BabyTV

World Screen Weekly, February
22, 2007

OWNERSHIP: Elite Sports Ltd.

COUNTRIES: BabyTV is available as a 24/7 channel in Belgium, Bosnia,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland,
Indonesia, Israel, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sub-Saharan
Africa, Turkey, and the U.K.

LAUNCH DATE: December 2003 on Israel’s YES DBS platform

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: Approximately 12 million

DESCRIPTION: As one of the only channels dedicated to children under
the age of three, BabyTV is a 24-hour, commercial-free service that encourages
parents to take part in the learning process alongside their babies. Utilizing
clear and simple language along with appealing visuals, the channel promotes
learning, activity and interaction between parents and their young ones through
a combination of verbal and non-verbal shows.

MANAGING DIRECTOR: Liran Talit

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING: Ron Isaak

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Bolstered by the research of child psychologists and
infant-development specialists, BabyTV relies heavily on the opinions of
experts to devise and determine child-friendly content. The channel also makes
a conscious effort to integrate repetitive programming, which children find
familiar and comforting.

“It’s an on-going process, we’re
learning all the time,” says Ron Isaak, BabyTV’s director of programming. “Since
we’ve [grown] so successfully, we can now afford to expand our research team,
which enables us to produce so much,” he added, referring to the channel’s
presence across more than 40 countries in over 10 languages. Besides relying on
experts, the channel also holds regular focus groups with children, as well as
seminars and direct research with parents themselves.

The programs offered tend to air
in brief segments, averaging approximately five minutes, which are suited to a
baby’s attention span. These mini-programs are made up of short stories
featuring memorable characters that often reflect a child’s world. “It’s the
characters that are the most appealing to the children,” says Isaak. The more
popular shows include Ping & Pinga,
centered on two penguins who combine their imagination to play with mundane
objects, like pots; Mitch Match, where
four puzzle pieces work collaboratively to create an object that participates in
an adventure; and Tulli, about a snail
who travels around a home looking at objects from a baby’s point of view.

Shows that target a slightly older
age group include Mixed Up Mary, in
which viewers join the main character in everyday decisions, like what she
should wear and who she should play with, and Who’s It? What’s It?, a guessing game led by a family of finger puppets.

“At the moment, there isn’t really
much competition for us, content-wise, and that’s actually the reason we’re
producing about 90 percent of our content,” explains Isaak. “You can buy a DVD
that will interest your child, but DVDs are designed for specific age groups,” he emphasizes. “As a channel, we operate
differently because we have viewers from different age groups with a range of
abilities. That’s why our programs have to be multilayered—there’s
something there for the very young, and something for the toddler.”

BabyTV’s 24-hour schedule reflects
the fact that parenting is more than a 9-to-5 job. And the channel’s shows
mirror a baby and toddler’s activities—during the day shows are more
active and center on development, interaction and fun. Evening and nighttime
shows—such as Wish Upon A Star, a
visual story told by animated stars, and Dreams, a mix of calming images of abstract objects and nature
accompanied by soothing music—are far more relaxing.

WHAT’S NEW: Since launching in the U.K., France, Belgium and
Switzerland in October 2005, BabyTV has been on a mission to steadily expand
its production slate. This year will be a particularly fruitful one for the
channel, as it is scheduled to roll out two to four new series each month for the
rest of the year.

The channel also recently
established a strong web presence, extending the BabyTV experience beyond the
television screen. The website offers games featuring characters from shows.
The website also recently launched a service where parents can upload their
child’s picture and integrate it into a BabyTV song online. “It’s an absolute
thrill for the kids to see themselves take part in the BabyTV world,” says
Isaak. “There will be more and more experiences like these that we can only offer
on our website.”

WEBSITE: www.babytvchannel.com

—By Aarti Jhaveri