Breaking Into The Kids TV Market
Paul Robinson, global MD of KidsCo Worldwide, the new Kids TV channel launching in the UK soon, discusses the challenges of breaking into a tough market.
Kids TV has become a plethora of choice and channels geared towards kids of all ages, from pre-school to teens and even specially skewed baby TV. In the UK alone, there are over twenty channels aimed specifically at children and there are branded blocks aimed at targeting youngsters after school across a host of non-child specific channels.
The choice for children is enormous and as powerful consumers, children know good content when they watch it. Children of all ages can pick the best of the best in terms of story lines, characters, and channels, leaving content providers and media owners a lot to live up to. Expensive production techniques do not always equate with a popular show.
In this tough arena, channels try to secure a unique identity for themselves by targeting a specific sector of the market. For example, purely action/boy driven content or purely comedy. On the one hand, this aids those channels in the marketing, advertising and eventually licensing departments with their ability to target niche audiences, but on the other hand, this can be extremely limiting by shutting out potentially lucrative audiences.
Having worked in the TV and media industry for over 20 years, my understanding of selling to kids and platforms has grown significantly. It is not easy for any content provider, but with the backing of NBCU and two of the biggest content providers, Nelvana and Dic, we launched our new linear and VOD offering, KidsCo into the competitive market place, well equipped to offer a highly competitive and differentiated product.
Gaining substantial backing is a must when launching any kind of new business, but that is only the beginning. To launch a new kids channel also means launching a new brand and identity that absolutely has to pack a punch in the field to be noticed and desired by platforms around the world. Kids fundamentally appreciate the same qualities in good entertainment across the globe, so once you know the secret to quality content you are halfway there. KidsCo has access to over 6,000 hours of kids content with a mixture of animation and live action from our content provider owners as well as additional content from world-class producers including BBC, Sesame Workshop, TV Loonland, Entertainment Rights and Decode. This gives the channel a vast amount of choice from the best programming across the US, Canada, Asia and Europe. This includes a range of creative executions including cel, CGI stop frame, claymation as well as movies and live action.
Unlike most of the kid’s players, KidsCo is gender neutral for kids aged 6-10 as well as providing programming for pre-schoolers during the day, which is relatively undersupplied in all the markets internationally. These aspects really help to leverage the profile of the channel when attempting to secure carriage on platforms worldwide.
It is important for a new channel to have a distinctive position within the market. At KidsCo we stand apart from our competitors as the channel is placed at the centre of the market, offering something completely unique, with programming for all the family including pre-school, kids, parents and caregivers.
Disney Channel is a fantastic example of a kids brand that tailors it’s programming for a wide catch of children. Everybody loves Disney because they know what kids want and over the years they have invested in providing those demands. Disney has set an impressive example to the rest of the market. High School musical is a superb example of original content, although it comes at a high price and that can be a problem for cable and satellite operators.
Another extremely important aspect of kid’s entertainment to note is that young consumers are extremely quick to understand technologies and have no fear of trying new delivery concepts. It is vital for kids businesses to recognise that kids want entertainment on their own terms and so it is fundamental for us to be wherever they are, whenever they want it. That’s why KidsCo is looking at VoD rollouts and possibly mobile in the future. Whether it is mobiles or ipods or internet on demand, you have to conquer those spaces and be a step ahead of your audience.
In terms of the costs of setting up, securing, managing and rolling out a new TV channel, my advice would be to benefit from a digital delivery infrastructure, as opposed to relying on tapes. It means you benefit from much efficiency in terms of operational costs, meaning we can be highly competitive for satellite and cable operators.
Any finally, get the best you can in every aspect of the business, from the people you employ to the programming you choose and above all, love what you do and enjoy it. This is entertainment after all!