irst of all be clear what
market you are trying
to serve. Market
firstly in terms of the
geographical
coverage and,
secondly, market in
terms of the segment of the children’s
audience that you are targeting.
You can’t possibly serve all children
with a single service. So it could be
a pre‐school service for ages 0‐2, it
could be for pre‐school kids 2‐5/6
before they get into full time
education, it could be primary
school kids 6‐12, or older kids, up
to 14, who don’t want to be called
kids any more. Be also very clear
about the competition: what other
channels are there, what are they
doing, what are they not doing,
where is the market gap. You can
always find a market gap. The issue
is whether the market gap is large
enough to make a business that is
workable and viable.
Kids TV is a business – who are the
big players?
I love the kids’ TV business, the
creativity of it and the whole
ambiance and that’s why I am still
very active in it both as a channel
creator and a content creator. But of
course, it is a business. We are there
to make a return for our investors,
our customers or our shareholders.
The three big players are US‐based
and pretty ubiquitous and global.
I’ll start with Disney who I know
very well ‐ I worked at Disney as
MD International TV for a long
time. Disney is a big player with
Disney channels all around the
world, and with four different and
powerful brands ‐ Disney Channel
for the 8‐14s, Disney XD serving
largely boys 6‐10, Disney Junior
serving pre‐schoolers, and the
Disney Clubs.
The second big player is Turner
Broadcasting who has Cartoon
Network, Cartoonito, Boomerang.
The third is Viacom with
Nickelodeon, Nicktoons and Nick Jr.
Below that, you have got
Discovery with Discovery Kids
who are big in certain markets,
mostly in Asia, Latin America and
Australasia. Sprout which has been
acquired by MBC is a big network
in the US. And then you have all
the players in their individual
markets: the BBC who are big in the
UK; ZDF/ARD in Germany with
KiKA; MediaCorp in Singapore; the
ABC in Australia. They all have their
own channels with local production
Paul Robinson
says he loves the
kids’ TV business –
his years as SVP at
Disney and as CEO
of KidsCo bear
testament to hat.
Now as CEO of PR
Media Consulting
he is one step
removed but still
very much involved
in improving
services for kids –
one of his latest
projects is Zuku
Kids in Africa.
What advice has he
for anyone
thinking of
launching a
children’s
channel?
F
THEKIDS
20
|
ISSUE 1 2014
|
THE CHANNEL
Zuku Kids
is the first
custom-
designed
children’s
channel in
Africa
“
BUSINESS
