KiKA’s Sebastian Debertin to Be Honored with TV Kids Pioneer Award

Sebastian Debertin, the head of fiction, acquisitions and co-productions at KiKA, will be honored for his contributions to the children’s programming industry with the inaugural TV Kids Pioneer Award, presented as part of the TV Kids Festival.

Debertin helped create and launch the German kids’ channel KiKA in 1996. For the last 24 years, he has been serving as head of fiction, acquisitions and co-productions, overseeing all international acquisitions, productions and co-productions for KiKA and its platforms. Debertin will take part in a one-on-one conversation with TV Kids to discuss what’s guiding the current strategy for the channel, his wish list for acquisitions, the approach to co-producing and more.

“I feel very honored and privileged and am more than happy to be the first to receive the TV Kids Pioneer Award,” said Debertin. “Thank you, dear World Screen team—thank you all so much! This truly means a lot to me, and I want to share this outstanding honor with everyone at KiKA as well as with my colleagues and partners in ARD’s and ZDF’s kids and family programming departments. Thank you all for your wonderful support over these many, many years!”

“Sebastian Debertin’s savvy programming choices have helped KiKA solidify its popularity among German kids,” said Mansha Daswani, editor of World Screen. “The role of public broadcasting for children is more crucial today than it has ever been, and we cannot wait to hear his insights on delivering compelling, valuable content in these challenging times. We are thrilled to honor him with the first-ever TV Kids Pioneer Award at the TV Kids Festival in February.”

Taking place from February 2 to 4, 2021, TV Kids Festival will feature keynotes and panels with leading executives and creatives discussing the importance of alliances in producing and distributing top-notch kids’ programming today. It will be streamed live and available on-demand on World Screen’s brand-new, state-of-the-art events and festivals platform.

Look for more announcements in the coming weeks about key speakers and panels taking place during the TV Kids Festival. Registration will open in January.