Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), Frederator Studios

Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) - announced plans to team up to develop new methods to measure TV viewing across multiple platforms. The group plans to mine set top box data, measure internet video consumption and analyze cross-platform usage to gain a more accurate picture of how audiences now consume premium content. The companies have agreed to make contributions of at least $1 million combined to build new research apparatus. "The velocity of today's technology developments enables us to demand a more sophisticated measurement model that provides greater accountability and accuracy to increase the effectiveness of our clients' media and marketing investments," wrote Nick Brien, President and CEO, Interpublic Group's Mediabrands about CIMM's missions. "We can no longer subscribe to outdated perceptions of engagement."

In more animation news, Sony Pictures Animation announced a deal to develop animated features with Fred Seibert and his Frederator Studios studio, one of the founding Next New Networks micro-nets. Frederator's credits include Butch Hartman's The Fairly Odd Parents, Genndy Tartakovsky's Dexter's Laboratory, and Craig McCraken's The Powerpuff Girls.

Ian James Corlett, Skywriter Media and Entertainment Group and Atomic Cartoons are partnering to develop a new animated TV series, Elliott & Lucy, for a Canadian broadcaster. Based on characters from Corlett's book E Is for Ethics: How to Teach Kids About Morals, Values, and What Matters Most, the series follows the brother/sister duo as they learn about life and even have some fun. The book will be published by Atria Books/Simon & Schuster this December. A voice-over actor, Corlett also created the animated series Being Ian and was co-creator of Yvon of the Yukon.

Stella Takes the Stage, TATTARRATTAT, The Jim Henson Company, Chorion, FremantleMedia Enterprises

Little Airplane Productions and Spin Master Entertainment, a unit of Spin Master, enter into a partnership to develop a new preschool series entitled Stella Takes the Stage. Slated to be available from early 2010, the series will employ a new animation style called "Theatre Arts Animation", a mix of theatre stagecraft and computer animation developed by Little Airplane. Featuring an educational curriculum, Stella Takes the Stage is designed to encourage preschoolers to become more aware of personal qualities they posses or would like to have and help them identify new skills and potential career ideas.

SupperTime Entertainment, kid's book author/illustrator David Sheldon and Bix Pix Entertainment are teaming up to create a K6-11 targeted TV series and books and merchandise based on the TATTARRATTAT characters, which can flip, created by Sheldon. Under the arrangement, Bix Pix Entertainment is developing and producing the series with Sheldon serving as creative director/lead character designer, and SupperTime handling marketing and merchandising for the property. Bix Pix plans to produce the series using a style of animation that incorporates stop-motion and CG techniques. TATTARRATTAT is expected to begin production in early 2010 with initial distribution scheduled for fall 2011.

The Jim Henson Company will introduce the new series Pajanimals (26x30 or 78x7), which is currently in development, to potential co-production partners at Mipcom. Produced by Henson and 4Kids Entertainment, the short-form, live-action Pajanimals (10x2) music video series was commissioned by and airs on Sprout, as part of it's The Good Night Show programming block, in the US.

Chorion will introduce The Octonauts (50x11 and 1x22 special), a new HD CGI animated action/adventure preschool series, at Mipcom. Produced by Brown Bag Films, The Octonauts has already been acquired by CBeebies (UK), TF1 (France) and ABC Australia, which will all launch the series in 2010. The Octonauts follows a group of heroes that set out in their underwater adventures where they rescue sea creatures and explore underwater worlds.



Spain-based Imira Entertainment is heading to Mipcom/MipJunior where it will offer two new series:
Imira is representing the distribution rights to the live-action series Karku (76x26) across Europe. Imira will showcase the series at Mip Junior in October. Karku is produced by Chilean company My Friend Entertainment in co-production with Television Nacional de Chile. The series follows the adventures of 13-year-old Emilia, who is sent by her parents to live in Santiago, and her pals as they try all sorts of jobs and scheme to raise money to take a vacation together. Karku currently airs across Latin America on Nickelodeon Latin America, TVN (Chile), Ecuavisa, Senal Colombia, Televisa in Mexico and Brazil, as well as in the US, in Spanish, on Sorpresa.
Imira will also showcase the flash animated series Sandra, the Fairytale Detective (52x13). The series is co-produced by TVE and DQ Entertainment, with presales already inked with TF1 (France), Disney Channels in France, Italy, Germany, Spain and India and RTP (Portugal). Sandra, the Fairytale Detective revolves around Sandra, a 10-year-old that uses her detective skills as she travels to a parallel world inhabited by fairytale characters and lots of what ifs (e.g. what if someone steals Cinderella's glass slipper?).


FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) signs new license deals for the design property Rebecca Bonbon. Rebecca Bonbon is the French bulldog created by designer Yuko Shimizu (Hello Kitty). Picking up the brand are: US apparel company Kids Headquarters - young ladies and junior products across categories including apparel, accessories, jewelry, sleepwear and loungewear, as well as a pet line; UK-based Blueprint - young lady-aimed stationery including storage products, notebooks, stationery sets and pencil cases and novelty items for launch in the UK in spring 2010; France's MOA the retailer will offer co-branded Rebecca Bonbon products including, jewelry, watches, hair/apparel accessories, mobile phone accessories, sunglasses, t-shirts, bags and footwear, among others, at MOA shops and MOA-branded areas in stores across France, Monaco and Andorra, Spain, Russia, Romania, Hungary and Greece.

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon commissions two new live-action comedy series featuring original music that will be co-produced with Sony Music, per Variety. Nick has picked up a new series entitled Victorious (20 episodes) from Dan Schneider (Zoey 101, iCarly, among others), and an untitled series (20 episodes) from the great Scott Fellows (Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide). The shows are part of multi-year deal between Nick and Sony to develop projects with a strong music component.
The new Fellows show revolves around a boy band that wins and American Idol type competition show. The series stars newcomers Kendall Schmidt, Carlos Pena, James Maslow and Logan Henderson.
Victorious stars Victoria Justice (Zoey 101, Spectacular!) as a new girl at a high school for performing arts. The series is slated to bow in early 2010.

Smith & Tinker

Bellevue, WA-based toy and game start-up Smith & Tinker received $29 million in funding from a group of tech and game investors including Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, Foundry Group, Leo Capital Holdings and DCM, which led the round. One of the company's first creations is Nanovor, a hybrid targeted at boys which links online and offline play. A proprietary handheld which extends the play experience offline, dubbed the Nanoscope, is due to be released starting in October. Smith & Tinker plans to build Nanovor into a full scope entertainment franchise, including weekly animated webisodes, comics, a graphic novel, field guide.

Little Airplane Productions, RDF Digital USA

Little Airplane Productions (The Wonder Pets!, 3rd & Bird!) is producing two new animated preschool series, Small Potatoes! and Jo B. G. Raff!, both of which are created by Josh Selig, Founder/President, Little Airplane Productions. Little Airplane's producer Jeffrey Lesser will produce the two programs. Little Airplane will showcase the two new series this October at MipJunior/Mipcom.
Small Potatoes! (10x2) The short-form series revolves around four musical potatoes as they use their imagination to take them on adventures and explore different musical genres.
Jo B. G. Raff! (26x11) Featuring a new style of animation called, Soft Toy Animation, creating a stuffed toy look for the characters, the program follows best friends, Jo B. and G. Raff, as they co-host their own preschool series. Complicating the show is that G. Raff takes off just as each show is about to begin and Jo B. travels far and wide to find them leaving the duo hosting the show from the moon to the Pyramids of Giza.


RDF Digital USA and Artificial Life partner to produce a new kid-targeted interactive animated half-hour TV show called Sleuths. The show promises a new level of mobile viewer participation, not yet seen in the US, which allows audiences to become part of the storyline. Utilizing Artificial Life's MoPA-TV system, kid viewers can register their own avatars that will appear on screen three times during each live telecast for elimination-style voting sessions. The show's detective characters will ask the avatars to answer a question related to the mystery and kids watching at home then text in their responses. At the end of each episode, a random selection of 5 avatars get to appear alongside the animated characters in a digital shout-out to kids who solved all three puzzles. Producer Max Benator, SVP/Multiplatform Entertainment, RDF USA, will initially pitch the show to kid-targeted cable networks as a unique 2-screen entertainment property with a range of sponsorship opportunities.

PBS Kids programming notes

PBS Kids programming notes:
PBS Kids will premiere five new weather-centric episodes of the preschool animated series Sid The Science Kid the week of September 14-18, 2009 (check local listings). The five new episodes explore the science of weather and the seasons. Additionally, a pbskids.org/ sid will launch a new online game, focusing on weather and learning, simultaneous to the new episodes. The Sid the Science Kid TV series is co-produced by The Jim Henson Company and KCET/Los Angeles for PBS Kids, with the website produced by KCET New Media in partnership with FableVision.
PBS Kids is hosting a marathon of the new preschool CGI animated series Dinosaur Train, with back-to-back episodes during the two-hour PBS Kids block on Labor Day, Monday, September 7 (check local listings). From The Jim Henson Company, Dinosaur Train will join the PBS Kids weekday lineup. Additionally there is also a corresponding Dinosaur Train interactive website at www.pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain.

National Geographic Little Kids magazine launches a new online component at littlekids www.nationalgeographic.com. Like the magazine, the website is targeted to preschoolers 3-6 and their parents/caretakers. The site features a range of games, crafts, recipes, experiments and videos, as well as resources to help parents talk to kids about various things including the first day of school.

Cookie Jar Entertainment's animated preschool series Caillou is moving to Treehouse (Canada) where it will debut on Monday September 7 at 7:30a. Caillou will air regularly on Treehouse Monday-Friday at 7:3a, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1p, and Saturdays at 7a and 10p and Sundays at 7a and 10:30p. A fifth season of Caillou is currently in production, a co-production with South Africa's Clockwork Zoo, and is slated to bow on Treehouse in fall 2010.

Sesame Workshop

Sesame Workshop heads to Mipcom this October 5-9, 2009, where it will offer a new slate of Sesame series, which are currently in development, as well as its new version of The Electric Company (26x3):
Abby's Flying Fairy School (13x8) a CGI-animated series featuring Sesame Street's Abby Cadabby and her friends, including Niblet who is part gerbil/part unicorn, as they attend Fairy School. The CGI characters in Abby's Flying Fairy School were designed by Peter De Seve (character designer for Ice Age).
Munchin' Impossible (26x5) With the goal of saving the world's cookies, The Man, a gingerbread man cookie that heads the CIA (Cookie Intelligence Agency) sends Cookie Monster out in the world to find healthy eating alternatives. The short-form series is a mix of puppet and live-action content.
Elmo's Backyard (26x5) as Elmo explores his own backyard, finding everything from a spider web to a frozen birdbath, the mixed puppet and live-action series encourages kids to learn through exploration. The short-form series is based on a science education curriculum including process, exploration and vocabulary etc.
3-2-1 Let's Go (working title, 52x30) the original series is hosted by Abby Cadabby and features segments from Play With Me Sesame, Global Grover and introduce kids to Bert and Ernie's Great Adventure, Sesame Workshop's first claymation series.


Cookie Jar Entertainment and Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) launch the Busytown Mysteries website in Canada this week at www.busytownmysteries.ca or www.kidscbc.ca/busytownmysteries , which is, of course, based on the preschool TV series of the same name and in turn is based on the work of author Richard Scarry. The Busytown Mysteries site invites kids to be residents of Busytown and offers a range of preschool-aimed educational interactive games, creative projects and activities and My First Email.

Discovery Kids Channel

Discovery Kids Channel unveils its fall 2009 schedule for K2-5 and K6-14. Discovery Kids will continue to operate as a TV network until Discovery and new partner Hasbro launch a new kid-targeted TV network (title TBA) in its place in fall 2010. Discovery Kids fall 2009 programming highlights include:
Ready Set Learn! - programming block daily 9a-2p (K2-5):
The block, hosted by Paz the animated Penguin, will feature developmentally appropriate preschool series including Peep and the Big Wide World, Hi-5, Hip Hop Harry, Bigfoot Presents and Wilbur.
@DK programming block daily 2p-10p (K6-14)
Making its network debut is The Saddle Club, based on the books by Bonnie Bryan. New episodes of The Saddle Club will bow Sundays at 6p.
Tutenstein at 2p; The Future is Wild at 4:30p; Bindi: The Jungle Girl at 5:30p; Endurance - at 8p; and Adventure Camp at 8:30p

THE MEDIUM Dancing With the Paws - NYT

August 16, 2009
THE MEDIUM
Dancing With the Paws

By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
A recent episode of “The Backyardigans,” the sublime animated series on Nickelodeon, pays tribute to the composer Kurt Weill. Not the plot: it’s about a hippo-journalist whose alter ego fights a robot. But the music conjures Berlin cabaret, with original songs by Evan Lurie, the sly maestro of Hollywood scores.

I asked Lurie, by phone, whether he has ever composed a great stand-alone single for “The Backyardigans,” which is aimed at children ages 2 to 5. He chortled and said, “I came up with one melody” for the hippo-robot episode, “and I thought, That’s really a Kurt Weill song.” He hummed a bar. “But Kurt Weill would be writing about why a woman was wronged by a man, and this song was about why the robot wants cheese.”

Why does the robot want cheese? An absurdist sensibility drives “The Backyardigans,” which chronicles the derring-do of five chewy-looking swashbucklers — Tyrone, Tasha, Pablo, Austin and Uniqua — in a range of David Hockney hues. With each episode devoted not just to a separate quest but also to a different musical genre — 80 so far, including Irish jig, King Oliver jazz, funk, bossa nova, township jive, Kenyan high life, tarantella, psychedelic soul, countrypolitan — the show blows you away with its artistic exactitude. A memory from childhood floods back: the fierce insistence on precision, in tempo and in visual detail, known to any passionate player of make-believe.

“When I was in preschool, the backyard seemed endless,” the show’s creator, Janice Burgess, said. “Where our fence met our neighbor’s — that’s one of my sense memories from when I was 2. It’s this notional adventure space.” Her show convenes five animal personalities in a halcyon set of neighboring backyards that transform — via digital imaging — into eye-popping photorealist panoramas: deserts, oceans, tundras, jungles, rivers.

And then the dancing starts. In preparation for each episode, Beth Bogush, a former program director at the junior division of the Alvin Ailey School, gets music from Lurie. She devises routines for each song and assembles five flesh-and-blood dancers to perform the parts of the Backyardigans on film. Animators study this film and then, with reference to laws of physics and physiology, manipulate the Backyardigan figures on their screens until they credibly reproduce down to the last detail the dancers’ sashays, waltz steps, brushes, balls and lifts.

Where the main constraint on Lurie’s composing is the voices of the singers (each part is sung by an actual child with a roughly one-octave range), Bogush, for her part, is periodically hampered by the undancerly physiques of the on-screen Backyardigans. Let’s not mince words: Tyrone’s a moose, Tasha’s a hippo, Pablo’s a penguin and Austin is a kangaroo. (Uniqua is unique.) “Their arms don’t go over their heads,” Bogush explained by phone. “The distance from the characters’ crotch down to the floor is — a little different.”

With time, though, Bogush and the show’s animators have found ways to create richly detailed and often gorgeous moves for short-limbed, round-bellied bipeds whose bodies barely comply. Originally the plan was to create “The Backyardigans” using “motion capture,” a procedure that records human movement and translates it onto digital, on-screen models. This works well in creating, say, video-game versions of Tiger Woods, whose movements are wide and grand, but it didn’t work for “The Backyardigans.” The action, Burgess told me, looked “too floaty.” She didn’t want drift; she wanted snap — crisp movement with strikes and specificity.

As Burgess spoke of 3-D animation, I briefly thought she was talking about muppetlike models. But she meant computer graphics that represent geometric data in three dimensions. The figures in “The Backyardigans” are created in computer 3-D, while the backdrops are essentially 2-D digital paintings, which are less — as she put it — “real.” I wondered what “real” meant in this context, and Burgess cracked up: “ ‘Real’ means — I don’t know. It’s really in the computer?”

Burgess’s embrace of levels of reality made me think of the varieties of imaginative life. In dreams, and in literary and musical fantasies, pleasure often derives from disembodiment, from moving frictionlessly through space, from floating. But there’s another kind of fantasy life — make-believe in the physical world. This, as “The Backyardigans” makes clear, is the enterprise undertaken by session musicians, actors, dancers and children in their backyards. Make-believers (as opposed to fantasizers) want nothing more than the intense physical experiences that authenticate their games — the clatter of armor, the rope burn from a lasso. Don’t you remember how hard you used to work as a kid to get the sounds and textures of some backyard game — cowboys, pirates, police — exactly right? It was those details that seemed to prove that this new, and newly strange, life was really, really happening.

Points of Entry: This Week’s Recommendations

THE LIZARDIGANS Among the coolest local New York acts in history is the Lounge Lizards. It’s time to savor the moody, gorgeous solo work of Evan Lurie, one of the band’s original members. Lurie’s CD “How I Spent My Vacation”can be bought through Amazon.

YOUR BACKYARD FRIENDS The 2008 “Born to Play” CD, available on Amazon, will net you great “Backyardigans” music, including my favorite zydeco psych-up song, “Go, Go, Go.” To see the show itself, turn to iTunes: Season 1 can be bought entire; Seasons 2 and 3 come by the episode.

INFINITY AND BEYOND In 1994, the year after the computer-generated imagery in “Jurassic Park” opened our eyes, “Babylon 5” became the first TV show to extensively use C.G.I. Check out Renderosity.com about making your own 2-D and 3-D digital art.

Scholastic Media, The WotWots, iPhone

Scholastic Media will launch several new live-action and animated series at Mipcom and MipJunior this October:

In the live-action arena, Scholastic Media has two new properties based on books and an original series:
The Wedding Planner's Daughter, based on the book series by Coleen Murtagh Paratore, which follows Willa (17) on her mission to find love for herself and her commitment phobic mother.
Goddesses, stemming from Greek mythology the story revolves around three teen sisters who are mistakenly sent by their father, Zeus, to Athens ... Georgia instead of Athens, Greece. In Georgia, where they are unable to use their goddess powers, the teens must find their way to survive high school.
Additionally, Scholastic Media offers its original comedy Motor City, about three 20-something friends living in Detroit and dealing with all the firsts that being a young adult brings ... first loves, apartments and jobs.

For preschoolers Scholastic introduces three new animated projects
Chicken Socks - based on the Klutz activity book franchise, is set in a clubhouse and invites viewers on adventures of creation and learning.
Dragoonies - a preschool-aimed sing-along series that follows six little dragon pals as they head to school for the firs time.
Fuzz and Sparkle follows disco-loving aliens as they embrace their inner explorer with humor and music.

New episodes, new time slots, broadcast deals and toy launches for the preschool animated series The WotWots. The WotWots is produced by Pukeko Pictures and made at Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop (Lord of the Rings). In the UK Five's Milkshake! block is moving The WotWots to its new time slot at 8:35a beginning September 7, with all new episodes of the series debuting from October 13. In Australia, ABC1 & ABC2 begin screening new episodes this week at 9a and 12:40p weekdays, respectively. Meanwhile in New Zealand, TVNZ continues to air The WotWots weekdays at 8:50a. Hasbro is set to launch a new toy line (e.g. plush, figures, play sets, publishing) based on the WotWots this September in Australia and New Zealand and October in the UK. Additionally, ABC Commercial's International Program Sales group has sold The WotWots animated series to MTV Finland, Canal + 'Mini Mini kids channel' (Poland), Thai Public Broadcasting Thailand and Media Corp Singapore, with further deals to be announced soon.

Nickelodeon, which launched its first set of iPhone apps in February of this year, conducted a comprehensive study about how kids and families use the iPhone and iPod Touch, surveying 500 parents who have the devices in their homes. The study found that kids not only play games on their parents' devices but that they're also getting their own units to play with and that parents are cool with this.
A majority of parents surveyed consider the iPhone/iTouch to be appropriate for use by children under the age of 18. Perceived appropriateness skews older with the ages of 12+ where at least 50% of parents would begin to consider either device most appropriate to use
In comparing the two devices (iPhone vs. iTouch), the iTouch is considered more child-friendly (no usage charges to worry about)
Music, games, photos, and phone apps (iPhone only) are considered the most appropriate for children
Distraction (keeps the kids occupied), entertainment and education are the top benefits parents consider when allowing or thinking about allowing usage
Kids of all ages prefer games that have objectives scores and timers are viewed as important and add excitement

KidZui, Sesame Street

KidZui, which develops kid-targeted content for the web, launches ZuiTube .com, a free online video service that offers kid-friendly content. Initially ZuiTube.com is offering a library of 60,000 parent and teacher approved videos, with new content added daily, as well as allowing kids to upload their own video creations. ZuiTube is powered by YouTube, but is not affiliated with YouTube or Google. KidZui also operates the KidZui browser, which provides access to 2+ million kid-appropriate games, websites and videos.

Sesame Street launches its 40th season on TV on PBS this November 10 (check local listings). With a new show open and close, the new season features a nature-centric curriculum, My World is Green and Growing, including learning about the benefits of planting their own garden, as well as a new "block" format hosted by Word on the Street Muppet, Murray, from real locations around the world. Also new to the series will be the use of CGI animation in Abby's Flying Fairy School, a segment staring series regular Abby Cadabby. Of course there will be celebrity guests appearances as well as parodies of adult properties, this season except a take on Mad Men (minus the smoking and drinking no doubt). Additionally, in honor of the anniversary year November 1o will also see the release of a tw0-disc compilation DVD, Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days and the illustrated coffee-table book A Celebration: 40 Years of Life on the Street.

Hasbro, PBS, Nick Jr., Wildbrain

Hasbro appoints Stephen J. Davis to the newly created position of President, Hasbro Studios. The new LA-based studio will produce TV series based on Hasbro's brands, new branded content and produce programs from third party content creators. Davis will take up his new position in September. Many of the shows will run on the new yet to be named TV network created under a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications, which is slated to launch in fall 2010, as well as on channels in international markets. Most recently, Davis was CEO, Family Entertainment Group. He also managed a development and production venture between Southern Star and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and previously served as President/Mobile and Online Media, InfoSpace, and prior to that he was President, Granada America. Davis is also a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of NATPE and also serves on other boards. Additionally, Davis also serves as a producer on Young Buc's, a teen-centric scripted pirates series in development at ABC Family, among other projects.

Nick Jr. UK commissions the animated preschool interstitial series Alphabet Romp from Purple Frog Media, per C21 Media. Each of the 26 interstitials will feature a different letter in poems and raps and the like. Foolhardy Films will produce the animation for the series, which is slated to debut later this year. Purple Frog retains all ancillary rights to the property.

PBS launches season 9 of Between the Lions on PBS Kids on Monday, September 21 (check local listings). The 9th season of Between the Lions includes 10 new episodes that will focus on topics including jobs and construction vehicles, wind and weather as well as seasons and celebrations. In addition to an animated special, other new elements of the new season include several new characters such as The Beetles, who offer a rendition of the book Beetle Bop, and the rap duo Hip-Hoppopotamus and Rhymosaurus, and a new band, Phlounder, Also joining the regular cast are dinos Velociraptor and Brachiosaurus, who demonstrate several strategies to help kids read difficult words.

Wildbrain teams with Jack in the Box to launch a Yo Gabba Gabba! and Jack's Kid's Meal promotion. Beginning this week Jack in the Box restaurants will offer one of five Yo Gabba Gabba finger puppets with the purchase of one of its Jack's Kid's Meals. In addition, Jack in the Box customers can go to www.jackskidstoys.com to receive free Yo Gabba Gabba! downloads and discounts on series related merchandise at Ty's Toy Box.

PBS Kids Go, Cartoon One, Sundance Channel, TV One

PBS Kids Go unveils plans at TCA to launch the new series Wilson & Ditch: Digging America exclusively online at www.pbskidsgo.org this fall. Produced by The Jim Henson Company and targeted to K6-10 the series follows two humorous gopher brothers learning about American culture, history and geography make their way to famous and less so destinations across the country in their green-powered van. The series also features interactive games, original comics as well as blogs and podcasts featuring Wilson and Ditch. Created by Joe Purdy (story editor/Dinosaur Train, Sid The Science Kid) and Craig Bartlett (creator/Dinosaur Train, Hey Arnold), Purdy will pen the website content, with Bartlett directing the animated segments creating the site's comic strip material.


Cartoon One, a Rome-based indie animation studio, is completing production on the series Red Caps (26x26), a co-production with Epidem ZOT Finland. Targeted to K6-9, the action/comedy is designed to encourage kids to stand up for their rights and take responsibility for the planet and environment as the Red Caps set out on a different adventure in each episode. The series, which will be screened at MIPJunior, has been pre-sold to RTL 2 (Germany) and will also be broadcast in 2other countries across Turkey and the Middle East from September. A Red Caps 3D feature film, The Magic Crystal, will be completed next year. Additionally, a series of Red Caps books, online games and community as well as board games are slated for next year too.

Lands' End launches Packland an online world for kids where they can explore in four different environments, jungle, ocean, fantasy world or a spy lab where they can create their own virtual backpack. In each of the four environments, kids can Pack Art to add to their backpack (e.g. gear and gadgets) as well as changing the backpack's color, giving it a name and sharing their creations with friends or printing from the site too.


Sundance Channel premieres season three of the network's original eco-series Big Ideas for a Small Planet tomorrow at 8p. The 13-episode series airs within The Green, the network's weekly primetime block focused on environmental programming. The new season will provide further revelations and discussion surrounding green design, inventions and inventors and processes affecting our communities and everyday lives. This season several celebrities such as Jackson Browne, Thom Filicia, Cindy Crawford, Soleil Moon Frye and members of the Philadelphia Eagles will be profiled.

Continuing with the green theme, TV One introduces viewers to a new 30m eco-reality series starring actor/director/writer Mario Van Peebles and his family. Mario's Green House opens September 27 at 6p with eight new episodes airing weekly followed each Sunday at 630p by an encore presentation of the previous week's episode. Mario's Green House follows Mario, his wife Chitra and their five children as they begin a major eco-renovation of their existing home and embark on a green lifestyle makeover. The series is produced in collaboration with Equator HD by Hour One LLC.

Martha Speaks

PBS Kids launches season two of the animated series Martha Speaks with five new episodes premiering Monday-Friday, September 14-18 at 7:30a and 3:30p (check local listings). The first new episode finds Martha's adored and tattered napping chair winds up on the set of Antiques Roadshow, but will appraiser Noel Barrett recognize its true value? Ten additional new episodes will air on PBS Kids after January 2010, including a two-part Presidents Day episode, Martha in the White House, airing on Presidents Day, Monday, February 15. Additionally, January will also see Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will release of new books based the Martha Speaks TV series.

Squared Entertainment

A Squared Entertainment, a new kid's media company co-founded by former DIC Entertainment topper Andy Heyward and marketing veteran Amy Moynihan, has partnered with AOL on a slate of new edutainment animated webisodes (3-5 minutes each) including celebrities featuring Warren Buffett, Gisele Bundchen, Martha Stewart and Carl Sagan. The webisodes will premiere on AOL, which will also help distribute them. The webisodes include Secret Millionaire's Club, featuring billionaire Buffett, and GiGi & the Green Team, featuring Bundchen, are scheduled to debut on AOL this fall with Little Martha, featuring Stewart, and Kosmos, inspired by the late Sagan and created by Cosmos co-author Ann Druyan, set to launch in spring 2010. AOL has also teamed with MGX Lab to create interactive worlds for each property with games and activities.

kid programming rules

Here in the US the new US Federal Communications Commission Chairman (FCC), Julius Genachowski, announced at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that he has opened a new inquiry into kid programming rules, and how "the FCC can best protect children in a digital age," while also taking into account current concerns and new opportunities in today's world. The effort, triggered at least in part by the ever-growing platforms where kids can access content, will also review the current FCC rules guiding kid's programming, and may require broadcasters to air more kid-appropriate educational and informational programming than the three hours they are currently compelled to offer, while also looking to include rules for cable, satellite, mobile video content and the web as well as video games. The current rules, under the Children's Television Act, were mostly established in the 1990s (there has been some modification since then) and also contain rules concerning limits on advertising, including the amount of ads, during kid-aimed programming. The Senate hearing also included discussion of the ability of parents/caregivers to identify and locate kid-targeted educational programming.

TV-Loonland and Demi

TV-Loonland inks deals for several of its properties with broadcasters in Asia, where the shows will launch this fall. Nickelodeon Asia acquires all format rights to Pat & Stan (39x7, 1x30 special, 350 shorts). Additionally Pat & Stan was recently picked up by Cartoon Network Korea, with EBS taking the terrestrial TV rights in South Korea, while discussions for the DVD rights in the region continue. Disney Japan picks up TV rights for Leon (52x3), with Cartoon Networks Japan adding Raymond (78x7) to its programming lineup. Additional deals closed this summer include ATV Hong Kong acquiring The Little Princess Seasonal Specials for fall and winter, and Well Go USA taking the Pay TV rights for Rainbow Fish in Taiwan.

Demi Lovato's (Sonny With a Chance, Princess Protection Program, Camp Rock) new album, Here We Go Again, premieres tomorrow on Radio Disney's Planet Premiere, hosted by Ernie D, at 7p. Also, the new album can also be streamed and heard online at RadioDisney.com from tomorrow through Friday, July 24. The Radio Disney premiere of the Hollywood Records album will include an interview with Lovato as well as playing songs.

Nickelodeon - Kai-lan's Great Trip to China

Nickelodeon premieres the new hour-long special, Kai-lan's Great Trip to China, on Friday, August 14 at 10a, and will be simulcast on Nickelodeon Mobile. Based on its animated preschool series Ni Hao, Kai-lan, the special follows Kai-lan and her pals to China where they visit her great aunt and attend the naming ceremony of a baby panda. Actress Ming-Na (ER, Joy Luck Club) lends her voice to Kai-lan's great aunt. The special will air on Noggin on Sunday, August 16 at 7p. Additionally, Nickelodeon will support the debut with content from Kai-lan's Great Trip to China across multiple platforms. From August 3 clips from the special and other new-to-VOD episodes of the series will be available on Nickelodeon On Demand; beginning August 10, Nick Jr. Video will stream a two-minute peek and clips from the special, as well as episodes from the series; and the two-minute peek will also be available via various wireless carriers from August 10.

PBS Kids Go!

Sesame Workshop's The Electric Company, targeted to K6-9, will strip Monday-Friday on PBS Kids Go! block on PBS beginning September 7, 2009. The Electric Company website, pbskidsgo.org/electriccompany, has had nearly four million site visits and over 11 million video clips played since its launch in mid- January 2009. Also this fall, The Electric Company will partner with local PBS stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and after-school organizations to bring a "Shock" to 20 cities nationwide with The Electric Company 2009 Circuit Tour. From August 8, The Electric Company's star beat boxer, Shock, will host a 90-minute event in each city beginning with a 25-minute multimedia, interactive show that will also include literacy-centric hands-on activities for kids. The Electric Company is part of PBS Kids Raising Readers, a national literacy initiative focused on using public media to improve the reading skills for K2-8, with an emphasis on children from low-income families.

Wizards vs. Vampires, Super Why

Wizards of Waverly Place Wizards vs. Vampires, a new four-episode programming event, debuts this month on Disney Channel beginning with the first episode on Friday, July 24, 8- 8:45p. The remaining three half-hour episodes will bow on successive three Friday evenings at 8p. The story arc revolves around the Russo family and what happens when a family of vampires opens a new competing sandwich shop.

Super Why and PBS Kids invites preschoolers to read this summer with Super Why Wonderrific Weeks on PBS Kids this August. Throughout the month four new episodes of Super Why will debut, each showcasing a different superhero from the series and that character's specific literacy skill. Each character and their respective literacy skills will be underlined all week long, Alpha Pig (August 3-8), Princess Presto (August 10-14), Wonder Red (August 17-21), and Super Why (August 24-29). Created and produced by Out of the Blue Enterprises, Super Why! is funded in part by a Ready To Learn grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the US Department of Education, in partnership with PBS.

All in the Family

The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato return to camp later this summer when Disney Channel begins production on Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam, the sequel to the network's original movie Camp Rock (June 20, 2008). Set to premiere on Disney Channel in 2010, this time around the kids return to camp to find that some of their camp mates and counselors have defected to the new state-of-the-art music/performance camp across the lake and a rivalry with a musical showdown ensues. Of course there is also a love twist, this time Joe Jonas falls for the daughter of the owner of the rival camp. Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam will also feature new cast members Matthew "Mdot" Finley (an R&B musician) and Chloe Bridges (a classical pianist), as well as returning cast mates Meaghan Martin, Alyson Stoner and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle among others. Camp Rock 2 will be directed by Paul Hoen (Jump In!, The Cheetah Girls One World) with choreography by Rosero McCoy (Step Up) and a script by Dan Berendsen (Hannah Montana The Movie, Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie , The Cheetah Girls One World) and the writing team Karin Gist (One Tree Hill, Jump In!) and Regina Hicks (Girlfriends, Jump In!). The first Camp Rock movie was directed by Matthew Diamond and penned by Julie Brown, Paul Brown along with Gist and Hicks.

The kids are online, Cookie Jar and Zula Patrol -

Where are your kids? If they are 2-11 years old, more than likely they are online. US K2-11 are spending +63% more time online over the last five years, according to a new Nielsen report, from about 7 hours in May 2004 to 11+ hours online in may 2009. In May 2009, K2-11 comprised 16 million, or 9.5% of the online universe (a fairly split evenly between boys and girls). This is an increase over 2004, with the number of K2-11 online growing +18%. K2-11 are also outpacing the increase for the overall population, which was up by +36% over the last five years. Boys are spending 7% more time online than girls, but girls are taking in more content, viewing 9% more web pages than boys in May 2009. Meanwhile, in May 2009, boys led in viewing and time spent, consuming 61% of video streams among kids and comprising 57% of the time spent viewing videos.

Cookie Jar Entertainment is named as the exclusive North American licensing agent and program distributor for Mexican wrestling's Lucha Libre USA and the Lucha Libre AAA league. Cookie Jar plans to introduce a consumer products line (e.g. action figures, apparel, books, back-to-school and novelty/collectibles) initially targeting the Hispanic population and growing to include wrestling fans of all ages beginning in 2010. Cookie Jar will also launch the first English-language Lucha Libre AAA TV series in the US as part of its new primetime label, The Jar, in January 2010.


The kid's science animated series, The Zula Patrol, and Ohio's Center of Science and Industry (COSI) enter into a multi-year partnership to develop programs and resources for museums, schools, and other kid-and-family-centric destinations across the US. The partnership will focus on several initiatives including: The creation of curricula for Zula-themed workshops, birthday parties and overnight events for museums, camps, school etc; Development and distribution of Zula Science Stations portable interactive exhibits; and a marketing campaign to build awareness and subscriptions for ZulaWorld.com, the campaign will include a fundraising component for kid's museums and science/technology centers in the US.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and Sesame Workshop, Hasbro, Ruff Ruffman, CBBC

The animated series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! enters into cross-promotional food programs with a range of partners including Minute Rice, Darling Clementines, On-Cor Frozen Foods, Joy Cone Company, and Jolly Time Pop Corn. Several of these promotions, set for this summer and fall, will feature Wubbzy on their product labels, mail-in rebates redeemable for Wubbzy DVDs and a product purchase. Produced by Bolder Media, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! can be seen weekdays on Nick Jr. and Noggin as well as on www.nickjr.com .

Sesame Workshop unveiled plans to expand its Healthy Habits initiative with the help of a new gram from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the National Association for Family Child Care's (NAFCC) annual conference. Healthy Habits for Life aims to inform family childcare providers, parents and caregivers about ways to fold healthy nutrition and physical activity into daycare settings for preschoolers. Sesame Workshop plans includes conducting a study, in both English and Spanish, for a typically underserved community to assess the effectiveness and impact of the initiative's messages and strategies. Thirteen thousand bilingual Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life: Child Care Resource Kits will be distributed through the NAFCC in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.


Brian Goldner, President and CEO, Hasbro will deliver a keynote speech at Mipcom on Tuesday, October 6, 2009. In his speech, Becoming a Branded Play Company, Goldner talk about how Hasbro has developed into the company it is now and will also discuss his vision for the new joint effort with Discovery Communications that will see the creation of a new kid/family-targeted TV channel, as well as Hasbro's ongoing involvement in feature films and video games. Digital gaming is a leading theme of Mipcom's conference program this fall, which focuses on rethinking traditional media in the battle for the digital living room.

The fourth season of the kid targeted science-centric series Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman launches on PBS Kids Go! with an all animated special on Friday, September 11, 2009 (check local listings). The new season of 20 new episodes of Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman will follow. Season four focuses on three science themes, green science/sustainability, sports and sound/light/heat and is supported with online content at www.pbskidsgo.org/fetch . Funded in large part by the national Science Foundation, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman is produced by WGBH Boston.

CBBC unveiled two new commissions for kid-targeted series from BBC North, a sitcom and a factual series to be produced in Manchester, yesterday at the UK's annual Showcomotion Children's conference.
First up is Jinx (13x13), a sitcom based on the Lulu Baker book series by Fiona Dunbar about a modern-day teen Cinderella, her magical cookbook and the guardian of the book, Cookie, a mischievous imp. Set to begin production this month, Jinx is being produced by Kindle Entertainment.
The second project is the factual series This Kid Could Change the World (9x30). The show will feature kids from across the country and put their potentially world altering ideas to the test. Through a series of tasks two expert innovators and a mysterious benefactor 'The Big Cheese' will determine which ideas have the potential to succeed or fail in the real world. The series finale will include a live studio audience of kids that will decide which idea moves forward. The series is set to air in 2010 and will be produced by Shine North.
Additionally, new seasons of the CBBC's popular shows Prank Patrol and Beat the Boss will be produced in Manchester. Produced by Baker Media, the third season of Prank Patrol is comprised of 10x28 episodes, which will deliver later this year. Season five of Beat the Boss includes 5x28 episodes produced by Moray London.

The Assistants

Ever wonder what it is like to be an assistant in the entertainment industry? Hmmm wait a second most of us started that way didn't we? Well, tween/teens will get a chance to find out what it's like when The N premieres its new original live-action comedy The Assistants (13x30) on July 10, with two back-to-back episodes 8:30p-9:30p. The Assistants will air regularly Friday nights at 8:30p, following new episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation. The Assistants comes from creators/writers/producers/show runners Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, who also serve as executive producers on the series with The Tom Lynch Company (South of Nowhere, Secret World of Alex Mack among others and the upcoming The Troop). The series revolves around four showbiz assistants toiling for a big-time producer as they try to make it in Hollywood as a filmmaker, writer, actor and producer. McRobb and Viscardi have worked together for 15+ years including as the creators of The Adventures of Pete and Pete and KaBlam!, moving on to serve screenwriters of Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Tale of Despereaux, Snow Day and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and the upcoming Big Brave Brian and Measle and the Wrathmonk. Content Films holds the international distribution rights to the series.

How Teens Use Media

The Nielsen Company's insights officially releases its new study, How Teens Use Media, later today at the 2009 What Teens Want conference in NY.  Traditionally viewed as fickle and quick to jump to new technology and away from anything old, the report finds that while Teens are involved in new technology but they haven't given up on media like TV, newspapers and advertising.  Spend any time with a teen and you'll know they are totally adaptable and easily downloading this and that trying out anything and everything at the same time they are texting/IMing (cell phone, computer), listing to music (various devices), surfing the net (on computers and cell phones), playing video games (handheld, consoles, cell phones), and are watching shows/movies/video on a range of devices and locations ... including on a TV.  The Nielsen study underlines that teens aren't just engaged in the new, in fact Teens are watching TV than ever, up by +6% over the past five years in the US.  That is good news for TV folks indeed. Further findings from the study include:
Teens spend less time browsing than adults: Teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month online versus the average of 29 hours and 15 minutes.
Teens spend 35% less time watching online video than adults 25-34, but recall ads better when watching TV shows online than they do on TV.
US teens watch less TV per day than in most other metered countries.
Teens read newspapers, listen to the radio and Teens who recall TV ads are 44% more likely to say they liked the ad.
US Teens' favorite TV shows, top websites and genre preferences across media are mostly the same as their parents, with American Idol being the top show in 2008 and Google the top website.
In the US, nearly half of online Teens 1217 visited MySpace and Facebook in May 2009 (45% and 44%, respectively). All said, Teens 1217 accounted for 28% of MySpace's page views and 12% of Facebook's during the month.

ABC3

Australia's ABC TV will launch its new free-to-air kid/tween channel, ABC3, before Christmas 2009. Targeted to K6-15, with a core demographic of K8-12, ABC3 is designed to be multi-platform experience and world and will air daily 6a-9p.  ABC3 will offer programming content across genres both on-air and online (the website will also feature games, video and social interactivity.  ABC TV has launched Me On 3, a national search for hosts for the new channel - applications are due by July 17.  The end of the year will also see ABC TV shifts its daytime schedule on ABC2 to become a preschool programming block, ABCforKids, weekdays from 9a-6p and weekends from 6a-6p.  ABC1 will continue to offer programming kids including a selection of ABC3 and ABCforKids content in both morning and afternoon slots.  Focusing on Australian projects the ABC3 programming lineup will include a range of new projects:
After School Care, a comedy pilot, which is part of the Kids360 project - a joint initiative between ABC3, Film Victoria and the Australian Children's Television Foundation.

West Coast Kids - Western Australian producers will be invited to submit their proposals for a 13-part, character driven comedy series.  This is a joint project with Screen West and the Australian Children's Television Foundation.

Dead Normal (13 eps) - a drama series that follows the adventures of three beautiful, strong-willed teen sisters, who happen to be ghosts.  The series is a co-production between Burberry Productions and Coolabi.

News and Current Affairs - Produced by ABC TV's Behind the News team.
Extreme Sports and Culture - a show that explores the world of art, music and fashion centered on extreme sports.
Dance Academy (26 eps) - Six teen dancers have one year to prove they've got what it takes after winning a place at the National Academy of Dance.  A co-production between ABC3 and Werner Film Productions.

My Place  (13 eps) - an historical drama revolving around kids who live in one house in South Sydney over 130 years. Based on the book by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins, the series is a co-production of ABC3 and Little Leaf Pictures.

CJ the DJ (52 eps) - the animated series follows CJ a spirited 13-year-old disc jockey, which will also feature an online DJ component. The series is an ABC3 and Kapow Pictures co-production.

Cake Entertainment makes its move into live-action production with its new mixed live-action/CG hybrid series pilot Cartoon Gene (26x30), which is a co-production with Galakids and Teletoon Canada.  The tween-targeted project revolves around Gene an average teen boy who happens to have cartoon DNA, the result of a computer generated action game star Mom and a computer geek dad.  Like all adolescents puberty changes Gene, but in his case it's a bit more animated with various cartoon-like reactions.  Cake will also distribute the series internationally.  Cartoon Gene is created by Louis Fournier and Natalie Dumoulin and directed by Adam Weissman (iCarly, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101).  In other news, Cake recently acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the live-action Irish series Aifric (26x30) from Telegael and live-action/comedy Dead Normal (working title).

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop

Can video games be good for kids?  According to a report from The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop an investment in research-based digital games can improve kid's health and learning.  The report Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health provides recommendations for a new framework to use games to help kids learn healthy behaviors, skills like reading and math, as well as critical thinking, global learning and programming design.  The report outlines 30+ examples of learning and health games and research projects.  It includes a list of federally funded game R&D projects in which the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education have invested.  The report is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio, and was unveiled at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

a look at the numbers

Top 10 Combined Broadcast/Basic Cable shows among Kids 6-11 for the week of 6/8-6/14/09 , 6a-6a:
K6-11                                                 Total Delivery (000)
DSNY*:      Hannah Montana (6/14; 7:30p)                   1481
NICK:        iCarly (6/13; 8p)                                        1356
CARTOON: Total Drama Action (6/11; 9p)                     1347
DSNY*:     The Parent Trap (6/11; 8-10:20p)                1340
NICK:       Penguins of Madagascar (6/13; 10a)             1321
DSNY*:     Jonas (6/14; 8:30p)                                    1312
DSNY*:     Sonny With A Chance (6/14; 8p)                  1270
NICK:       SpongeBob SquarePants (6/13; 9:30a)         1254
NICK:       True Jackson, VP (6/13; 8:30p)                    1252
NICK:       Naked Brothers Band (6/13; 9p)                   1250
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.

Lunch Lady, Muppets and more

Amy Poehler will star in Universal's big screen adaptation of author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka's forthcoming graphic novel series Lunch Lady, per THR.  Poehler will also exec produce the movie with Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein producing.  Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, the graphic novel series debuts this summer with two titles, Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians and Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, with another set for release in December 2009 and more for summer 2010.

The Muppets from Sesame Street will be featured on the 29th annual A Capitol Fourth in Washington DC to celebrate America's 233rd birthday.  PBS will broadcast the event live from the West Lawn of the United States Capitol on Saturday, July 4, 8-9:30p (check local listings) and it will be simulcast via America Forces Radio and Television Network, and can be heard on NPR Member stations.  A Capitol Fourth will be hosted by actor Jimmy Smits and feature opening and closing performances by Barry Manilow with the National Symphony Orchestra, and performances by Aretha Franklin, Natasha Bedingfield, the cast of Jersey Boys, Michael Feinstein and pianist Andrew von Oeyen.  The event is a co-production of Jerry Colbert of Capital Concerts and WETA, Washington, D.C.

Disney Channel UK re-commissions Prism Entertainment to produce a second season of the live-action short-form series Life Bites, per Broadcast Now.  The new episodes (26x5) of the tween/teen-targeted the comedy bows on the network in the UK next month.

LeapFrog: Let's Go To School, LeapFrog's first DVD in four years, is set for release from Lionsgate Home Entertainment on August 18, 2009.  Targeted to K3-6 the back-to-school DVD features five sing-along songs, an interactive alphabet book, and a sneak peek at Math Adventure to the Moon.  Lionsgate will support the LeapFrog: Let's Go To School title with a mom-aimed TV, online and print marketing campaign, including through LeapFrog's email newsletter and on LeapFrog.com.

Annecy 2009 France Television

At Annecy 2009 France Television unveiled plans to launch a daily tween/teen-targeted afternoon animation programming block this fall 2009 on digital channel France 4, per C21 Media.  France Television's, which programs to kids on France 4, France 3 (morning) and France 5 (midday), new plan is to focus its energies on three different types of animated programming, edutainment, comics or kid's book adaptations, and short-form programming.  France Television commissioned edutainment series includes: Commander Clark from Go-N; Art Investigation from Normaal Animation; Gaston (78x7), based on the Gaston Lagaffe everyday life comic strip by Andre Franquin; The Little Prince based on Antoine de Saint Exupery's work and produced by Method Films; a new season of Marsupilmai from Samka; Les Dalton  a spin-off series of Lucky Luke from Xilam; and Moonscoop's new season of Titeuf.  The company also plans to experiment with new hybrid programming.

ZulaWorld.com

The creators of the CGI series The Zula Patrol have teamed with IBM to develop and launch ZulaWorld.com (www.zulaworld.com). Targeted to K6+/parents/teachers, the virtual world, like the series, encourages kids to be curious about science and discovery and use their critical thinking skills.  The site features create your own avatars and a range of games and activities where users can fly their own spaceship, discover how things work and problem solve in teams.  The basic levels of games on ZulaWorld.com are available for free, with a subscript service that offers additional levels also available ($5.99/month, $29.99/6 months, $49.99/year). The Zula Patrol airs as part of the qubo Saturday programming block on NBC and on public TV stations weekdays and weekends (check local listings).

Raymond

TV-Loonland and Gulli TV commission two more seasons of the K7-10 targeted animated comedy Raymond.  Produced by Paris-based Everybody on Deck, the newly ordered 52x7 episodes of Raymond will bring the total to 78 episodes.  The most recent broadcast deals for the series include those with Cartoon Network Japan, TV4 (Sweden) and International Francophone Channel TV5 Monde, which acquired the broadcast rights for air in Europe, North Africa, the Orient, Asia, the US, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Defenders

Actor Masi Oka (Hiro on Heroes) has sold his family adventure movie project, The Defenders, to DreamWorks, per THR.  The movie will be produced by the Star Trek and Transformers movie writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, whose Kurtzman/Orci Productions is based at DreamWorks.  Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) has signed on to pen the script with D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Jack the Giant Killer) in negotiations to direct the movie.  The Defenders is based on Oka's concept, "what would happen if you had to live up to the person you created in the virtual world?"  The movie revolves around a group of teens from around the world that are simultaneously playing a multiplayer video game, their real identities protected behind their avatars, who are forced to join together in an adventure in the real world.

Lots and lots and lots of crossover promotion

Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato will serve as on-air hosts for the premiere weekend (Friday-Sunday, June 26-28) of their new Disney Channel Original Movie, Princess Protection Program (June 26 at 8p).  The new TV movie premiere will simulcast on Sprint TV and MobiTV, and will feature sneak peeks of a new music video, a new one-hour episode of Hannah Montana, a crossover episode of three series entitled Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana, and a behind the scenes look at Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie, with a new episode of Wizards of Waverly Place bowing right after the movie that night.  The following night (June 27, 8p) during an encore of the Princess production Program, the network will offer a Princess Password program where viewers who count the number of times the word "princess" is said in the movie can enter that number online to unlock new episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place and Sonny With A Chance.  A preview of Disney's upcoming animated movie The Princess and the Frog will be featured during the Sunday play of the movie (7p), with a new episode of Jonas following the movie.  Finally, The Princess Protection Program Royal B.F.F. Extended Edition will be available on Disney DVD, including an exclusive music video, a behind-the-scenes look at the movie, and a B.F.F. necklace set, from June 30.

Monster Safari, Sid the Science Kid

The Jim Henson Co. is set to produce a stop-motion animated feature film titled Monster Safari, which is based on a short film from stop-motion animation studio Screen Novelties, THR.  Monster Safari will be penned by the writing team of Craig Zobel and Matt Chapman, with Screen Novelties' Mark Caballero, Chris Finnegan and Seamus Walsh producing the stop-motion animation.  The movie revolves around two bumbling cryptozoologists trying to save the Earth's monsters from a ruthless hunter.

NCircle Entertainment will launch the animated series Sid the Science Kid on DVD this summer, with the first two DVD titles, Sid the Science Kid: Change Happens and Sid the Science Kid: The Bug Club.  Available on August 4, 2009, each DVD includes four episodes of Sid the Science Kid, the PBS Kids series that is co-produced by The Jim Henson Company and KCET Los Angeles.  Additionally, a limited supply of the Sid the Science Kid DVDs will have a special on-pack bonus DVD of Front Row Fun, that includes two hours of preschool shows including as Dive Olly Dive!, WordWorld, Hurray for Huckle, among others.

So Smart! Productions teams with Echo Bridge Home Entertainment to release the first six titles in its new DVD line, Baby's First Word Stories this September 22, 2009.  The releases are part of an exclusive distribution agreement between the companies that includes DVD and digital distribution rights to So Smart's! line of kid-targeted DVDs and CDs.  Additionally, nine DVDs from Baby's Beginnings and King Otis and the Kingdom of Goode series, as well as three CDs, will also release on September 22.  Further Baby's First Word Stories titles are set for release in early 2010.

The new Super Why toy line created by Learning Curve, and based on the PBS Kids preschool series, is set to debut at Toys "R" Us stores this month.  To mark the release of the Super Why toys, Toys "R" Us stores nationwide will host a two-hour Super Why event on Saturday, June 13 (12noon-2p), featuring storytelling, reading-focused games, activities and give-a-ways (while supplies last, of course).  Beginning in August, Super Why toys will roll out to other retailers nationwide.  The Super Why line also includes new product from other licensees, including Grosset & Dunlap (books), University Games (puzzles and games) and PBS Home Video (DVDs).  Super Why is produced by Out of the Blue in conjunction with Canadian-based Decode Entertainment Inc. and C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures Inc.

ZingZillas

CBeebies orders up a new in-house music-themed preschool series ZingZillas (52x22).  Featuring the Zillas, a group of musical primates that create the ZingZilla sound, the series showcases all sorts of music genres from rock to opera to help get toddlers moving.  Simultaneously BBC Worldwide acquires the global distribution rights for TV, merchandise, DVD and publishing for ZingZillas.  Set to launch on CBeebies in spring 2010, ZingZillas grooves into production this month through December 2009 at Pinewood Studios.

Disney's "Handy Manny" Shorts

The network commissions the new short-form animated preschool series, Handy Manny's School for Tools (20 shorts), and two primetime Handy Manny specials.  The short-form series is based on Disney Playhouse's Handy Manny series, which is currently in production on a third season (29 episodes) that will introduce a host of new tools.  Set to begin production this year Handy Manny's School for Tools will bow in 2010.  Meanwhile, this fall the network will debut the first of two primetime specials, Handy Manny's Motorcycle Adventure, which features four new songs performed by Los Lobos.

BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide continues to expand its US business and in so doing promoted Susanna Pollack to SVP/Children's and Children's Business Development and Matt Forde as EVP/Sales and Co-Productions. Susanna will head efforts to launch CBeebies, BBC's worldwide preschool channel in the US in addition to increasing the company's children's brands in North and Latin America. Matt will relocate to New York from London to supervise sales and co-production efforts for all genres in the US and Latin America.  

BIG moves from the CEO of Wildbrain

Michael Polis is appointed to the newly created position of CEO, Wildbrain Entertainment.  The move comes as President and CEO, Wildbrain and its subsidiary Kidrobot, Charles Rivkin steps down from those roles later this week, having been nominated as President Obama's candidate to serve as the US Ambassador to France.  Polis will report directly to Wildbrain's board of directors.  Diego Marchioni, CEO, Kidrobot, will remain in his post and will also report directly to the board.

KidMangoTV

KidMangoTV, a new syndicated K3-10 aimed TV programming block premieres today, June 1, 2009, on the MyFamilyTV network.  Launched by PorchLight Entertainment and ValCom, via its subsidiary MyFamilyTV, KidMangoTV debuts with a four-hour daytime block (Monday-Friday) and plans to expand with a primetime block and an educational/informational (E/I) Saturday morning block later this year.  At launch KidMangoTV features kid-targeted programming that is created and acquired by PorchLight, including Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Four Eyes, The Secret World of Benjamin Bear and My Goldfish is Evil.  Additionally, today also marks the debut of a corresponding website www.kidmango.com, will also offer kid/family-aimed content including programs such as WordGirl, Pocoyo and Doodlez, as well as games, comics and music among other things.  Moving forward, the plan is to expand with a primetime block and an educational/informational (E/I) Saturday morning block later this year.