TV Kids Pioneer Award: KiKA’s Sebastian Debertin

Sebastian Debertin, KiKA’s head of international content acquisitions, discussed his programming mandate ahead of being honored with the inaugural TV Kids Pioneer Award at the TV Kids Festival.

The German public broadcaster moved quickly to serve the educational and entertainment needs of kids stuck at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Debertin said in his keynote conversation with Kristin Brzoznowski, the executive editor of World Screen and TV Kids. “The pandemic time is problematic for everybody, but especially for kids. Being isolated at home is difficult for them, perhaps even more difficult than for adults. So kids and parents alike are looking for support in these special times. Being trapped at home, families need educational as well as relaxing and entertaining programs more than ever. At KiKA, we quickly adapted to this new situation to show our kids and family audiences that they are not alone in these difficult times. We immediately developed a campaign called #togetherathome (in German, #gemeinsamzuhause). As part of the campaign, we offered additional educational programming, on top of the normal programming.”

KiKA bolstered its KiKANiNCHEN preschool brand to ensure that viewers between the ages of 3 and 6 “don’t get bored every day at home.” The on-air and online KiKANiNCHEN slate delivered content that would allow preschoolers to “interact with us,” Debertin said. “KiKANiNCHEN presents a lot of action, ideas for playing, handicraft ideas. It’s wonderful to help them in these difficult times. The online portal kikaninchen.de provides a large variety of possibilities for play. For example, they can build together with their parents. They can set up their own zoo at home. These offerings are intended to encourage children to creatively shape their environment.” The lineup also included KiKA’s top preschool shows, among them Guess How Much I Love You, Chloe’s Closet and Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten from WDR and series from ZDF.

In 2021, KiKA’s new campaign is #zeitfür… (#TimeFor…), encompassing a range of subjects, beginning with history. “We will bundle interesting programs about history. For instance, kids can see a show we co-produced with our ARD partners called Triff… (Meet…). The kids meet interesting personalities from all times in history. What makes this history format so interesting is that there’s a focus on female personalities,” including Cleopatra, Harriet Tubman, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie and Jane Goodall.

Other recent highlights include CheX! Die Checker Web-Show, produced by ARD’s BR, an online-only show delivering entertaining shorts about all kinds of knowledge, and Marco Polo—Shorties!, based on MDR’s Marco Polo series.

Asked about the role of pubcasters in the kids’ media landscape, Debertin noted, “The role hasn’t changed. What has changed is the way we work and the channels we are using. If there is one finding from pandemic times, it is that public-media services have shown they are more relevant than ever and that the audience is looking for such relevant information for entertainment and education. I’m very proud that we achieved that in the group, with ARD and ZDF, to strongly support kids and families at home.”

Debertin noted that one of KiKA’s strengths is its well-structured programming schedule that allows it to cater to different demographics across the day. “The good thing about the transition to digital is that we now have the chance to make use of these digital offerings,” he added. “That helps to make the job a bit easier to cater directly to the different types of groups, whether it’s the youngest or oldest kids.”

On originals at KiKA, Debertin noted the critical role of the service’s collaboration with ARD and ZDF. “All of us produce educational and entertaining programs. We are very proud of being able to offer this varied and broad programming.”

He continued, “The majority of the programming we are producing is made here in Germany and Europe. I’m very happy about the many originals we are producing. The interesting thing is, we never had in mind that we would need to create a special name for that and call it originals. It was and still is so natural for us to produce original programming for audiences every day. In a way, you could say that originals were invented by public-media services—50 years ago.”

Co-pros are also integral to the lineup. “They offer the possibility to put some great ingredients together and also show kids the complete surroundings of the country they are living in but also allow them to have a view over the fence and see other kids’ lives. And to me, co-productions are very rewarding. We learn so much from [working with different creatives] and then I keep the recipe to bring great co-productions, great characters, great storytelling together.”

Highlights of KiKA’s current co-pro slate include Dog Loves Books, which is intended to “inspire kids, especially boys, to read books. We have to ensure that reading books never goes out of fashion.” Debertin is also excited about the upcoming The Smurfs CGI series with IMPS, Peyo Productions, Mediatoon, RTBF and TF1. “This is a fantastic example of what co-productions can deliver,” Debertin said.

On his approach to acquisitions, meanwhile, Debertin said, “Whether it’s co-production proposals or finished programs, they have to reflect the KiKA brand values. It’s about diversity, kindness, tolerance, respect, friendship, gratitude, empathy, joy and fun for the kids.” He called on those pitching projects to make sure they do their research and look at the KiKA lineup beforehand.

“We always look for quality and we look for other elements that are important for public-media broadcasters. The mixture of education and entertainment is important. We need to ensure that we can take part in the big shift that our media industry is still going through. The audience is moving. They enjoy making good use of all of our offerings. We have to ensure we are with them on all levels. That is of utmost importance.”

For the year ahead, Debertin said KiKA would continue to support German kids and families with its content. “KiKA, like ARD and ZDF, has excelled at great storytelling, great characters. The audience likes to follow them on linear TV—in 2020 in Germany, we had a gain in TV consumption of 8 minutes, so in Germany, the kids still love to watch linear TV—and they like to follow our characters and stories on the digital services. That is something we have to strengthen.”

Debertin was then presented with the inaugural TV Kids Pioneer Award for his many contributions to the children’s programming industry, having been a leading force in crafting KiKA’s acquisition and co-production strategy over its 24-year history. “This is a huge and fantastic honor!” said Debertin. “I’ve had the pleasure to work on great shows with many people worldwide and brought many great shows to life and received wonderful awards that I’m thankful for. The TV Kids Pioneer Award is so valuable for me because it does recognize more than one achievement. And to be the first to receive it makes it so outstanding and it makes me feel very thankful.”

Reflecting on his time in the kids’ entertainment business, Debertin noted, “I had the luck and the pleasure to work together with some of the brightest and smartest people in our industry, nationally and internationally. I learned so much from them. With learning comes experience; with experience comes expertise and a strong gut feeling. You recognize you have a toolbox now for creating great successes. The best thing for me today is I still love to learn every day, and now I can share this expertise with other people every day. That is so rewarding.”

Debertin added, “We are working in an industry that is providing a service to the most important target group in the world: kids. With kids’ media, I cannot change the world. But I can change the kids’ view of our world! That is a big chance we should make good use of.”