Video Interview: KI.KA’s Sebastian Debertin

NEW YORK: Sebastian Debertin, the head of fiction, acquisitions and co-production at Germany’s KI.KA, discusses the strengths of the channel brand, his co-production strategy and the importance of keeping a space for kids’ programming within public broadcasting’s remit.

A joint venture of public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, KI.KA has been entertaining German-speaking children since 1997. For Debertin, the channel has been able to build such a strong brand thanks to the support of its parent companies as well as its mix of original productions, such as Krimi.de, and imported fare like CAKE’s Stoked.

Targeting kids up to the age of 13, KI.KA’s sweet spot has historically been the 6-to-9 set, but Debertin and his programming team have been working hard to lure older kid viewers, notably with series like H2O: Just Add Water, a co-production of ZDF Enterprises and Jonathan Shiff. The channel has also been stepping up its multiplatform initiatives and live events as it aspires to take the number one spot among German kids’ channels.