Paul Robinson

TV Kids
Weekly, July 14, 2008

Managing
Director

KidsCo

In less than a
year, KidsCo has notched up carriage in more than 100 markets. The children’s
channel, owned by NBC Universal, DIC Entertainment and Corus Entertainment,
made its debut in Central and Eastern Europe in September 2007 and that feed
now reaches 31 countries, including Poland, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Russia
and 24 Middle Eastern markets. The Asian feed kicked off in March and is
carried in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines and Papua New
Guinea. KidsCo is also on offer in 48 markets in Africa, and the Western
European rollout began this May in Spain.

Paul Robinson,
KidsCo’s managing director, has set ambitious targets for the months ahead,
following the strong reaction to the channel from operators thus far. In Asia
alone, “In the next six months I forecast we will be in Thailand, Indonesia and
Malaysia, and then possibly Cambodia and Vietnam.” India, Pakistan and Taiwan
are also on the planner, Robinson notes. In Western Europe, meanwhile, Robinson
is looking to crack the U.K., France and Germany in the short term, followed by
Italy, Scandinavia and Portugal.

“We’ve had
really positive reactions,” he says. The platforms “believe the channel is
adding to their overall portfolio. The main message is they see KidsCo as
additive, and not direct competition with the other kids’ channels they already
have.”

KidsCo is
positioning itself as a complement to the big guns of the kids’ channel space—Nickelodeon,
Disney Channel and Cartoon Network—offering gender-neutral content for 6-
to 10-year-olds. The programming is culled from co-owners DIC and Nelvana, as
well as from other suppliers, including Entertainment Rights, DECODE
Entertainment, Fireworks Entertainment, PorchLight Entertainment and
TV-Loonland. Once Cookie Jar Entertainment’s acquisition of DIC is complete,
KidsCo will have yet another library to tap into. “We’ll have all the major
independent kids’ content creators on board,” says Robinson of the channel’s
schedule.

Robinson notes
that the strength of the grid is at the heart of the channel’s success, with
KidsCo tapping into the programming expertise of its co-owners. The channel is
also utilizing the resources of NBC Universal, which acquired a stake in the
network when it took control of Sparrowhawk Media last year. While NBC
Universal owns just a third of KidsCo, “We’re treated very much as a brother or
sister to SCI FI, Hallmark or Universal Channel. That’s a great thing.”

Given the
highly competitive nature of the global kids’ channel business, KidsCo has
benefited from being able to minimize expenses by tapping into NBC Universal’s
own back-end and playout resources. “We’ve got the big parent, if you like,
with the arm around us!” At the same time, KidsCo “can be a bit entrepreneurial
and a bit more flexible compared to the Hollywood studios,” says Robinson, who
spent several years running Disney Channel out of the U.K., before heading off
to Los Angeles to serve as the network’s programming chief.

A radio
veteran who has spent the past 11 years working in the children’s TV business,
Robinson derives great joy from seeing kids’ and parents’ reactions to the
channel. To further strengthen ties with audiences, KidsCo has been hosting
various off-screen initiatives to build the brand, from online competitions to
events in bookstores and shopping malls. The channel recently unveiled an online
store where parents can buy branded merchandise, and further enhancing the
KidsCo website is a big priority for Robinson in the months ahead. “We’ll be
adding video and a lot more services which will enhance the overall
proposition.”

Also on the
nonlinear front, KidsCo is looking to expand its video-on-demand service,
currently available in Spain and South Korea. Further expanding the reach of
the channel will also be Robinson’s big push for the next 12 to 18 months. “Our
goal is to colonize Central and Eastern Europe and Russia and fill in the gaps
there, to expand our coverage in Asia and to launch fully in Western Europe and
Latin America.”

On the content
front, meanwhile, KidsCo is planning to add some exclusive, first-run
programming later this year, as it looks to build its relationship with
viewers. “I love it when you get kids saying, ‘I really like your channel,’”
Robinson says. “That is what makes my job special.”

—By
Mansha Daswani