Buyer Profile: ABC3’s Barbara Uecker

PREMIUM: Barbara Uecker, the head of programming and acquisitions at ABC3, talks about her plans for the increased buying budget at the Australian children’s channel.

WS: How have you positioned ABC3 in the market, having just launched the channel in 2009?
UECKER: ABC3 is the number one destination for Australian school-aged children and seeks to provide an engaging, relevant, compelling and easily accessible non-commercial channel and web portal for the 6- to 15-year-old audience.

ABC3 focuses on Australian content, and combines an Australian perspective with a world view. The channel speaks with a distinctly Australian voice and offers a wide range of program genres, including documentary, reality, wild life, news and current affairs, animation, comedy and drama. The schedule is constructed to allow multiple access points to a wide variety of programming.

WS: How much of the schedule is acquired versus commissioned/in-house productions?
UECKER: In 2010, 25 percent of ABC3’s schedule represented newly commissioned productions, 15 percent represented acquired Australian programs, and the balance was acquired from international suppliers. In 2011, we expect Australian content to exceed 50 percent of total program hours.

WS: What are some series ABC3 has collaborated on?
UECKER: ABC3 partnered with ZDF and ZDF Enterprises for the drama series Dance Academy (series two is currently in pre-production). We partnered with CBBC for the factual entertainment series Escape From Scorpion Island and the drama series Dead Gorgeous. The action-packed games show Splatalot is currently being shot in Canada for YTV, CBBC and ABC3.

WS: What have been some of your most popular acquisitions?
UECKER: The following international acquisitions have been particularly popular additions to ABC3’s schedule: Fresh TV (Canada) Total Drama animated comedy series; the CBBC wildlife series Deadly 60; Samka (France) animated series I.N.K.: Invisible Network of Kids; and RDF/Zodiak (U.K.) comedy series Dani’s House.

Outstandingly successful Australian acquisitions include Dex Hamilton, Round the Twist, Mortified and Misery Guts. The New Zealand series The Tribe has found a very loyal audience on ABC3.

WS: Where do you look when buying?
UECKER: We’re constantly looking all around the world for content and attend MIPTV, MIPCOM and [other markets]. Asia is becoming a more important supply source for animated programs.

WS: Has your buying budget increased or decreased in the past year?
UECKER: 2010 was the first year of operation for ABC3. The budget will increase approx. 10 percent in 2011.

WS: What genres are you currently looking to buy for?
UECKER: We’re looking for animated series that will attract the upper end of our demographic. 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.

WS: Are there any programming blocks or gaps in the schedule that you’re looking to fill?
UECKER: We find it hard to secure sufficient outstanding content in the genres of wildlife, documentary and factual entertainment.