang’s vast library of timeless animated classics. For Cartoonito we’re looking for warm and entertaining ideas that will encourage 2- to 6-year-olds to laugh out loud."
 
Just as Persson must cast a wide net to fill the various channels’ needs, Germany’s KI.KA also has a broad buying remit to serve its wide target audience. "KI.KA offers programming for children up to 13 years old, and beyond that," explains Sebastian Debertin, the head of fiction, acquisition and co-production for the ARD/ZDF children’s channel. "This is quite a heterogeneous target group, composed of small children, elementary-school students, and teenagers, whose requirements can be absolutely divergent in terms of television use, [connecting with their peers] and, of course, content."
 
ROLE MODELS
The live-action programming on KI.KA features stories taken directly from the young viewers’ everyday lives, explains Debertin. "The shows deal with subjects of social relevance, feature problems and pleasures that reflect kids’ everyday lives and offer positive role models." He adds, "Highly successful animation on KI.KA is often based on popular books, thus reflecting high aesthetic value and intelligent storytelling."
 
KI.KA has been producing more of its own programming than it has in the past, "but we still also acquire a lot!," says Debertin. Recent acquisitions include My Life Me from Classic Media and Majority Rules from Entertainment One.
 
While Debertin’s buying budget decreased last year, he hopes to up his spending for 2011. “We are looking for innovative and strong properties for the 6-to-9 demo.” He would like animation with a slightly younger skew and live-action programs for audiences 9-plus, to complement shows like ZDF’s H2O: Just Add Water, NDR’s The Peppercorns and the channel’s own KRIMI.DE.
 
“We look for shows that also bring interactivity,” Debertin continues. “A property’s international feel plus its strong relevance for German kids are crucial points in finding appropriate content. Fresh story ideas and design that appeals to a mass audience are important, too.” Debertin also takes into account a program’s potential for sustainable brand-value and a long shelf life.
 
“To sum it up: high quality is a must,” he says. “So internationally we will be mainly open to live action for the tweens and preteens, as well as to quality animation series for the 6- to 9-year-old viewers.”
 
Canal Panda of Portugal needs to find programming for a much narrower demographic. The preschool service offers content exclusively for the 2-to-7 demographic, with animated series dubbed into Portuguese.
 
“We cater to boys and girls and also to parents,” states Isabel Mimoso, the channel director for Canal Panda and its sister service, Panda BIGGS. “Parents are key for us. As our content is nonviolent, parents get the guarantee that with Canal Panda their children are always watching programming that is appropriate for them. They feel safe.”
 
The lion’s share is acquired content, with only 10 percent of the whole channel roster produced in-house. Mimoso mainly looks to the U.K., Canada and France for Canal Panda’s programming, but says that she’s open to exploring other territories. Currently on her shopping list are soft-learning series, edutainment programming and series with “adventure and fun” for those under 6. Mimoso stresses that because of the channel’s preschool target, educational content is always at the top of her mind. “We have the obligation to help children develop their talents and social skills and open up their world.”
 
Mimoso also buys for the older-skewing service Panda BIGGS. The relatively young channel (launched in 2009) is aimed at boys 8 to 14. There are five different strands she shops for within this channel’s schedule: animation for kids up to 8; animation for kids up to 10; live-action series; magazine series and movies.
 
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
ABC3 hit the air in December 2009 and quickly became the number one destination for Australian school-aged children, according to Barbara Uecker, the channel’s head of programming and acquisitions. With an audience ranging from 6 to 15 years old, ABC3 is all about providing programming that “combines an Australian perspective with a world view,” says Uecker.
 
“The channel speaks with a distinctly Australian voice,” she adds. This voice carries across varied genres such as documentary, reality, wildlife, news and current affairs, animation, comedy and drama.
 
Within this diverse schedule, 25 percent of last year’s grid was newly commissioned productions, 15 percent represented acquired Australian programs and the rest was acquired from international suppliers. In its first year of operation, ABC3 picked up Fresh TV’s Total Drama franchise from CAKE, the CBBC wildlife show Deadly 60 from BBC Worldwide and Samka’s I.N.K.: Invisible Network of Kids from PGS Entertainment, among others. Australian acquisitions included Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist, Round the Twist, Mortified and Misery Guts. “In 2011, we expect Australian content to exceed 50 percent of total program hours,” Uecker notes.
 
Also expected to increase for next year is the channel’s buying budget, which is set for a 10-percent gain, says Uecker. “We’re constantly looking all around the world for content and attend MIPTV, MIPCOM and [other markets].”
 
NEW SOURCES
Uecker says she’s currently looking for animated series that will attract the upper end of the channel’s demographic, making note that “Asia is becoming a more important supply source for animated programs.” She continues, “Comedy is always high on our shopping list, as is boy-skewed action-adventure. And we are always interested in good factual shows like Deadly 60 (CBBC), Horrible Histories (CBBC) and the Kratt brothers’ Be the Creature.”
 
Uecker says she often has a tough time acquiring factual fare. “We find it hard to secure sufficient outstanding content in the genres of wildlife, documentary and factual entertainment,” she notes.
 
Meanwhile, at Nickelodeon Asia, it’s animation that’s in demand. Syahrizan Mansor, the director and head of creative and content for Nickelodeon at MTV Networks Southeast Asia, points to the action-adventure genre in particular. “We are also interested in TV movies and animation series that have been produced and developed in Asia, targeted at girls between 5 to 8 years old,” Mansor adds.
 
Mansor regularly attends international markets throughout the year, which give her a chance to see what’s new in the kids’ arena. “MIPTV, MIPCOM and Asia Television Forum (ATF) are key trade shows for us. They allow us to identify trends and strengthen our network relationships. At ATF, we renew ties with international program sellers as well as content providers and developers in Asia.”
 
For Mansor, keeping up on the latest trends in programming is essential for ensuring the channel’s continued success. “We are constantly fine-tuning our schedule to ensure Nickelodeon remains the leading entertainment destination for young viewers,” she says. “We also make it a point to reach kids on multiple platforms and make sure that all the content they love is easily accessible to view at their own time.”