Page 37 - The Channel Issue 2 2010

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 2 2010 | 37

Paul Robinson has worked in public service broadcasting at the BBC, in commercial radio, rolling out kids programming for Disney Channel, and media consulting. Now he's come back to children's TV as Managing Director and co-founder of KidsCo. His aim is to form a fourth global children’s network

ids TV is a very rewarding business to work in because of the consumers you are working with. It's also a very enjoyable business to work in – and be paid for – as you are dealing with animation, cartoons and live action, lovely characters and toys. But I must admit I did not plan to come back into kids' TV having had a long run at Disney. I wanted to form my own business, which I did. PR Media Consulting was pretty successful with very nice clients. One of these clients was Sparrowhawk Media headed by David Hulbert, the former president of Walt Disney TV International. He talked to me about creating a kids' channel as a companion to Hallmark Channel. So it all started as a consultancy project and as I got more and more into it I realised there was such a great opportunity and then they asked me whether I would be the chief executive of the business.

How long has KidsCo been going?

We launched on air in September 2007. But the gem of the idea actually started in late 2005 so a lot

of thought and planning has gone into the company. We were determined if we were going to enter the children's space we'd do so in such a way that was different from Disney, Cartoon, Nickelodeon, to be within a chance of forming a fourth global network.

Which age group do you target?

We are focusing on boys and girls 6-10. It's an age group that's under-served and we are offering programming that is great quality, entertaining, story-led but is also safe. If your child watches KidsCo they won't see anything

inappropriate. So if a parent steers the child to KidsCo that's great, but ultimately the child's got to like it. So you have to make KidsCo a channel that children like.

What's your business model?

A lot of children's TV is still played out on tape and we decided we'd invest from day one in a digital network. So we can easily add new language tracks on when we expand into new markets. That's a very efficient way of moving content around at lowest cost. We have also gone for regional feeds so for example if you are watching in

France you'll get the same video as if you are watching, say, in Germany but in France the channel will be totally French and fully dubbed into French, in Germany it will be an entirely German channel. But you have the efficiency then of your fixed costs – your satellite costs and your line costs – spread over a number of different territories and customers, which means our break-even is lower. And we can then be very competitive on price compared to other channels.

What's your editorial mission?

Our mission is to entertain children, with good original series, exclusives and first-run shows, and classic content from the library. And those three strategies produce a very strong programme mix. TV is a great medium but I think TV is an even greater medium if it can stimulate children, either in terms of a conversation with an adult, another child, or to get up and do something. KidsCo is short for Kids Community, that's what we are trying to do, create a community of kids from around the world.

How do you source your content?

We have programme suppliers in

KIDS

COMMUNITY

CHILDREN’S | THE CHANNEL

K

Our

strategy is a global brand that's localised

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