THE CHANNEL
|
CHILDREN’S TV
24
|
ISSUE 1 2014
|
THE CHANNEL
Children’s channel KiKA is a joint venture of Germany’s
national public TV channels ARD and ZDF. In August 2013,
Michael Stumpf took over as programme director - how is
he fulfilling the channel’s PSB mission and at the same time
coping with increased competition from commercial rivals?
s public service
broadcasters,
we are obliged
to cover certain
topics: news,
current affairs,
documentaries,
culture and entertainment. That
also applies to KiKA and its target
audience of children from the ages
of three to 13.
So we have a programme slot for
pre‐schoolers from 6am in the
morning followed by programmes
for 6 to 9 year olds in the afternoon,
broadcasting for the ‘older’ young
audience in the evening until 9pm.
We offer animation, live‐action,
news for children, feature films etc.
As a “daughter” of the national
public TV channels ARD (consortium
of public broadcasters in Germany)
and ZDF (Zweites Deutsches
Fernsehen), we are funded 100% by
licence payers’ money [the monthly
licence fee is Euro 17.98 per
household], with overall editorial
and strategic control of KiKA
resting with ARD and ZDF.
The control over everyday
business on the other hand lies
with the regional public service
broadcaster MDR (Central German
Broadcasting) in Erfurt.
In your new role, what changes
will we see?
We are taking stock of our strengths
and weaknesses and of what is
happening generally in the market
of children’s television in Germany
and Europe. One of the major
changes this year is Disney starting
a new free‐to‐air channel. So there
is going to be a lot of movement in
the market. We are asking: Where
are the risks? Where are the
opportunities?
We look at our brands, formats,
and programmes’ life cycle and try
to discover what we are lacking. We
have to decide which programmes
to keep and which to let go.
How do you source your
programming?
We acquire a lot of programmes
from ARD and ZDF. Both have
their own children’s slots and
produce programmes for their own
channels as well as for KiKA. On
top of that, the regional public
service broadcasters all over
Germany produce children’s
programmes – with the result that
we really have quite a lot of
programmes to choose from. We
have to make sure that the mix is
right. Ultimately, we have to make
clear what KiKA stands for, what
our unique selling point is,
especially in comparison with
commercial channels like Super
RTL and Nickelodeon.
It’s important we come right up
to scratch.
How can you compete?
We will not let go of quality. As a
public service broadcaster, we have
to be the market leader in quality.
Nowhere in our public service
remit does it say we have to be
market leaders in children’s TV. We
have to lead with quality.
Among parents, we have a great
image – to play around with quality
is not really an option. But we have
to do something about certain
aspects of “coolness”. Disney,
Super RTL and Nickelodeon are
very fun‐oriented, and if we want
to reach the relevant children’s
audience, we have to make sure that
we have enough of that.
What are your audience figures?
At the moment, we are the second
most popular children’s
broadcaster after Super RTL. The
figures change from month to
month: Super RTL have a market
share of around 21% of three to 13
year olds. We are 2% or 3% behind.
Nickelodeon can claim about
10% of viewers. So KiKA is still one
of the “big players” in the market.
We will have to review the impact
of Disney after its first year of
operation.
Are you generating income
through sales?
This aspect is not really important
to us. Yes, we have a marketing
A
LEADINGWITH
We have
to do
something
about
certain
aspects of
‘coolness’
“
”
QUALITY
