ABC Kids Marks Lunar New Year with Shows in Mandarin

SYDNEY: ABC in Australia is celebrating the Lunar New Year by making four preschool programs, including hoopla doopla!, available in Mandarin as part of a 12-month trial on ABC iview and ABC Kids iview.

To mark the Year of the Rooster, Mandarin-language versions of the Australian-Chinese co-production hoopla doopla!, as well as Peppa Pig, The Octonauts and Peter Rabbit, will become available beginning Saturday, January 28. Seven Mandarin-language episodes of each title will be available at launch, with new episodes added daily throughout February. English-language versions of each episode will be offered simultaneously on ABC iview and ABC Kids iview.

Additionally, three Mandarin episodes of hoopla doopla! will be available on broadcast as part of ABC Kids’ TV Education service for schools, with supporting educational resources online. Based on audience feedback, and subject to program availability, ABC Kids may trial preschool titles in additional languages throughout the year.

Rebecca Heap, ABC’s head of programming and digital, said, “We are thrilled to be able to extend our trusted ABC Kids service to new audiences and to offer our existing families a whole new way to engage with their favorite programs. ABC Kids aims to provide Australian families with trusted programming that reflects the world around them. Mandarin is one of the most popular and fastest-growing languages and we can’t wait to see how Australian preschoolers engage with our trial on ABC iview and ABC Kids iview.”