Hot Picks

Andy Fry surveys leading programmers about wish lists, success strategies and the rapid changes in kids’ viewing habits.

The kids’ TV business has never been more dynamic—or more competitive. With public broadcasters, pay-TV channels and online and on-demand platforms all vying for the attention of younger audiences, it takes strong brands, clear targeting and great creativity to cut through the clutter of rival content.

Whatever changes have transpired over the last few years as new competitors have entered the mix, the landscape is still dominated by the three global behemoths, Disney, Nickelodeon and Turner, all of which are relying on strong U.S. production pipelines, alongside regional and local commissions and acquisitions, to reach kids around the world.

BRAND PLANS
At the top of the food chain at Disney Channels Worldwide are heavily supported 360-degree brands. On boys’ action-adventure channel Disney XD an example would be Star Wars Rebels, which reaches 400 million homes in 163 countries. On the Disney Channel, meanwhile, there is Descendants, a hugely popular TV movie that has now spawned a short-form animated series spin-off and a sequel planned for 2017.

Paul DeBenedittis, the senior VP of programming strategy at Disney Channels Worldwide, says a number of new shows are good indicators of the way the company is heading editorially. He cites the live-action comedy series Stuck in the Middle, about a girl who is an engineering whiz. “The show has a lot of great touchpoints for different kids,” says DeBenedittis. “It has a diverse cast and is very reflective of the audience that we program for.”

A new genre development, he adds, is Walk the Prank, a hidden-camera prank show for Disney XD. “We’ve done factual TV from time to time, but nothing quite like this. A key part of our approach is to keep surprising our audience with exciting new ideas.”

While the U.S. delivers a steady stream of content to the global channels, Disney has production hubs around the world and is constantly looking at whether shows created for local markets can be shared within the family—a good example being Violetta, a Latin American production that aired around the world. On the co-production front, meanwhile, DeBenedittis is excited by LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, scheduled to hit Disney XD this summer. He also singles out Counterfeit Cat, a Wildseed Studios and Tricon Kids & Family British-Canadian co-production destined for Disney XD EMEA.

On the acquisitions front, he cites the DHX Media show Backstage, which has been picked up for use in 15 territories, including the U.S. and U.K., and the FremantleMedia Kids & Family preschool show Kate & Mim-Mim, which is on Disney Junior.

KIDS’ CHOICE
Among the global kids’ players, a big overarching trend has been the support and development of megabrands that can play out across all their international networks. In the case of Nickelodeon, examples include the wholly owned Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property and Saban Brands’s Power Rangers.

Nick has always had a strong origination pipeline that is mainly driven by the U.S. But this is supported by a well-resourced international department that looks at opportunities in the shape of co-productions, format deals and acquisitions.

Explaining how it works, Layla Lewis, VP of content acquisitions, says, “I am responsible for content acquisitions for Nickelodeon channels globally, including the U.S., as well as all international acquisitions across Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, TeenNick and [the SVOD service] Noggin. We take pitches at the earliest stage of development right up to fully produced series.”

An interesting model for Nick is Talia in the Kitchen, a fantasy sitcom about a 14-year-old girl who revives her family’s restaurant business with “magical” spices. It’s part of a trend within the Nick family that involves adapting local shows for the global market. Talia was a Nick Latin America telenovela remade as a 40-episode English-language series. This model had been previously adopted on House of Anubis and Every Witch Way.

“We’re continuously on the lookout for content that can work across all of our channels around the world, including the U.S.,” says Lewis. “To achieve this, it’s important that we take time to explore different ways, as well as different locations, to source, make, co-produce or acquire that content. For example, we just finished shooting a set of three movies in Spain called Lost in the West and also announced new live-action series.”

Echoing the Talia example, one of these new series is a U.S. adaptation of the Nick Latin America hit Yo Soy Franky. Another sees Nick returning to the Netherlands for inspiration: The Ludwigs will be made as both an English-language global series and a Dutch-language local series at the same time, using the same sets.

In terms of co-productions, Lewis points to the preschool hit Paw Patrol as well as “more and more” collaborations in live action (such as Max & Shred with Breakthrough Entertainment and Make It Pop with DHX Media).

On the acquisitions front, strong performers recently have included Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks and Peppa Pig.

TURNER’S WAY
Echoing the situations at Disney and Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network is reliant on the output from its U.S. operation in markets around the world. However, the message from Patricia Hidalgo, Turner’s senior VP and chief content and creative officer for kids, EMEA, and international kids’ strategy, is that in-house content needs to be backed by complementary third-party shows.

Turner’s flagship brands are Cartoon Network and Boomerang, “but internationally we also have successful local brands like Cartoonito, Toonami, Boing and Pogo,” Hidalgo says. “Across EMEA alone, 20 million kids tune in to Turner’s kids’ channels every month.”

Of her programming approach, Hidalgo says, “Our aim is to partner with producers who understand and love our brands. This is the case with partners such as LEGO and DHX, from whom we acquired and launched Nexo Knights and Supernoobs [respectively] for Cartoon Network globally at the end of last year. In the case of Boomerang, we are working with various producers to develop concepts and ideas, always liaising with our U.S. colleagues to acquire rights globally. Later this year we will be launching Grizzy and the Lemmings from French producer Studio Hari, our first global acquisition for Boomerang.”

In addition, “we are soon to deliver a fourth season of our most successful European production, The Amazing World of Gumball,” says Hidalgo. “This is one of our highest-performing shows globally. We are now working closely with the U.S. studio to develop new concepts that could eventually become the new international show going global, as Gumball did.”

UP NORTH
The positioning of the big three in Canada has undergone a change in the last year. Family Channel used to be the Canadian home of Disney’s series. In 2015, it was announced that Corus Entertainment (which operates Cartoon Network Canada and has a content licensing deal with Nickelodeon) had acquired the Canadian rights to Disney content from the start of 2016.

DHX Media had acquired Family Channel and two local-version Disney channels (Disney XD and Disney Junior) in 2014 for approximately C$170 million ($125 million). Disney doing a deal with Corus meant a major revamp for DHX Television, the division created to run the acquired Family channels business.

“Until the content deal with Disney ended, we aired a lot of their shows on Family Channel,” says Joe Tedesco, senior VP and general manager of DHX Television. “So it meant a rethink. But we weren’t too concerned because our channel brand is so trusted. In fact, it was an opportunity to replace the Disney content, which was quite expensive, with original shows.”

In another context, replacing Disney titles might have seemed like a daunting challenge. But Tedesco, who has worked with Family Channel since 2001, says DHX had two advantages. The first is that DHX Television is part of a prolific production and rights-owning entity, which means its channels have access to a pipeline of in-house content. The second, he adds, is that Canada has a strong community of indie producers to call on.

In terms of concrete actions, the flagship channel, which targets 8- to 14-year-olds, slightly girl-skewing, is now focusing “more on live-action drama series as opposed to animation,” says Tedesco. “However we also launched a teen block called F2N, which offers a mix of live action and animation after 9 p.m. It’s anchored by Degrassi: Next Class, for example, but also schedules quality animation that we have acquired from third parties.”

As for the two Disney-branded channels, “we changed them to Family CHRGD, an action-adventure channel for 6- to 12-year-olds with a strong emphasis on animation, and Family Jr., our preschool offering. Rounding out the portfolio, we also have Télémagino, our French-language channel for Quebec viewers.”

Looking more closely at the lineup on the channels, Tedesco says Family Channel has benefited from “an ambitious origination program with 14 new commissions. We already had some popular franchises like The Next Step and Gaming Show (In My Parents’ Garage), but we have been able to deploy the Disney dollars behind new titles such as Lost & Found Music Studios and Backstage, a 30-episode scripted series from Fresh TV about a performing arts school. All this is part of our ambition to introduce more event-style drama to our schedule.”

Alongside the company’s originals, eye-catching content acquisition deals have helped soften the blow of Disney’s departure. “For Family Jr., we acquired shows from Mattel to go alongside our own preschool properties,” says Tedesco, “so that gives us a lineup including Thomas & Friends and Bob the Builder [alongside] Teletubbies, a DHX-owned property. In addition, we have titles such as Playdate from producer Sinking Ship.”

Also important is a new alliance with DreamWorks Animation (DWA) that will provide content for the F2N block and Family CHRGD, among other platforms. This works at three levels, says Tedesco. First, there is a five-year agreement to co-produce 130 episodes of original animated kids’ content at DHX Studios. Second, DHX has licensed 1,000 half-hours from DreamWorks Animation, to be broadcast across DHX Television’s channels from June 2016. And third, DHX has also signed a deal with DWA-owned AwesomenessTV for a further 300 half-hours of teen content.

While Tedesco believes the quality and range of content on the DHX channels will sustain Family Channel’s leadership position, he also argues that the broadcaster has come out with a more distinctive profile. “Increased emphasis on original Canadian content is a distinguishing mark. I also think our brand stands out because it says it’s OK to stay young. The world of imagination we provide appeals to kids—and also to their parents, who aren’t anxious to see their kids age up too quickly.”

Disney, interestingly, has also been involved in shifts in the German market, following the 2014 launch of its own channel that competes with Super RTL (a joint venture between RTL Group and Disney-ABC Television Group), Nickelodeon and trusted pubcaster KiKA. The man who has been steering KiKA’s content strategy for almost 20 years is Sebastian Debertin, its head of fiction, acquisitions and co-production. Explaining his role, he says: “I look for acquisitions and co-productions for all genres from national and international sources. Germany, France, the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, Canada, Australia and the U.S. are the main countries where our programs come from. Having said that, I also have two co-productions with Asian partners, from South Korea and from Singapore.”

DAS KIDS
Among his priorities, Debertin says, is KiKA’s support for an initiative called Der besondere Kinderfilm (Special Children’s Films). “In a joint effort by ARD, ZDF and KiKA, together with the film industry and media policy-makers, and supported by funding bodies, children’s films in Germany are to be given an improved and enhanced presence,” Debertin says. “KiKA is involved in this in terms of editorial input, joint development and co-investments.”

As for upcoming shows that he is excited by, Debertin cites Super Wings, an animated preschool co-production with CJ E&M of Korea and Josh Selig’s Little Airplane. “In the past, Asian countries were known mainly as service partners, but I am happy that the creativity from Asia now puts this region more and more in the driver’s seat. Partners like CJ E&M in Seoul or One Animation in Singapore are coming up with great ideas that resonate with our audience in German-speaking Europe.”

Likewise on the co-production front, Debertin cites titles like Belle & Sebastian with Gaumont Television and ZDF. He is also looking forward to The Insectibles, a KiKA, Discovery Kids Asia and ZDF Enterprises co-production targeting 6- to 9-year-olds.

Regarding acquisitions, Debertin says a big part of KiKA’s success has been a refusal to buy kids’ shows in bulk. “Our shows are hand-picked, which is why they work so well on KiKA platforms. At the end of January, for example, The Jim Henson Company’s Doozers achieved ratings of 74.6 percent and Little Princess also continues to deliver huge ratings. Q Pootle 5 by Snapper Productions delivers a fantastic fresh look at aliens, while family audiences love Animaccord’s Masha and the Bear.”

FUN IN FRANCE
Like DHX and KiKA, French broadcaster Lagardère Active faces tough competition in the kids’ arena from U.S.-backed kids’ channel operators Disney, Turner and Nickelodeon. Once again, it benefits from having strong channel brands that are capable of sustaining a mix of origination and high-profile acquisitions. In pay TV, it has Canal J and preschool sister service TiJi, which are available via platforms such as CANALSAT and Numericable. In DTT, it has Gulli, which is also now available in Russia and French-speaking Africa. Combined, these channels are known to 97 percent of French kids and make up the number one kids’ TV group in France. Gulli is the number one free kids’ channel.

A good indicator of the company’s market muscle is a recent content supply deal with DreamWorks Animation. Caroline Cochaux, the managing director of France and international for Lagardère Active TV and CEO of Gulli, calls the collaboration, which starts in September 2016, “a landmark agreement. We are glad to bring these original series to French audiences for the very first time on linear TV. Gulli, Canal J and TiJi will allow young viewers to rediscover their favorite characters in all-new adventures (Dragons: Race to the Edge, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, All Hail King Julien, Turbo FAST, The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show and Dawn of the Croods), while also enjoying new shows based on original concepts that DreamWorks Animation has created, for example Dinotrux.”

Aside from the DWA deal, Cochaux says this past year has been marked by the launch of Chica Vampiro on Gulli. “An exclusive Colombian musical series, it has become a real phenomenon in France. Children are so fond of these vampires that a French musical tour has just happened. Chica Vampiro’s success perfectly demonstrates Gulli’s power.”

Cochaux says other acquired or co-produced titles launched in 2015 include Popples, Zoli & Pokey, Trolls of Troy and Get Blake. “We are also in progress on Arthur and the Minimoys (a CGI series from Studio 100 and EuropaCorp) and are involved in second seasons of hits such as Maya the Bee, Sonic Boom and Magic. In 2016, we are involved in about 23 productions and are looking at a pre-buy for Gulli Africa.”

LET’S GET DIGITAL
Alongside international expansion, the company is following kids into the digital space. “We have to be on every platform because children are born consuming this way,” Cochaux says. “In 2015, Gulli Replay was very successful, with more than 250 million views. We expect 300 million in 2016 (Chica Vampiro, Zig & Sharko and Pokémon the Series: XY have been big successes in this area). Moreover, we have our free app, Gulli (3 million downloads), and our new app GulliMax (300,000-plus downloads), which gives subscription access to 26 games and 3,000 videos. In 2016, Gulli on YouTube will launch its first original web series, Les Tactiques d’Emma, a new step in interactivity and creation.”

Disney’s DeBenedittis says that having content on digital platforms is absolutely central to the company’s strategy. “We’re not using on-demand and social media as promotional platforms, we’re creating content for them too, as our animated spin-off of Descendants shows. In my view, it’s meaningless to claim your show is number one in a particular time period because you need to understand audiences across all platforms. Gravity Falls was a particular success for Disney XD on all platforms.”

RIGHTS MATTER
For Turner’s Hidalgo, securing access to all rights for acquisitions and co-pros is key. “Our preference is to secure from the outset as many rights as we can for international channels. We are no longer operating in a linear world. Digital rights have become more important, and not securing these could result in us walking away from a show. Usually we prefer going into projects at an early stage.”

Hidalgo also mentions Mighty Magiswords and OK K.O.!, which were “developed as digital properties first and will roll out as high-quality games and shorts in our apps and digital platforms before launching as long-form shows on our linear channels.”

For her EMEA and international strategy, Hidalgo says she’s “interested in concepts developed for multiplatform [use]. It would be great to have something that comes from a nonlinear platform be developed for [linear and more]. It’s also the case that we can no longer wait to make content for other platforms after the show has launched on the channel. It’s vital to think about making bespoke content to fulfill the need to reach out to consumers through apps, YouTube, web, mobile or tablet, etc. This should become the norm, if there will ever be a norm!”

Acknowledging and understanding how kids access and use content today is important, programmers stress. But there are some basics that shouldn’t be forgotten.

DeBenedittis states: “There are often local opportunities—with shows needed to meet quotas or for tactical scheduling reasons—but for multi-territory deals, producers must know the brand inside out. They need to be coming to us with shows that complement, not replicate, our existing brands. And they really have to stay focused on Disney’s emphasis on magical storytelling, and the fact that parents like to watch our shows alongside their kids. I also think it’s important to keep in mind that stories that would have worked years ago won’t necessarily work now—the media landscape has changed.”

“Be brave,” says KiKA’s Debertin, “and come up with the next smart and clever concept for kids 6 to 9, whether animated or live action. There is a big demand for such shows by broadcasters, as I have learned from my exchange with international colleagues, public and commercial alike.”

Lagardère’s Cochaux has her eye out for shows that are “positive, amazing, surprising.” She’s also keen to buy more titles for her prime-time kids’ movies slot. “Our children’s prime time is really successful and we are looking to acquire TV movies or feature films.”

In an ultra-fragmented world where kids can watch their shows on their own devices, whenever they want, Cochaux has the last word on what many programmers are looking for. “What we want is to make families watch TV together.”

Pictured: INK Global’s Masha and the Bear.