PBS KIDS Sprout

World
Screen Weekly, December 20, 2007

LAUNCH
DATE: The VOD service
PBS KIDS Sprout On Demand started in April 2005; PBS KIDS Sprout, the 24-hour
preschool digital cable channel, made its debut on September 26, 2005.

OWNERSHIP: PBS KIDS Sprout was formed as a
partnership between Comcast Corporation, HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame
Workshop.

DISTRIBUTION:
The linear channel
reaches 35 million households on cable and satellite services, including
Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, Insight, RCN, Time Warner, Verizon and
AT&T. The VOD service has received more than 300 million orders to date.

DESCRIPTION:
PBS KIDS Sprout is a
24-hour TV channel, a VOD service and a website for kids aged 2 to 5 and their
caregivers that provides programming that follows the day of the child from
breakfast to bedtime.

PRESIDENT
& GENERAL MANAGER: Sandy
Wax

SENIOR VP,
PROGRAMMING: Andrew
Beecham

VP,
MARKETING: Eileen
Diskin

PROGRAMMING
STRATEGY: PBS KIDS
Sprout broke the mold for traditional channel launch strategies when it debuted
its video-on-demand service five months before its linear channel and website.
According to Sandy Wax, the president and general manager of Sprout, this
allowed the channel to pursue a “platform-agnostic” philosophy that maximizes
the strengths of each medium without “cannibalizing” the others. “There was a
unique advantage to being able to truly think about a multiplatform destination
for kids and families where each way that you interact with it is equally
important and would take advantage of that particular type of experience,” she
says.

Following this
strategy, Sprout executives laid out a three-legged plan in which the linear
channel is programmed around short segments, with hosted blocks that follow the
day of the child; the VOD service is built around the idea of the viewer
actively seeking out content; and the channel’s website supplements both,
bridging the gap between viewing experiences. “Online is really the way to
connect the platforms together,” says Wax. An example of the synergy of the
three outlets is its original program Sprout Diner, which encourages healthy eating.
Avoiding the didactic tone of food pyramids and portion control, Sprout teaches
by showing what happens when Barney or Bob the Builder eats a healthy snack.
Parents can print out the recipe for the snack online, and then make it with
their child while watching short cooking segments on the VOD service.

Another major
illustration of the connection between the linear channel and the online portal
is the use of viewer contributions. During Sprout’s The Sunny Side Up Show, a hosted live morning block launched
in September, children are urged to submit content such as weather reports from
their neighborhoods, birthday cards, artwork, photos and crafts. The show
receives more than 4,000 such messages a week, and more than 43,000 birthday
cards alone have already been submitted. “It’s a real dynamic connection back
and forth,” says Wax. “We like to think of Sprout as a network that’s made for
you by you. And that’s our philosophy, and how we integrate the website into
that is really important.”

Still, Wax
acknowledges that the linear channel is at the center of the Sprout experience.
While Sprout does air some short-form originals—such as The Many
Adventures of Mr. Mailman and Sprout Diner—its lineup is dominated by acquired programs that are
segmented into shorter stories and presented live by their hosts. “This is
primarily a network in which the DNA is these incredibly strong, time-tested
curriculum-driven shows,” says Wax. “And then we’re enhancing the experience
and creating the connection with what we’re doing originally.”

Acquired
programming airing in these blocks include Sesame Street, Bob the Builder, Barney &
Friends, Thomas & Friends, Angelina Ballerina, Teletubbies and more. Sprout also chooses shows
that may be new to U.S. viewers, such as The Hoobs, originally produced by The Jim Henson
Company for Channel 4 in the U.K.

The hosted
live blocks—The Sunny Side Up Show in the morning, The Let’s Go Show in the afternoon and The Good Night
Show in the evening—are
designed to follow the day of the preschooler with programs that will, for
example, encourage outdoor play in the afternoon, or cuddling up and relaxing
at night.

“The thing we
really do from a programming standpoint for parents is give them ideas and
inspiration for a way to have a Sprout-type experience even when the TV is
turned off,” says Wax.

When considering
acquisitions, Wax says the channel targets programming made for kids aged 2 to
5 years old that has the pacing, music and educational curriculum suitable for
a preschooler while also being fun, interactive and engaging. Programs should
seek to foster parent-child interaction all day, possibly by lending themselves
to online and VOD opportunities.

WHAT’S NEW:
In the coming months,
Sprout will continue to build upon its online presence, where it recently
launched a parenting section with monthly topics including safety and healthy
living. Plans are in the works for a blog, where a “Sprout Mom” will help guide
parents in a community discussion. The channel also works closely with
KidsHealth.org, a group that creates health-oriented children’s content for
foundations and hospitals. Experts from the organization help launch topics on
the Sprout website.

On the linear
channel, “getting Sprout out there in a much more personal way” is a high
priority, says Wax, and the live segments are a means of doing that.
Discussions are under way to take the live show out on location, and soon The
Sunny Side Up Show
will feature its first guest host: “Barney is going to stop by,” says Wax. “Barney
is never live on TV, he’s always pre-recorded, so anything can happen. Hopefully
nothing too crazy. You know, he is a prehistoric dinosaur, after all.”

WEBSITE: www.SproutOnline.com

—By
Ned Berke