BabyTV

World
Screen Weekly, January 31, 2008

COUNTRIES: Available in 65-plus countries
worldwide including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Korea, Iceland,
Lithuania, Slovenia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey and across Latin America and
the U.K. BabyTV’s 24-hour channel is now also available across the U.S. through
an online player.

LAUNCH
DATE: December 2003 on
the YES DBS platform in Israel

OWNERSHIP: Fox International Channels and BabyTV
founders

DISTRIBUTION:
Approximately 20
million subscribers across cable, satellite and IPTV platforms

DESCRIPTION:
As the world’s first
24/7 commercial-free channel for infants and toddlers under three and their
parents, BabyTV offers short-form programming aimed at fostering a child’s
developmental experience.

MANAGING
DIRECTOR & FOUNDER:
Liran Talit

DIRECTOR OF
PROGRAMMING & FOUNDER: Ron Isaak

DIRECTOR OF
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS: Maya Talit

PROGRAMMING
STRATEGY: The first
channel of its kind, focusing on primary learning skills and developmental
milestones, BabyTV “carved a new niche within the children’s TV market and
delineated a new viewing experience for parents and toddlers,” says Maya Talit,
the channel’s director of marketing and communications. Talit notes that the
channel’s “indirect competitors” are the likes of Playhouse Disney, CBeebies
and Piwi in France, among others, whose programming includes series aimed at
the youngest age range.

Unique to
BabyTV is the channel’s breakdown of its 24-hour schedule, which includes
distinct daytime and nighttime broadcasts. During the day, the channel features
short programs, averaging five minutes in length, and interludes with clips of
favorite children’s songs. Talit explains that these multi-leveled programs
focus on the spectrum of developmental and learning skill sets that infants and
toddlers encounter in their first years. The programs feature music, stories,
art, nature, animals, numbers, language and friendly characters. At night,
BabyTV broadcasts soft and classical music accompanied by soothing visuals.

The channel
features more than 60 original series, “produced and created by a team of
award-winning content experts and leading child psychologists,” with
approximately 30 series in production annually. “Our library includes programs
categorized by themes that touch on a rich diversity of learning skills and
first experiences for growing toddlers,” says Talit, citing nature and animals,
first concepts, music and arts, building friendships, guessing games,
imagination and creativity, activities, songs and rhymes and bedtime as the key
categories.

Original
series for the channel include Draco, featuring a dinosaur who takes the audience on an
adventure of self-discovery by exploring the features of an object in relation
to himself; Grandpa’s Gallery, a series that brings to life the stillness and beauty of famous
works of art through a game of hide and seek; Vegimals,a 3-D world of animated vegetables
that join together to form baby animals; and the live-action series Kids and
Pets, which follows
the magical meeting between children and baby animals.

The channel’s
website bolsters the educational and interactive experience of viewing BabyTV.
Parents can use the site to share learning games and activities with their
young ones, as well as gain information from experts. As part of the interactive
experience, parents can go online to create a range of clips starring their
child, which is later aired on the channel.

In addition to
their website, BabyTV “is investing heavily this year in developing the BabyTV
world online, including interactivity, games and a learning center for
parent-child activities,” says Talit. The channel has already launched
on-demand, mobile, online radio and Internet services, which are all currently
available in 13 different languages including English, Spanish, French,
Portuguese, Dutch and more. BabyTV On-Demand is comprised of hundreds of
segments, categorized by theme. BabyTV Online-Player is a web destination that
complements the channel where parents can tune into BabyTV, view segments
according to themes or engage in activities such as karaoke and sing-a-long
with their little ones. MOBIO is BabyTV’s new service for mobile, which features
segments adapted to use on-the-go, and BABIO is the Internet-based radio
offering, which has two channels: playful music for fun time or relaxing music
for when it’s time to calm down.

WHAT'S NEW:
Expanding its slate,
BabyTV is in production on more than 30 new series this year, launching
approximately two series on the channel each month.

In the first
quarter of 2008, the network will roll out the new CGI-animated The Cuddlies, featuring four characters that each
personify a typical toddler mood—sleepy, hungry, curious, gentle; Oliver,
a multi-genered
program (live, flash animation and stop-motion) that introduces first concepts
by observing and experiencing within a new environment each episode; and Mr.
Snail, which uses 3-D
animation and live features to explore the world of the inquisitive Mr. Snail
as he meets animals in their natural habitat.

The second
quarter of 2008 will feature the launches of Emma’s Theatre, a 3-D animated series depicting a
puppet show conducted by Emma, using her four puppets to tell stories that take
place in a different country each episode; the stop-motion series Lily &
Pepper, which follows
a little girl and a bird as they explore first concepts by telling associative
stories; and Walter & Dude, where two puppets play guessing games to discover the name and
characteristics of objects they’ve lost.

BabyTV is also
delving into the world of home video and licensing and merchandising this year
in multiple territories, with DVD box sets already in stores in France, Spain
and Japan, and a computer game available with a specialized keyboard.

WEBSITE: www.babytvchannel.com

—By
Kristin Brzoznowski