KidsCo

KidsCo was an international children's television channel active from 2007 until 2014. It was a joint venture between Corus Entertainment, DIC Entertainment (later part of Cookie Jar Group) and NBCUniversal whose content was mainly commissioned by DIC and Corus subsidiary Nelvana. At its peak in 2011, it was available in at least 95 countries in 18 languages.[2]

In early 2014, it was shut down by its owners, in light of NBCUniversal's acquisition of U.S. children's network Sprout and "growing challenges in the international children's television industry". The network was based in London at the time of its closure.[3][4]

History

KidsCo was co-founded by former BBC Radio 1 controller Paul Robinson, citing an increasing focus on older "tween" audiences and increasing vertical integration by mainstream counterparts Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, in addition to the need to reduce costs for other content producers by not adopting a traditional license fee deal.[2]

The network, effectively a startup, depended on funding provided in the form of a joint venture between Corus Entertainment (the owner of Nelvana), DIC Entertainment and Sparrowhawk Media Group.[2][5] Subsequently, its offering was said to have included "over 3,000" half-hour episodes each of DIC and Nelvana content, with a broadcast facility made available by Sparrowhawk Media in the United States.[6] Later in 2007, Sparrowhawk Media was purchased by media conglomerate NBCUniversal, while DIC was merged into Cookie Jar Group the following year.[7][8]

Although numerous claims had been made of an imminent UK launch throughout its existence,[9][10][11][12][13] the channel struggled to establish an official foothold there because market conditions at the time meant a launch would not be commercially viable.[2][14][15] Plans had also been discussed for a potential expansion throughout France, Germany, Italy and Latin America, but these did not transpire.[2][9][16] Robinson served as managing director of the network through 2011, after which he was succeeded by Hendrik McDermott.[17][4]

The channel was first launched in Central and Eastern Europe on September 7, 2007, and subsequently expanded to other Asia-Pacific and EMEA markets in the coming years.[18][19]

In May 2012, Cookie Jar's minority shares in KidsCo were bought by NBCUniversal and Corus, which saw the former obtain a controlling 51% stake while the latter increased its share to 43.8%.[20][21]

On January 8, 2013, KidsCo moved its broadcasting facilities to Corus Quay in Toronto, while also introducing a refreshed schedule, on-air look and website.[22][23] In February 2013, as part of a joint venture with the NBC-affiliated Syfy network, it debuted a new programming block titled Syfy Kids.[24][25]

In November 2013, citing "growing challenges in the international children's television industry", and the addition of the competing U.S. channel Sprout to NBC's portfolio due to its recent acquisition by Comcast, KidsCo announced that it would shut down in early 2014.[26] KidsCo's European feeds ceased broadcasting on December 31, 2013, with the remaining feeds for Malaysia on 10 February 2014 and Asia, Australia and Sub-Saharan Africa following suit on Valentine's Day 2014.[4]

Availability

On January 1, 2008, KidsCo launched in the Philippines on SkyCable and on Showtime Arabia on March 20, 2008.[27] In the first trimester of 2009 the channel was launched in Portugal on Optimus Clix. The channel become available also on Vodafone Casa TV platform on July 25, 2010.[28]

On November 15, 2009, KidsCo launched on Australian platform Foxtel.[29] That same month, it launched in Greece on Conn-x TV[30] and in Cyprus on CytaVision.[31] In November 2010 it additionally launched on IPTV in Greece.[32] It launched on South African platforms TopTV on May 1, 2010[33] and DStv on July 12, 2010.[34][35]

On June 23, 2012, KidsCo also launched on HyppTV platform.

On March 1, 2013, as part of the channel renumbering, KidsCo has moved to Channel 560.

KidsCo ceased broadcasting in Poland on May 5, 2013, having previously been removed from some Polish cable networks on April 30.[36][37] It was removed from the AustriaSat platform on June 30, 2013.[38]

On VOO, the channel was replaced by Piwi+ after its closure in 2014.

See also

• Qubo - A former U.S. children's programming block and digital multicast network that ran from 2006 to 2021, stemming from a separate joint venture that also involved NBCUniversal and Corus Entertainment, while also including Ion Media Networks (which took full ownership of the brand in 2013), Scholastic, and Classic Media.