Time to Buy

Displaying the same fervor as shoppers hitting the mall to find the perfect shoes for an outfit, children’s-program buyers are on the lookout for new shows to top off their slates. Some want properties that complement existing fare to give youngsters more of what they’re already engaged with. Others are using acquisitions to try to reach out to a new demographic, like adding more action-and-adventure programs to a schedule that’s typically girl-skewing. 

One of the leading preschool channels in Latin America, Discovery Kids looks to acquisitions for the bulk of its schedule. “A large number of our programs are acquired, but we also handpick co-productions, including Pinky Dinky Doo, Fishtronaut and Plaza Sésamo,” notes Bilai Joa Silar, the VP and channel director of Discovery Networks Latin America/U.S. Hispanic Networks. “Reaching 21 million homes across Latin America, Discovery Kids offers fun, entertaining, quality content for preschool children that is also educational. We aim to create lifelong learners and independent thinkers. Through the many characters and captivating stories featured on the network, Discovery Kids offers children an environment that nurtures their curiosity.”

Silar points to Mister Maker and Curious George as acquired programs that have delivered strong ratings. Hoping to repeat that success, Discovery Kids is on the lookout for “high-quality content and innovative ways to tell the story, including a unique approach and look and feel for animation. We want all of our programming to reflect qualities that are aligned with the Discovery Kids brand, including self-discovery and the world. Programs that challenge children to use their curiosity to explore and discover the world are key to our lineup.” 

While Silar cites Nickelodeon and Disney as Discovery Kids’ main competitors, Tatiana Rodriguez, the VP of programming and creative strategy for Nickelodeon Latin America, says that free TV has been grabbing an increasing number of viewers, appealing to youth with reality programs and concerts. Nick then tries to cast a wide net when drawing in its audience, servicing a dedicated preschool block, a strong lineup of shows for elementary-school-aged kids and a new nighttime slate for co-viewing opportunities.

“The official target audience is 4 to 11,” says Rodriguez. “We do have a Nick Jr. block and the Nick Jr. channel that aims at [kids aged] 2 to 5. We also perform very well with the 12-to-17 demo overall, which is really strong with 14- to 15-year-olds. It’s all the live action that is very tempting for those kids. We’ve never really talked directly to kids 12 to 15, but we’re doing it now with our content. We expanded a bit last year when we launched Nick at Nite. We went straight from 13 to 25-plus, looking more for families or parents who will watch with their kids.” 

Breakthrough Animation’s Captain Flamingo and Jimmy Two Shoes are new acquisitions that Nickelodeon is set to premiere in Latin America, along with Frankenstein’s Cat from CCI Entertainment. “We’ve also been acquiring movies,” says Rodriguez. “Every time we put movies on air they perform extremely well. We’ve closed deals with VIP 2000, which represents a lot of companies in Latin America. We did a deal with Warner Bros. for classic kids’ movies, and it worked wonderfully. It included titles such as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, The Goonies, Gremlins and Free Willy. We wanted to try them and they really performed extremely well. We’re continuing to go on that path.”

Though the network is “putting a lot of effort right now into local content,” it is not closed off to picking up series from elsewhere in the world. “We’re very open to worldwide content,” says Rodriguez. “We’re not stuck in one region. We look to see what’s coming from everywhere and from different genres. We’re always looking for live action and animation—all must be based on humor, humor, humor. We’re very carefully looking but not actively acquiring for preschool right now, because we’re waiting to see how long it’s going to take us to get [sufficient] carriage to be able to really start investing in the channel more and more.”

AUF THE SHELF

As a public broadcaster, ZDF offers shows aimed at a wide range of audiences, targeting everyone from preschoolers to tweens with its kids’ programming. It mainly stocks high-profile programming that focuses on information, entertainment and fiction in all forms, says Nicole Keeb, the head of international co-productions and acquisitions for children’s and youth programming at ZDF. 

“We hope to appeal to girls and boys. But frankly speaking, we do have more girls than boys. So of course we’d like to have a better balance. We try to find programs that appeal to boys as well. That’s why we decided to add Shaolin Wuzang to our portfolio. It’s a top-notch animation series that features Chinese mythology and has light action [and] fighting scenes. It features elements belonging to the Shaolin tradition [that are therefore a natural part of the story line]. Of course it still stays ‘politically correct’ and is suitable for public television.”

TAILOR MADE

ZDF has bought, produced or co-produced at least 20 new shows in the past year or so. These include Roary the Racing Car, Hurray for Huckle, Curious George, Claude, Little Princess and Casper’s Scare School. “Since we do have difficulties finding the appropriate drama series for 6- to 12-year-olds as acquisitions from the international market, we tend to co-produce or even produce together with the specific companies, to [design] the show we need,” Keeb explains.

“We have been working more than ten years with Jonathan M. Shiff Productions, and the hit show H2O: Just Add Water came out of that fruitful cooperation. The next title, The Elephant Princess, is coming up (it will be aired in Germany in the spring) and is very promising as well. In animation we try to get into the development as early as possible. Our audience doesn’t appreciate too much action-oriented or pure comedy shows. They expect real stories that are exciting, touching topics they are interested in.

“Regarding preschool, the international market offers a lot, which makes it easier to find the appropriate show. It also seems that those shows are more universal. But our slots for smaller children are limited and we have to be very picky which show we choose.” Preschool series currently fairing well for the German pubcaster are The Magic Roundabout, Horrid Henry and Martin Morning. 

Also out of Germany is the commercial general-interest channel RTL II. With its branded kids’ block, Pokito, RTL II targets 6- to 13-year-olds with a fantasy- and adventure-loaded schedule. Storm Hawks, Ben 10, Magi-Nation, Dinosaur King and Huntik: Secrets & Seekers are among the block’s roster of top-performing acquired fare. Andrea Lang, the VP of animation and children’s programs for RTL II, says that these series are particularly popular because they “come along with colorful worlds of dinosaurs, time shifts to past and future, aliens and fantasy creatures, as well as themes of team spirit and friendship.”

PLENTY OF PLATFORMS

Making sure it reaches its young viewers across multiple platforms is something that’s at the forefront of RTL II’s priorities. As Lang explains, kids no longer consider TV to be their premium media outlet, and RTL II keeps its eye on new technologies. “After one year of development, RTL II has just relaunched the website Pokito.de with brand-new tools. The look and feel of the site is fresh, modern, and follows the way today’s kids use and request content. Especially, kids’ interest in moving pictures, videos, gaming and communication are important tools on Pokito.de. The platform is free of charge for kids.”

JOINING THE CLUB

The revamped site is complemented by a brand-new Pokito Club, designed to incorporate fun and entertainment with education and community. “Kids can play while improving their abilities in foreign languages, strategy, memory, creativity or calculation and also meeting friends. All content is developed and followed by professional pedagogues. Parents can monitor their kids’ progress each day in their own ‘parent’s cockpit.’”

Lang adds, “With this approach, RTL II will definitely broaden its audience, because you can reach so many more kids over these platforms. Each one has its own appeal and special interest for individuals. While the kids in the Pokito Club are the youngest of our viewers, the Internet is strongly used by girls, while our TV shows have a strong share of boys. With different media platforms, you can serve many more entertainment requests and use each one’s benefits and individual powers.”

Lang points to Pokémon as one of RTL II’s key acquisitions that have successfully expanded across multiple platforms. “Pokémon has managed this 360-degree approach, and was one of the first to do it. The show deserves the unique worldwide success that it achieved.” 

Following on this success, RTL II, which stocks around 90 percent of its schedule with licensed programs, is looking for more shows like Pokémon for multiplatform exploitation. “We are looking for entertainment brands that offer web entertainment, club activities, gaming and strong merchandising,” says Lang. “Our preferred genres are fun-loaded strong adventures for kids 6 to 13 with an affinity to boys.”

The Polish terrestrial channel TVP1 also derives the majority of its children’s schedule from acquired fare. Slawomir Cyra, the deputy director of acquisitions and sales for TVP’s international affairs department, says that the channel wants to present its young audience with “the best available programming—colorful and graceful animation, classics and the newest offerings. We are trying to offer both entertainment and social education and are looking for programs which attractively combine both.” Programming for preschool-aged viewers is where TVP looks to take on the most, Cyra notes. “Our main slots are directed for preschool. When filling in these slots, we are looking for programs that can attract children and their parents, too. Last year our acquisitions included Dora the Explorer, The Bellflower Bunnies, The Pinky & Perky Show, Garfield and Friends, Shaun the Sheep, Dive Ollie Dive!, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Book of Pooh.” 

Even with the pull of great programming, Cyra points out, it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out in such a crowded market. “Basic cable channels dedicated to children are more and more popular, therefore now it is much more difficult to be attractive. Animation no longer [creates much anticipation], as it is available the whole day long… Nevertheless, we manage to maintain a strong number of viewers who still tune in to our children’s slots.”

CBBC not only pulls in strong viewing numbers, it also took home top honors as Channel of the Year at the recent EA British Academy Children’s Awards. Anne Gilchrist, the controller of the British kids’ channel, says that when looking for programming to fill the 25 percent of CBBC’s schedule that’s not occupied with original productions, she looks for both British and international series. She says that CBBC wants to offer viewers “British content which reflects their lives, is relevant to them, inspires and empowers them—allows them to laugh out loud, accumulate interesting nuggets of information. Or international content, which becomes a window on the wider world.”

A BALANCED VIEW

The Owl, Martha Speaks, Lockie Leonard and TWF: Thumb Wrestling Federation are among the shows CBBC has picked up recently, serving the channel’s goal “to attract girls and boys equally. We are not so keen on shows which skew massively one way or the other,” says Gilchrist. To this end, CBBC is looking for live action, comedy or interesting animation to add to its schedule. 

Gilchrist acknowledges that any series on children’s television faces the tough task of trying to live up to the level of innovation and ambition savvy viewers have grown accustomed to. “The 6-to-12 demographic is exposed to Hollywood films, multimillion-pound computer games and peak-time family programming every day of their lives. They expect exactly that level of excellence from their television programming. The other area of challenge is to maximize the platforms beyond television to build brands which are platform agnostic but play to a child’s desire to be active participants in the stories, brands and characters they love.”

To compete with the likes of CBBC’s sister preschool network CBeebies, as well as Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney, the British terrestrial channel Five looks to fill its preschool block, Milkshake!, with original programs that can stand out from the pack. Nick Wilson, the controller of kids’ programming at Five, explains: “To maintain Milkshake!’s distinctive schedule, we need to be involved in production from the beginning so we can particularly influence script, story and voices.”

Yet acquired shows such as HIT Entertainment’s Fireman Sam and Thomas & Friends and Sesame Workshop’s Elmo’s World have performed well for the block. Even so, rather than straight buying, Wilson believes co-productions may be the way to go for Milkshake! to keep its programming fresh. Maintaining a schedule that is chock full of engaging content is no small task, though, and buyers have certainly been looking to off-the-shelf programming to achieve this goal.