RATINGS

RATINGS

Top 10 Combined Broadcast/Basic Cable shows among Kids 2-11 for the week of 10/30-11/5/2009, 6a-6a:
K2-11                                             Total Delivery (000)
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/4; 9:30a) 2603
DSNY*: Hannah Montana (11/3; 8p)              2592
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/5; 9:30a) 2549
DSNY*: High School Musical (11/3; 8:30-10:25p) 2547
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/4; 9a)      2396
NICK:    Fairly OddParents (11/5; 10a)             2387
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/5; 9a)     2382
NICK:    Fairly OddParents (11/4; 10a)            2349
DSNY*: Hannah Montana (11/3; 7:30p)           2249
DSNY*: The Santa Clause-movie (11/1; 8-9:50p) 2135
Source: Disney from Nielsen Media Research Data
*Disney Channel is not an ad supported cable network, unlike the others in this listing.


Top 10 Combined Broadcast/Basic Cable shows among Kids 6-11 for the week of 10/30-11/5/2009, 6a-6a:
K6-11                                                Total Delivery (000)
DSNY*: Hannah Montana (11/3; 8p)              2103
DSNY*: High School Musical (11/3; 8:30-10:25p) 1961
DSNY*: Hannah Montana (11/3; 7:30p)           1818
NICK:    Ned's Declassified (11/5; 7:30p)         1709
DSNY*: Hannah Montana (11/3; 7p)              1684
DSNY*: The Santa Clause-movie (11/1; 8-9:50p) 1646
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/4; 9:30a) 1568
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/4; 9a)      1540
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (11/5; 9:30a) 1514
DSNY*: Hanna Montana (S) (11/3; 6:30p)         1505
Source: Disney from Nielsen Media Research Data
*Disney Channel is not an ad supported cable network, unlike the others in this listing.

B.O.O.M. Boys and more

Studio B Productions and Slap Happy Cartoons ink a development deal for the K6-11 targeted 2D animated series B.O.O.M. Boys (52x11).  Created by Slap Happy Cartoons, B.O.O.M. Boys is a comedy about three tween bionic brothers who build wild inventions while escaping the evil military agency that developed them.  Slap Happy founders and B.O.O.M. Boys creators Josh Mepham, Greg Sullivan, and Kathy Rocchio and Vito Viscomi all previously toiled for Studio B as directors, writers, and producers.  Studio B is a production subsidiary of DHX Media Ltd.

Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change (1x3o), a new primetime special produced by Sesame Workshop, in association with David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated and Lookalike Productions, will premiere on PBS on April 1, 2009 at 8p (check local listings) in conjunction with April as the Month of the Military Child.  Featuring Queen Latifah, John Mayer and Elmo, the special focuses on stories of service people returning home from war with various injuries (both visible and invisible), and how they and their families struggle to find their way back to a "normal" family life.  Downloadable videos and bilingual (English/Spanish) support materials for the special are available via The Talk, Listen, Connect initiative at www.sesamestreet.org/tlc, with information also available on www.pbsparents.org.

Kids Cable Network Averages (000) for Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON:         K2-11 1159; K6-11 521; TWEENS 9-14 337
DISNEY CHANNEL:     K2-11   779; K6-11 439; TWEENS 9-14 337
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11   485; K6-11 307; TWEENS 9-14 225
TOON DISNEY:           K2-11   138; K6-11   80; TWEENS 9-14   53
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data

The American Library Association top books

The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video and audiobooks for kids and young adults, including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz and many other noted awards this week at its annual midwinter meeting in Denver.  Additionally, this year the ALA celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and introduced a new award, the William C. Morris Award. It is also the first year that the Pura Belpre Award, which will be given annually.  Medal winners and honorees are selected by judging committees of librarians and other kid's literature experts. A comprehensive list of all of the honors awarded this week can be found at www.ala.org , please go there and check it all out this is just some of celebrated books.  2009 Youth Media Awards include:
John Newbery Medal - distinguished contribution to children's literature: The Graveyard Book; author Neil Gaiman, and illustrated by Dave McKean (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Randolph Caldecott Medal - distinguished illustration/American picture books for kids: The House in the Night; author Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin)
Michael L. Printz Award - excellence in young adult literature: Jellicoe Road; author Melina Marchetta (HarperCollins)

Coretta Scott King Award - honoring African-American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults: Book author winner - We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball; author/illustrator Kadir Nelson (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children); illustrator winner - The Blacker the Berry; illustrator Floyd Cooper, author Joyce Carol Thomas (Amistad).

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award - Bird; author, Zetta Elliot, illustrated, Shadra Strickland (Lee & Low Books)
Schneider Family Book Award - books with artistic expression of the disability experience in three age groups: young children: Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum; author/illustrator, Robert Andrew Parker (Schwartz & Wade Books); middle school kids: Waiting for Normal; author, Leslie Connor (HarperCollins Children's Books); teens: Jerk, California; author, Jonathan Friesen (Speak,).

Theodor Seuss Geisel - distinguished book for beginning readers - Are You Read to Play Outside?; author/illustrator, Mo Willems (Hyperion Books for Children)
Margaret A. Edwards Award - for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: author, Laurie Halse Anderson for her books Catalyst, Fever 1793, and Speak

The Pura Belpre Award honors Latino author and illustrators celebrating Latino culture and experience: Illustrator award - Just in Case; illustrator, Yuyi Morales (a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press); Author award - The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom; author, Margarita Engle (Henry Holt and Company)
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award - distinguished informational book for children: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball; author/illustrator Kadir Nelson (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children)
Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video: March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World, producers Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly (Weston Woods Studios)
Mildred L. Batchelder Award, excellence in book translated from a foreign language and then published in the US: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, originally published in Japanese, author, Nahoko Uehashi and translated by Cathy Hirano (Arthur A. Levine)
The Odyssey Award, excellence in audiobook production: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, author/narrator Sherman Alexie and produced by Recorded Books.
William C. Morris Award - A Curse Dark as Gold, author Elizabeth C. Bunce (Arthur A. Levine Books)

Global Wonders and The TV Teacher

Global Wonders a new preschool-targeted multi-cultural entertainment and education brand, which launched earlier this year, premieres the first four DVD titles this October 21, 2008.  Created by Rashmi Turner, former executive producer, Disney's Baby Einstein, the Global Wonders series is designed to expose kids to different cultures and their respective family/friends, music, customs and lifestyles.  The Global Wonders creative team also includes writer Sandi McKay (Jakers!), animation director Ed Wexler (Little Einsteins, My Friends Tigger and Pooh), and computers Jim Latham (JoJo's Circus, Dragon Tales).  The series was created with guidance from J. Kevin Nugent, Ph.D., founder/director, Brazelton Institute and an advisory panel.



The TV Teacher, LLC releases the new DVD Strokes, Shapes & Scenes, the third title in a series of educational DVDs designed for special needs kids.  Strokes, Shapes & Scenes aims to help kids living with Autism, Down Syndrome and other special needs learn pre-writing and creative drawing skills

Freakatars and a call for creative kids

Freakatars, a new kid-targeted "creating and collecting" combo social community and interactive game online site and offline play, has launched into phase one of public beta at www.freakatars.com . Designed for K3-11, Freakatars lets users create and care for their own creations, and plan also to add limited edition parts, virtual goods and games among other features.  Founded and helmed by Adam Jacobs, Freakatars.com is currently free, but upcoming plans include a subscription plan for Q3 2009, as well as selling virtual and physical goods and collector cards.  Get going now and you can start saving up your Freakies to acquire stuff later.


Call for creative kids:
Arthur is getting a new pal for his PBS Kids Go! series, and is looking to real kids to help create that friend.  Arthur and CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a program designed to make life easier for kids with disabilities, are teaming for the Arthur/All Kids can Character Search.  Kids 6-12 are invited to submit their ideas for a new character, specifically one with a unique ability, trait, or disability, with a drawing and description of what makes that character special from February 1 through March 31, 2009.  Entry forms and rules can be found from February 1 at www.pbskidsgo.org/arthur/allkidscan.  The kid with the winning character will be featured in a live-action segment on an episode of Arthur, and Arthur creator/author Marc Brown will visit their town.

CBeebies

CBeebies will premiere its new mixed live-action and animated series Tellytales (15-parts) this March 2009.  In each episode of the series, a myth, legend or tale from around the world is featured and presented with the help of real kids telling and acting them out in music, song, storytelling and creating artwork for the show too.  Stories in the series include: Jack And The Beanstalk, Dancing Rose (Egypt), The Magic Porridge Pot (Russia), The Sword In The Stone (Wales); King Midas (Greece); Snake Charmer (India); Muri On The Moon (Kenya); The "Bunyip" Baby (Australia)

FableVision and Pearson Team up to Develop Virtual Island on Poptropica Kids Game...

FableVision and Pearson Team up to Develop Virtual Island on Poptropica Kids Game...
Tue Sep 9, 2008 6:00am EDT 

BOSTON, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston-based educational media developer
FableVision and Pearson, the world's largest integrated education company,
announced today that they are collaborating to create a new "island" on
Poptropica, an online environment with a rapidly expanding user base that
already includes more than 20 million young Internet users. Developed by
Family Education Network, a business of Pearson and the developer of
Funbrain.com, Poptropica is a virtual world where kids can travel, play games,
read digital books and comics, and compete with other players. Players can
also safely interact and communicate with other inhabitants of Poptropica.
    Creative development for FableVision's game island will be led by "New
York Times" bestselling children's book author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds,
FableVision's founder and executive creative director, whose works include
"Judy Moody," "Someday," "The Dot" and "Ish."
    "The key to Poptropica's success is its ever-expanding content that has
just the right mix of education and irresistible fun, and no one delivers that
better than FableVision," says Jess M. Brallier, publisher, Family Education
Network, developer of Poptropica.
    Family Education Network is no stranger to developing games that are fun
and educationally valid, much to the delight of parents, teachers and kids.
"Poptropica and its sister site, Funbrain.com, ... are the titans of sneaky
learning," says "The Gainesville Sun."
    In Poptropica, kids can play games, undertake quests, develop computer
skills, and learn much more about the world in which they live. When they
encounter other characters, they can interact by using scripted chat, never
sharing any personal or identifying information. The number of kids exploring
the virtual world of Poptropica has exploded since its launch in September
2007. The current collection of five islands will grow to 10 by the end of
2008, providing even more territory for kids to explore.
    The new FableVision island merges Poptropica's exploratory game play with
a storyline that promotes creative expression. Under Reynolds' creative
direction, the game's story features a virtual artist colony where a
disgruntled inventor is removing all color and creativity from the island and
kids come to the rescue to reverse the colorless chaos.
    Reynolds shares, "My hope is to bring the sensibilities of great
children's books to the kids' gaming world, where there seems to be a very big
void. The industry is in its infancy at the moment and needs creative
leadership to bring integrity and creative authorship to this platform."
    FableVision's director of production and technology Gary Goldberger will
help make that vision a reality. Goldberger also serves as New England
regional leader for Games4Change, the nonprofit that promotes digital games
for social change. He notes, "What makes FableVision's games special is our
ability to weave a redeeming message into the story-based game play - using
games to promote the value of creativity and invention."
    The development of the Poptropica island represents the latest evolution
of a long-standing FableVision/Pearson relationship, which has produced a
string of digital publishing successes. FableVision previously collaborated
with Pearson and Jess M. Brallier on "Tess's Tree," an online book written by
Brallier and illustrated by FableVision's Reynolds. The popularity of "Tess's
Tree" on Funbrain - garnering 50,000 to 100,000 reads a day - led to a print
publishing deal with Harper Collins; the book will hit the market next year.
    A second digital book written and illustrated by Reynolds, "Eyebrow
Story," is also on Funbrain. "Eyebrow Story" has already received more than a
million reads. Pearson and FableVision also collaborated to create Gallery
Builder, a software program that lets students create and curate their own art
galleries. The program is used throughout the United States in K-12 arts and
language arts curricula.
    Reynolds shares, "We are honored to collaborate with such a trusted name
in family-friendly education on an endeavor that is so near and dear to
FableVision's own mission."
    The island created by FableVision will launch on Poptropica in the fall of
2008.
    About Poptropica
    Developed by Family Education Network, the makers of Funbrain, Poptropica
(www.Poptropica.com) is a virtual world where kids can travel, play games,
collect objects and compete with other players in head-to-head competition.
Players can also safely interact and communicate with other inhabitants of
Poptropica. There are always new areas to explore in this ever-expanding
world, and players can read digital books and comics and watch movies along
the way.
    Family Education Network is part of Pearson, the world's largest
integrated education company. Pearson's other primary operations include the
Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.
    About FableVision
    FableVision (www.fablevision.com) is on a mission to bring the world to a
better place through the creation and distribution of positive media,
storytelling and technology. Located at the Boston Children's Museum in
Boston, and with offices in Dedham, MA, Portland, OR, and London, the
FableVision team enjoys an international reputation for its unique brand of
innovative, technology-delivered storytelling and learning. Its K-12 software
product offerings are distributed internationally. These include creativity
and self-expression software, such as Animation-Ish, Stationery Studio and Get
A Clue, and a line of products for students with learning differences, autism
spectrum disorders (ASD), and other social differences, such as BrainCogs,
EssayExpress and SmartMoves.
    FableVision also creates media and interactives with key players on the
education landscape, including PBS, Maryland Public Television, MIT Education
Arcade, Sesame Workshop, Scholastic, KCET, Carnegie Hall, National Academy of
Sciences, WGBH, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Pearson, Girl Scouts of the
USA, SARRC, the Research Institute for Learning and Development, Boston
University and The Jim Henson Company.
SOURCE  Pearson

Leigh Hallisey of FableVision, +1-617-956-5701, leigh@fablevision.com; or Lisa
Wolfe of L. Wolfe Communications, +1-773-227-1049, lwolfe@lwolfe.com, for
Pearson
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Will the Wiimote finally bring a good YouTube living room experience?

Will the Wiimote finally bring a good YouTube living room experience?
MG SIEGLER | JANUARY 15TH, 2009
YouTube is one of the largest success stories of the “web 2.0″ era (at least in terms of viewers, not in terms of making money). But to be considered fully mainstream, the service needs to get into the living room, where people still do most of their content viewing. And YouTube is taking another step in that direction today by launching a beta version of the service for the Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3 gaming consoles.

Available at youtube.com/tv, YouTube for Television (as it’s being called) claims to offer a good “10-food” television viewing experience, according to a post on the YouTube Blog. There’s a special interface to interact with the service since it’s not the same as using it on the computer, as you don’t have a mouse or a keyboard. It should be particularly interesting on the Wii, which has a controller that allows you to point anywhere on the screen.

And that’s important because I have YouTube on my television right now through my Apple TV, but it’s kind of hard to navigate because of the Apple TV’s simplistic remote. While finding popular videos is easy via specific channels, doing a search using an on-screen keyboard is beyond tedious with the up, down, left and right keys. YouTube is also already available on other living room boxes, including the TiVo digital video recorder.

YouTube for Television works through the gaming consoles’ web browsers. That’s probably why you’re not seeing this launch on the Xbox 360 as well — it doesn’t have a web browser, as TechCrunch notes. Of course, the Xbox 360 is made by Google rival Microsoft, so that may have something to do with it as well. I’m sure, for example, they could make a special YouTube channel on the Xbox 360 like they did for the Apple TV, and like Netflix has done for the Xbox 360.

Lots of international news

Nickelodeon celebrates Chinese New Year with a new Ni Hao, Kai-lan! primetime special, Ladybug Festival, premiering Monday, February 2 8-8:30p (the eighth day of the Chinese New Year).  Additionally, www.nickjr.com will feature a Chinese New Year themed interactive game, Hoho's Chinese New Year Coin Catch, today.  The Nick Jr. animated Mandarin-language preschool series Ni Hao, Kai-lan premiered a year ago on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

The second season of preschool series Raggs (13 new episodes) is set to premiere February 2 on PBS stations that carry the series.  Raggs is presented by KQED San Francisco and distributed by American Public Television.  Additionally, each month this year www.raggs.com will offer a free download of a new Raggs music video from the new episodes.

Nickelodeon Australia unveils its local production and programming slate for 2009:
The Go Show (8x30), a new music show, premieres January 23.  Hosted by known talent, Maude and Kyle, the series features music clips, exclusive backstage information and interviews, prizes and a chance for kids to voice their musical tastes.
New episodes of the animated series Kids First (5x3) also debut this month.  The series focuses on kids who have been the first to do various things, like the youngest kid to sail solo around the world.
Adventure series Camp Orange returns for its fifth season.  The new episodes will air in June 2009.
The network has ordered a second season of Sorry I've Got No Head (13x30), a co-production between Nickelodeon Australia and So Television and Little Portman.  The first season of the sketch-comedy series premieres February 18, 2009, with season two following in late 2009.
Insomniacs (working title) - a creepy live-action series that is currently in production.
Season two of Nick Shorts is also now in production in association with Screenwest and the Film and Television Institute WA (FTI).  Six animated short films from creators in Western Australia will air on Nickelodeon throughout the first half of the year.
Australia's 7th annual Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards

Imira Entertainment has completed several new sales ahead of NATPE including:
Discovery Hispanic US takes all of Louie (39x26), while Discovery Kids Latin America picks up the new episodes of Louie (13x26, for a total of 39x26)
Sorpresa, a US Spanish-language channel, takes the preschool series Bali (52x13)
Vitaminix (104x2) is acquired by two US Spanish-language channels, Somos TV and Mega TV, and Film Ideas takes the non-theatrical rights in the US and Canada.
Disney Latin America takes the preschool series 64 Zoo Lane (78x11).
The animated series Lola & Virginia (52x12) is acquired by Canal Once (Mexico) and renewed by SBT (Brazil).  SBT also picks up licensing and merchandising rights with New Star taking home entertainment rights for the territory, and Quality Films taking the home entertainment rights for Chile

Sesame Street workshop and mobile learning

Technologies made possible by advances such as the OMVC standard must be harnessed for educational applications as well, points out educational foundation The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. The group released a new study which found that mobile learning technology may represent the next frontier for educators if effective educational content and support is developed for these new platforms. Findings and recommendations of Pockets of Potential: Using Mobile Technologies to Promote Children's Learning include the call for:
Government investment in R&D to assess the impact mobile technologies have on children's learning and development
Establishment of a Digital Teachers Corps to prepare educators how to use digital media
Creation of a White House Initiative on Digital Learning
Introduction of mobile devices in schools, beginning with an experimentation phase in which teachers are trained for integrating interactive mobile media

Follow this link to read more
http://joanganzcooneycenter.org/publications/index.html

Intel unites the internet with TV

Intel unites the internet with TV
Maggie Shiels,
Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco

Intel has signed a deal with Yahoo to enhance the way people use their TVs by adding internet applications.

The collaboration will produce a Widget Channel that lets viewers e-mail friends, trade shares or check the weather while watching programmes.

The internet-based services will run on a new set of Intel chips designed specifically for web-connected devices.

"This is not a copy of a PC on TV," said Eric Kim, head of Intel's digital home group.

"We are setting a new bar and delivering a richer internet experience to TV like never before," he said.

Unveiling the alliance at the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco, Mr Kim said previous efforts to unite the net and TV had failed because the internet stopped people using their set for its prime function - watching programmes.

'Beam me up, Scotty'

With TV available in more than 1.3 billion households worldwide there was no doubt, he said, about its ubiquity.

"'Who shot JR?', 'Beam me up, Scotty', 'You're fired!' and 'Goodnight and good luck' - you know these lines better than I do," he said. "I don't have to name the show or the stars. Why? Because we all want and we all love TV."

Patrick Barry, Yahoo's head of connected TV, demonstrated the Widget Channel that showed a slim "snippet bar" at the bottom of the screen loaded with things like the weather, share prices, news, sports and photo-sharing website Flickr.

"This is about not compromising the screen size," he said. "In the past the idea was to put the browser on TV and use a text based interface which would interfere with the programme.

"This leaves the user in the environment they are comfortable with which is watching TV," said Mr Barry.

The "snippet bar" can be widened and used as a sidebar on the left of a screen without obscuring the show that is being viewed.

Advertising

Other Widget Channel features shown at the conference included the ability to do picture-in-picture, download video on demand and shop online.

Viewers will be able to choose from what is expected to be hundreds of thousands of widgets, or web applications.

The merging of the net and TV is expected to bolster TV's position as the number one draw for advertisers.

Analyst firm IDC has predicted that internet advertising will surpass ads on newspapers and cable and broadcast TV by 2012. The firm also predicted that overall revenue from the web will double to $51.1bn (£26bn) in four years.

Irwin Gotlieb, chief executive of ad management company GroupM, said the Widget Channel would blur the line between the net and TV.

"Companies still spend five times as much ad money on the TV as the web," he said. "Advertising is sold more effectively on TV. The problem with TV is that everyone sees the same ad."

Mr Gotlieb said the Widget Channel could mean adverts tailored to a viewer's preferences - the dynamic between TV and the web could change dramatically.

"It changes accountability," he said. "It puts TV not on an even footing with the internet as a mass medium, but it could potentially leapfrog it because of the improved dynamic of the big screen audio experience."

New chip

For its part Intel is building a purpose-built system on a chip designed specifically for the web-connected consumer electronics market. It will be able to handle high-definition viewing, home theatre quality audio, 3-D graphics and bring net connectivity to the TV.

Mr Kim urged the consumer electronics industry to embrace the new CE 3100 chip, code-named Canmore, in an effort to "create an ecosystem to enhance the viewer experience".

"Up until now there has been no consistent architecture to do this well," he said. "No de facto platform to fuse the internet with TV.

"For the first time we are bringing the full richness of the internet and web 2.0 and optimising the TV while respecting the TV's unique attributes: simplicity, ease of use, socialising and entertainment value. All the things that people love about TV."

Paul Jackson, principal analyst with Forrester Research, said: "If you look at these things what they boil down to is - is it compelling to use? Am I as a consumer going to sit on my couch with my very expensive TV and think 'Wow, I really want to go and look at the weather'.

"As we have seen, a lot of people are doing that with their laptop on their knee during the Olympics or the Superbowl, which is inconvenient and involves just one person.

"So getting to the stage where you can bring some of that functionality to the TV without it being disruptive to the viewing experience is what has been missing to date."

Mr Kim said Sony, Toshiba, Samsung and Motorola had all shown interest in the Canmore chip, which will go into production in 2009.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7573331.stm

Published: 2008/08/21 09:08:55 GMT

© BBC MMIX

The world will be run by widgets!

MySpace will have its own widget on the Widget Channel designed to run on the televisions and other devices powered by Intel's CE 3100 Media Processor. The MySpace Widget for TV will allow users to receive friends updates, read and respond to messages, publish personal status and mood updates, browse photos and view friends' profiles.

PBS.org racks 'em up.

Citing statistics from panel-based measurement firm Hitwise, which ranks similar publishers in terms of like and kind market share, PBS was the most visited broadcast network website in 2008.  PBS.org ranked as the top broadcast site for 19 weeks compared to 12 weeks each for CBS.com and NBC.com.  PBS.org and PBSKids.org reported record traffic years in 2008. PBSKids.org benefited from a new video player, which streamed nearly one million clips/week and generated more than 13 million total streams since its launch last fall, according to CDN thePlatform.

Scholastic Kids Press Corps

Scholastic Kids Press Corps adds 29 new kid reporters (ages 10-14), who will cover all the major kid, news, entertainment and other events in the coming year, including the upcoming US Presidential Inauguration.  Their work, along with the returning 22 other kid reporters, will be featured in articles published by Scholastic News online and in magazines Scholastic News (grades 1-6) and Junior Scholastic (grades 6-8).

Sirius kids programming, Kids Stuff

Sirius XM Radio premiered Kids Stuff, a new music and storytelling show aimed at preschoolers, over the holidays.  Kids Stuff airs Mondays-Fridays at 12p on Kids Place Live on Sirius and XM channels 116.  Kids Place Live offers daily programming for K2-10, including The Animal Farm (7a), The Absolutely Mindy Show (3p) and Robbie Schaefer's Stuck in a Real Tall Tree (7p).

Planet Soccer live

Planet Live Ltd and MCM Net, a digital agency, have teamed to create the K6-14 aimed virtual world Planet Soccer Live, which entered its soft-launch phase in December.  The UK-based site is designed to let users explore and interact with a football stadium, training ground and other rooms, as well as featuring football (soccer) related single player games, a live chat function.  Additionally, users can personalize their own characters and design their own space, shop for haircuts, balls, and other equipment using their 'soccer dollars.'  Membership is free, but a premium membership unlocks key features such as multiplayer games, emoticons, character personalization and access to designer furniture to design your pad.

Licensing news

BBC Worldwide appoints Martin Yaffe International as the master toy licensee for the new animated preschool series Harry and Toto.  Harry and Toto currently airs on CBeebies, which has ordered a second season of episodes.  With BBC Worldwide Children's and Licensing' major licensing effort for the series set to bow in fall/winter 2009, Martin Yaffe International will introduce a plush items and lunchware in 2009, followed in 2010 by toy figures, play sets, vehicles and other wheeled toys.  Created by Paul Shuttleworth of Handle and Sprout Productions, the series revolves around Harry the Hare and Toto the Tortoise as they explore the world of opposites.

Licensing agency Kidz Entertainment/EEMC is named to rep Miffy across Nordic and Eastern Europe.  Retailer, KappAhl, begin the licensing program exclusively last fall with a range of apparel for kids and young teens. The licensing program will expand to include categories such as toys, publishing, stationery, bags and accessories.