BabyFirstTV

World Screen Weekly, April 5, 2007

COUNTRIES: U.S.,
U.K. and Mexico

LAUNCH DATE: May
2006 in the U.S. on DIRECTV

DISTRIBUTION:
Available in the U.S. as a premium channel for $9.99 on the satellite platforms
DISH Network and DIRECTV, as well as in selected markets on Comcast. BabyFirst
is also available as a free basic channel in Mexico and on BSkyB in the U.K.

DESCRIPTION:
BabyFirstTV is the first cable and satellite channel in the U.S. devoted to
providing 24-hour commercial-free programming to babies and toddlers up to the
age of three, and their parents. The channel aims to provide high-quality, safe
and positive content developed and approved by leading experts, to enhance a
baby’s development and learning.

CEO: Guy Oranim

EXECUTIVE VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING: Sharon Rechter

SENIOR VP, PROGRAMMING & OPERATIONS: Arik Kerman

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY:
Increasing interaction between parents and their babies is an integral part of
BabyFirstTV’s mission and programming strategy. “We learned that there were a
lot of parents out there who were looking for ways to interact with their
babies but didn’t really know how,” says Sharon Rechter, a cofounder of
BabyFirstTV and its executive VP of business development and marketing.

In cofounding the company in 2004 with her business partner,
Guy Oranim, Rechter found through extensive research that there was a void in
the market for baby-targeted programming that was proven and tested by
educational experts. The two eventually came up with the idea to offer
consumers a higher-quality product than baby DVDs—hundreds of hours of
content on a channel—for less than the price of a single baby DVD.

The channel produces most of the content that it airs, with
two different departments that work collaboratively on the programming—the
educational advisory board and the channel’s in-house production facilities.
There is a rigorous and lengthy screening process for all the content that appears
on the channel, from the initial idea to the pilot, with every program approved
and signed off by Dr. Arthur Pober, the chief educational advisor. “Moms know
that when they’re watching BabyFirstTV, they’re watching the safest, cleanest
content out there,” says Rechter.

Nearly 80 percent of the content on the channel is original
and produced in-house, tailored to a baby’s schedule and needs. All of its
programs are on rotation and last between two and seven minutes.

BabyFirstTV employs a color-coded system that helps parents
recognize the various aspects of child development that the channel teaches.
Added parenting subtitles throughout the programs also guide the parents
through the viewing process, allowing them to interact with their babies. “For
example, if you see a red ball bouncing, it would say to the parent: ask your
baby what color the ball is,” says Rechter.

The channel’s programming is divided into two main blocks,
daytime and nighttime. The daytime programming block consists of programming
that will get “the baby active, dancing, playing and learning,” says Rechter,
but “during the night, all you want to do is get the baby to fall sleep.” The
nighttime programming block features “very soothing” programming, such as live
animated visuals of mobiles, kaleidoscopes, or fish swimming in a tank.

One of the channel’s most popular programs is an original
production called I Can Sign, which airs
during the day and teaches babies sign language. Another program that has been
well received is Foodie Fables,
in which live characters created out of fruits and vegetables are the heroes.

The channel is also offered in Spanish through SAP, which
allows it to be accessible to a diverse audience, but can also be employed as a
development tool for the baby. “There is a very strong immigrant population in
the United States that wants the channel in Spanish, but in addition we see
that English-speaking parents would really love to teach their baby Spanish,”
explains Rechter.

WHAT’S NEW:
BabyFirstTV will be launching soon in the Middle East, and Rechter expects it
to roll out in an additional ten territories worldwide in the next six months.
The channel will also be adding ten new programs to its lineup in May. These
include Clay World; Friendly Jack, featuring a mime; and Shape-a-ma-jigs, about two friends who enjoy playing a game called
Shape-a-ma-jigs, naming objects and then identifying their different shapes.

WEBSITE:
www.babyfirsttv.com

—By Irene Lew