Joshua Blake: The Agency

BKN International is launching a new animated project, Joshua Blake: The Agency, which it will present, including animation and scripts, this fall at Mipcom Jr.  BKN plans to deliver 40 episodes by spring 2011.  With a budget of approximately $13 million, BKN has already secured about $5 million in a deal with a Canadian company.  The project will qualify as Canadian Content.  Joshua Blake: The Agency revolves around Joshua Blake, a teen following in the footsteps of his older and well-known brother, has been trained by the government spy organization, known as The Agency.  Unlike his brother, Joshua will use the powers of The Agency to save the world from the forces of evil.  The series will be executive produced by Richard Ungar (Spiderman - The Animated Series, Biker Mice from Mars and X Men  Evolution), with Andy Briggs as lead writer (Hero.com and Rise of the Gargoyles).

Domo Animate

Big Tent Entertainment teams with GoAnimate.com to launch a new digital platform, Domo Animate at Domonation.com (www.domonation.com).  On the platform fans can create their own customizable animations featuring Domo.  Domo Animate marks the first time that GoAnimate.com has used its animation platform to create a completely customized site separate from the GoAnimate.com property.  Additionally, Domonation.com and Phase 4 Films are launching the Domo Animation Challenge, a competition where fans can showcase their original animated Domo videos created using Domo Animate (entries must be received by June 14, 2009).

Swine Flu, PBS, and Hasbro

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) joins the Ad Council and Sesame Workshop to launch a national public service advertising campaign designed to encourage US families and kids to take simple steps to protect themselves from the 2009 H1N1 flu virus and continue to practice healthy habits.  As part of HHS and the Ad Council's campaign, Sesame Workshop produced a TV PSA featuring Sesame Street's Elmo and Gordon explaining the importance of healthy habits including washing your hands, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth and sneezing into the bend of your arm.  An extension of Sesame's Healthy Habits for Life initiative, the PSAs direct viewers to go to www.cdc.gov for information on how to stay healthy.  The Ad Council is distributing the PSAs to TV stations nationwide.

Hasbro and Discovery Communications complete Hasbro's purchase of a 50% interest in a joint venture that holds the Discovery Kids Network in the US.  Hasbro and Discovery plan for the joint venture to create a re-branded kid's/family entertainment aimed TV network.  Slated to launch in late 2010, the network will feature content based on Hasbro's portfolio of properties, and content from Discovery's extensive library kid's programming, as well as programming from third-party producers.

Giftventure

Sesame Workshop and Giftventure, a creator of personal treasure hunts for kids, enter into a licensing agreement that will create the Sesame Street Giftventure line.  The new Sesame Street Giftventure will include three illustrated poster-sized letters featuring a Sesame Street character chosen by the customer, such as Elmo or Big Bird, and a personalized game or puzzle, which when solved reveals the location of a hidden gift.

PBS and Panache

PBS and Panache, an ad-insertion platform for media and entertainment companies, partner to integrate Panache's platform into PBS's video management system.  This move will allow PBS Kids Go! producers to place interactive game elements within any video content on the programming block's website, which will let games run directly inside the PBS Kids Go video player, which offers show video clips and full-length episodes.  By enabling producers to assign and schedule game content over specific broadband videos within Panache's, which features specific reporting capabilities, PBS Kids Go will be able to track the effectiveness of their interactive elements.  The first series adding the Panache-enabled game interactivity to online videos include Arthur, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, Cyberchase and WordGirl, which will be followed by The Electric Company.

BillMyParents, battleship, L.O.S.E news

Here's a new way for tweens/teens to spend (more of) Mom and Dad's money online.  Socialwise, Inc. launches BillMyParents, a new online payment system that allows teens to buy things online and parents to later ok the purchase via an approval process.  After convincing their folks to sign up for the service, tweens/ teens can shop online either via BillMyParents enabled social networks, virtual worlds or online gaming sites. Once they pick what they want to buy (and maybe include a note to the folks), BillMyParents sends an email or text to their parent(s). Parents then review their selections and can approve or put the kibosh each request individually, or as a group, and then enter the credit card information.  BillMyParents has launched a shopping site powered by Amazon.com at www.bmpshopping.com, and also has set partnerships with a number of social networking sites including Artix Entertainment, Habbo, Outspark and RockYou!, among others.


Negotiations are underway for Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights) to direct an action-adventure movie version of Hasbro's Battleship game for Universal, according to THR.  Already signed on to pen the script is the brother writing team of Jon and Erich Hoeber (Whiteout, Red).  Universal is already in various stages of development for movie adaptations of three other Hasbro properties, Monopoly, Candy Land and Ouija Board.

Muhuhahaha!  Cartoon Network Asia picks up Nerd Corp Entertainment's animated series League of Super Evil (a/k/a L.O.S.E.).  The series will launch in 2010 on Cartoon Network in 25+ countries, including India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China and several others in South East Asia.  Cartoon Network will handle all rights, including merchandising, for the 26x30 of the series. Additionally, Nerd Corps has created 30-second shorts tied to each episode for use as bonus on-air or online content of evil.  The League of Super Evil debuted in March on Cartoon Network US and YTV (Canada), as well as CBBC (UK), Jetix in Latin America and Canal +, Canal J and Gulli in France.

Sesame Workshop enters into a multi-year partnership with Yoostar, which will make some 160 classic and newer Sesame Street clips, featuring star Muppet characters (e.g. Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie etc.), available over the course of the deal.  Fans can purchase and download the Sesame Street clips at Yoostar.com  beginning July 1, and at retail outlets from August 24.  The Yoostar system (retails for $169.95) includes the equipment and software to remove original actors from the scene and insert users in their place.

36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards

The nominees for the 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards, a presentation of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) in cooperation with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), were announced yesterday.  As always the Daytime Emmy Awards include a range of kid-targeted programming, and this year the during the telecast the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Sesame Street in celebration of its 40 years of educating and entertaining kids.  The awards will be handed out during the live 36th Daytime Emmy Awards from the Orpheum Theater in LA, on August 30, 2009 on The CW.  Some of the kid categories and the respective nominees are listed below.  I am happy to report that there are many kid programming categories and lots of nominees to fill them, as well as some nominees for kid-centric programming in non-kid specific categories  so many in fact that I can't list them all here.  For a full list of Daytime Emmy categories and nominees go to www.emmyonline.tv . Congratulations to everyone!

Children's Animated Program
Curious George (PBS)
Little Einsteins (Disney Channel)
Sid The Science Kid (PBS)
The Backyardigans (Nickelodeon)
WordWorld (PBS)

Children's Series
Adventure Camp (Discovery Kids)
Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman (PBS)
From the Top at Carnegie Hall (PBS)
Postcards From Buster (PBS)

Preschool Series
Between the Lions (PBS)
Johnny and the Sprites (Disney Channel)
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies (PBS)
Sesame Street (PBS)
The Wonder Pets (Nickelodeon)

Animated Series
Back at the Barnyard (Nickelodeon)
Ben 10: Alien Force (Cartoon Network)
Handy Manny (Disney Channel)

New Approaches  Daytime Children's
Artopia (PBS)
Cyberchase (PBS)
Sesame Street (PBS)

iCarly the game

Activision Publishing and Nickelodeon enter into a global partnership to develop a new videogame based on the network's TV series iCarly.  Set to release in fall 2009 for Wii and Nintendo DS the iCarly videogame invites kids to help Carly and her friends create new webisodes in the iCreate mode of the show, which corresponds to the original storyline featured in the game, allowing them to add their own ideas by swapping out props, characters, color schemes, audio, intros, outros etc.  The game will also includes mini-games, presented as show skits.  Up to four players can compete in the Wii version of the game, where they can also earn 'Web-Cred' to purchase new items, props and so on.

The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!

Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat is headed to PBS Kids in the new animated preschool series, The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! (40x30).  Currently in production and slated to premiere in fall 2010, the new series, the very first Cat in the Hat animated TV series, is the result of an agreement between Random House Children's Entertainment, in association with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and producers Portfolio Entertainment and Collingwood O'Hare Productions, with PBS Kids.  Martin Short will lend his voice to The Cat in the Hat for the series.  The series will also air in Canada on Treehouse, premiering concurrently with PBS.  Developed for TV by Portfolio and Collingwood O'Hare, the animated series is based on Random House's Beginner Book franchise, The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library.  A series-based website aimed at kid and featuring activities will exist on PBSKids.org, while parent and teacher resources will be available at PBSParents.org and PBSTeachers.org.  Additionally, Random House Children's Books will publish a full line of original books to support the TV series launch.  Random House Children's Entertainment will oversee all licensing and merchandising.

Gator Group

Gator Group, a new licensing agency, including product design and development, manufacturing and marketing, opens its doors.  Founded by a group of former execs from global marketing services agency, Cresta, Gator Group's client list includes Paul Frank Industries and the newly launched Tales 4 Tomorrow ( www.tales4tomorrow.com ), the latter of which was created in partnership with Conservation International.  With headquarters in Dana Point, California, Gator Group also has offices in LA, Paris and Hong Kong.

Dr. Helen Boehm is named as an advisor to the US Department of Education, where she will assist in the development of the Ready-to-Learn kid's video initiative for preschool and elementary school students.  Boehm also continues to write and consult on kids' media and certify educational programming content at www.FCCReady.com .

A look at the numbers

Top 10 Combined Broadcast/Basic Cable shows among Kids 2-11 for the week of 4/27-5/3/09 , 6a-6a:
K2-11                                                      Total Delivery (000)
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 3 (5/3; 8-9p)      2205
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (5/2; 9:30a)                   2187
DSNY*: Hannah Montana (5/3; 8p)                                   2172
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 2 (5/2; 8-9p)      2144
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 1 (5/1; 8-9p)      2143
DSNY*: Sonny With a Chance (5/3; 8:30p)                        2137
NICK:    Back at the Barnyard (5/3; 10:30a)                      2087
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 2 (5/3; 11a-12p) 1993
DSNY*: Jonas (5/2; 8p)                                                    1976
NICK:    Penguins of Madagascar (5/3; 10a)                       1963
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 4/27-5/3/09 , 6a-6a:
K6-11                                                 Total Delivery (000)
DSNY*:  Hannah Montana (5/3; 8p)                             1764
DSNY*:  Sonny With a Chance (5/3; 8:30p)                  1750
DSNY*:  Jonas (5/2; 8p)                                              1606
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 3 (5/3; 8-9p) 1591
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 2 (5/2; 8-9p) 1518
DSNY*:  Suite Life on Deck (5/1; 8p)                            1484
NICK:    SpongeBob SquarePants (5/2; 9:30a)              1466
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 1 (5/1; 8-9p) 1395
DSNY*: Wizards of Waverly Place (5/2; 8:30p)              1386
NICK:    iCarly (4/29; 6p)                                            1378
Source: Disney from Nielsen Media Research Data
*Disney Channel is not an ad supported cable network, unlike the others in this listing.
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 Tweens 9-14 for the week of 4/27-5/3/09 , 6a-6a:
Tweens 9-14                                     Total Delivery (000)
DSNY*:  Hannah Montana (5/3; 8p)                             1773
DSNY*:  Sonny With a Chance (5/3; 8:30p)                  1693
DSNY*:  Jonas (5/2; 8p)                                              1594
DSNY*: Wizards of Waverly Place (5/2; 8:30p)              1447
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 3 (5/3; 8-9p) 1420
DSNY*: Suite Life on Deck (5/1; 8p)                             1392
FOX:     American Idol (4/28; 8-9:02p)                         1324
DSNY*: Wizards of Waverly Place (5/3; 7:30p)              1238
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 1 (5/1; 8-9p) 1238
DSNY*: Camp Rock (5/1; 9-10:45p)                             1186
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 Teens 12-17 for the week of 4/27-5/3/09 , 6a-6a:
Teens 12-17                                     Total Delivery (000)
FOX:     American Idol (4/28; 8-9:02p)                        1236
FOX:     American Idol (4/29; 9-10p)                           1149
DSNY*:  Hannah Montana (5/3; 8p)                              977
DSNY*:  Sonny With a Chance (5/3; 8:30p)                  935
DSNY*:  Jonas (5/2; 8p)                                              921
DSNY*: Wizards of Waverly Place (5/2; 8:30p)              868
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 3 (5/3; 8-9p) 836
VH1:     For The Love of Ray J (4/27; 10-11p)               833
NICK:    Fairly OddParents: Wishology Pt. 1 (5/1; 8-9p) 802
NICK:    iCarly (4/27; 7:30p)                                       768
Source: Disney from Nielsen Media Research Data
*Disney Channel is not an ad supported cable network, unlike the others in this listing.
**Abbreviation for Adult Swim, which airs on Cartoon Network

Hit Entertainment

Hit Entertainment unveils its new kid-targeted program development slate, which include three properties:
Mike the Knight (52x10) is a CG animated preschool-aimed series created by Alexander Bar (Lunar Jim).  The series revolves around Mike, a 10-year-old boy, who wants to be a knight, who sets out to protect his kingdom and make mom proud and do the very best he can.

Also in the works for preschoolers is another CG animated series titled The Real Mees (52 x 10), which encourages kids to believe in themselves.  Created by Dan Good (Waybuloo), the program focuses on a group of characters as they transform from cocoons into quirky personalities.  Hit is working in conjunction with the team at indie production company Absolutely Cuckoo.

Kids Hate Clowns (52x13) is a new 2D animated comedy in the early stages of development from Firestep & Impossible Pictures.  Targeted to K8-12, Kids Hate Clowns follows Chloe a prim/proper 13-year-old and what happens when three relatives, who happen to be clowns, show up at her home and move in.

The JumpArounds

Nickelodeon begins production in LA on its new live-action preschool series The JumpArounds.  Set to premiere this summer on the network, the 30-minute music appreciation-centric series encourages kids to express themselves through movement, song and music and features original music composed by Matter Music and lyrics by series creators Nadine van der Velde and Scott Kraft.  The JumpArounds revolves around four music school friends and their band that invite viewers to help solve everyday challenges in each episode.  In May, Nickelodeon and Noggin will air two new music videos featuring The JumpArounds in addition to launching the corresponding series website ( www.thejumparounds.com ).

new kid-targeted TV channel

Hasbro, Inc. and Discovery Communications are partnering in a new 50/50 joint venture that includes the creation of a new kid-targeted TV channel, which will take the place of the current Discovery Kids Network, and a corresponding website.  Set to launch in late 2010, the re-branded network will be targeted to kids 14 and under and will feature original programming based on Hasbro properties, Discovery Kids existing programming as well as third-part content.  The 13-year-old Discovery Kids Network will continue to operate until the debut of the new network (name TBA).  Discovery Communications will retain the Discovery Kids brand for, among other things, its international networks and its licensing and merchandising business.  Under the terms of the deal, Hasbro will purchase a 50% stake in the venture, which will hold the assets related to Discovery Kids Network in the US, for which Discovery Communications will receive $300 million.  The search for a President and GM for the network has begun. Discovery will handle ad sales, distribution, origination and other operational requirements for the venture, while Hasbro will provide studio-produced programming.  New programming will include shows (animated, live-action, game etc.) based on Hasbro's Romper Room, Tonka, G.I. Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony as well as Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, and Cranium among others.