Buyer Profile: Lagardère Active’s Karine Leyzin

The French media conglomerate Lagardère has solidified its hold on France’s kids’ content sector with its pay-TV channels Canal J and TiJi and the DTT offering Gulli. Prolific supporters of locally developed fare, the three networks are also major buyers on the international circuit, seeking out the best in kids, preschool and family entertainment to satisfy their audiences. For the past year, the portfolio has been overseen by Karine Leyzin, the general manager for TV programs and youth and women’s channels at Lagardère Active Group. Leyzin has overall responsibility for the networks, including acquisitions and co-productions, taking on the post after a stint overseeing programming at Gulli. She shares with TV Kids Weekly her broad strategy for consolidating and expanding Lagardère’s activities in the children’s media business.

TV KIDS: How do your three kids’ channels serve different demographics, and how do they complement each other?
LEYZIN: We have 25 years of experience and know-how in the field of youth programming. We launched the first specialized TV channel in France, the youth channel Canal J, in December 1985. Then in 2000 we launched the first preschool channel in Europe, TiJi, and finally, in 2005 we created Gulli in association with France Télévisions. With Gulli, the youth and family channel on free DTT, we [set out] to create the first global family entertainment brand in France.

Parents and children aged from 3 to 14 years old can find a complementary offer with entertaining, early learning and discovery programs. Our programming has no violence, which has allowed us to maintain throughout the years the necessary bond of trust we’ve created with parents.

Together, the three channels comprise the leading youth offer in France with a 37-percent market share among 4- to 10-year-olds, according to Médiamat Thématik in July 2011.

TV KIDS: In its 26th year, what are the values that kids associate with the Canal J brand?
LEYZIN: Canal J [has become a point of] reference for 8- to 12-year-olds, based on humor, trends, self-confidence and irreverence.

TV KIDS: Animation has long made up the majority of Canal J’s schedule. What role do live-action shows play, and are you planning more of them?
LEYZIN: Live action is particularly appreciated by teens. This year, we [will offer] them several exclusive series, like Mr. Young and Life with Boys. And they can find Power Rangers Samurai, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, How to Be Indie and Samantha Oups!, a French comedy series. And we are always looking for new live-action series.

Nevertheless, animation is the most popular [genre] on Canal J, especially those series adapted from comics. And we are also looking for new [action] heroes.

TV KIDS: TiJi is more than ten years old. How have you kept the channel popular with young children and their parents?
LEYZIN: Parents have real confidence in us with this channel. They know that they will find the best programs for their young children and a schedule perfectly adapted to their [day-to-day schedules].
We have worked on modern adaptations of classics and we like innovation with incredible shows like Yo Gabba Gabba!, which has aired on TiJi since December 2010. It has also launched on Gulli.

TV KIDS: What is your programming strategy for Gulli, given that it is in the very crowded DTT landscape?
LEYZIN: Gulli is the leader in daytime in the children’s target. We are seeing ratings increases in adults, especially in prime time. We must continue to make progress in prime time and prove to adults that we are the only channel carrying programs for the whole family on DTT at all times.

TV KIDS: How have Lagardère Active’s children’s channels managed to remain so popular given the competition from the big global channel brands, Disney, Cartoon and Nick?
LEYZIN: The French touch! We have a complementary offer with the three channels and programs that are close to the real lives of French kids and French families.

TV KIDS: How much are you acquiring from the international market?
LEYZIN: Acquiring programs for our three successful channels enables us to make more interesting deals, granting better exposure of the series to more viewers. The percentage of programs from the international market on TiJi is 50 percent, Gulli is 65 percent and Canal J is 50 percent.

TV KIDS: What kinds of shows are you looking for?
LEYZIN: At Gulli the target audience is families and kids aged 6 to 14, boys and girls. We are looking for TV movies, live-action and animated series and entertainment shows.

The target audience at Canal J is boys and girls aged 8 to 12. We are looking for animated and live-action series in the adventure and slapstick comedy genres.

TiJi targets boys and girls aged 3 to 7. The need there is for puppets, live-action or animation in the areas of edutainment or full entertainment.

TV KIDS: How important are co-productions for your channels?
LEYZIN: Co-productions give us the chance to participate in the creation of programs sur mesure—tailor-made to perfectly suit our audiences. Our co-productions are developed mainly by French producers who then try to find international partners. We also attend markets such as Cartoon Forum, where we meet our counterparts [from other countries] and determine the needs of each potential partner.

TV KIDS: How have you extended your brands into the areas of online, on-demand, mobile and social media?
LEYZIN: The goal is to be everywhere kids and their families are. And we have already achieved it. We are the leader online. Six million videos are seen each month on Gulli Replay [Gulli’s online on-demand service], and there are 400,000 views per month on Gulli VOD and SVOD. The free Gulli app for the iPad has been downloaded 110,000 times since last December. We are going to launch an Android version on mobile, tablets and connected TV sets. We are of course in social media. Gulli has more than 26,000 fans on Facebook and has just created its own B2B Twitter account.

TV KIDS: Are you looking at any further channel launches or brand extensions in the children’s and youth sector?
LEYZIN: Gulli, the number one free French family and youth channel, entertains the whole family. Gulli promotes such values as friendship, tolerance and respect for others and for the environment. Parents and children [can already interact with Gulli] through the web, mobile, tablet devices, connected TV sets, iTunes, audio, magazines, toys and events across the country. Before the end of 2011, we are going to launch our first indoor leisure park for children and their families in Paris. The Gulli Park, which charges an entrance fee, is a playground fully equipped and ready to welcome the entire family. It will have numerous activities and several specific areas such as a “party village,” an “energy space” with climbing walls and fun tubular structures. The younger ones will find plenty of early-learning activities. A lounge area dedicated to parents and the other accompanying adults will have a terrace with Wi-Fi access. This park is the perfect combination between leisure and learning and will allow parents to share very special times with their kids.