In the UK Five's Milkshake! will launch its newly redesigned preschool-centric website next week. In addition to a new look, the Milkshake! site will feature less text and more images and offer a point and click process with icons, character pictures and host branded areas to make navigation easier for younger kids, as well as offering a range of activities, downloads, games and printables.
Additionally, the site will be home to the new re-branded Milkshake! area of Demand Five, All Day Milkshake!, where kids can view shows on demand. Five's in-house Digital Media Group and the Milkshake programming team produced the new site. Bionic Communications created the design and flash aspects of the site and it was developed and built by Unboxed Consulting.
Canada's TV Group is launching YOOPA, a new multiplatform French-language preschoolers and their parents brand this spring, per KidScreen. Specifically aimed at families in Quebec, YOOPA will include a digital TV channel and magazine, both schedule for an April 1, 2010 launch, as well as a website to bow in May.
The TV channel will initially feature programming from 6a-10p, eventually becoming a 24/7 channel. Original programming a part of the plan, with a new live-action/puppet series currently in production and slated to bow in June and a second series planned for this fall. In the meantime the channel will launch with acquired programming including Angelina Ballerina, Waybuloo, Blue's Clues, LazyTown and Pororo.
The website will mesh together existing kid and parent sites PetitMonde.ca and EspaceParents.ca. TV Group is a unit of Quebecor Media.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
BBC Worldwide, MarVista Entertainment
BBC Worldwide signs new broadcast deals for the animated preschool series Wibbly Pig (52x10). Set to premiere on ABC TV (Australia) in 2010, Wibbly Pig has now been acquired by TVB (Hong Kong), EBS (Korea) and RTE (Ireland). Wibbly Pig, which is just kind of fun to say, is co-produced by Wish Films and 9 Story Entertainment for BBC's CBeebies. The series will be seen on CBeebies channels in Africa and Latin America.
MarVista Entertainment completes principle photography in Vancouver on its Disney Channel TV movie co-production Sixteen Wishes. The new movie is slated premiere on Disney Channel US this summer and then rollout on other Disney Channels around the world. Starring Debby Ryan (The Suite Life on Deck) and Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Kyle XY), Sixteen Wishes is a comedy about a girl who has been planning her 16the birthday since she was little and over time has created a secret wish list that she has taped to her closet door. What starts off as a bad birthday turns the corner when a box of sixteen birthday candles arrives and the wishes on her list begin to come true, until she makes one wish on a candle that changes things forever.
MarVista Entertainment completes principle photography in Vancouver on its Disney Channel TV movie co-production Sixteen Wishes. The new movie is slated premiere on Disney Channel US this summer and then rollout on other Disney Channels around the world. Starring Debby Ryan (The Suite Life on Deck) and Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Kyle XY), Sixteen Wishes is a comedy about a girl who has been planning her 16the birthday since she was little and over time has created a secret wish list that she has taped to her closet door. What starts off as a bad birthday turns the corner when a box of sixteen birthday candles arrives and the wishes on her list begin to come true, until she makes one wish on a candle that changes things forever.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Guess with Jess, In the Night Garden
Classic Media's CGI animated preschool series Guess with Jess debuts this week on Treehouse (Canada), Corus Entertainment preschool network, where it will air daily.
Co-produced by Corus' Nelvana Studio, Guess with Jess made its initial launch on BBC's CBeebies channel (UK) in fall 2009, and now airs on broadcasters around the world. Additionally, Tele-Quebec (Canada) will also begin airing Guess with Jess in summer 2010.
BBC Worldwide inks a licensing deal with publisher PT Media Griya Harmony, a unit of MRA Printed Media, to launch the preschool-aimed In the Night Garden magazine in Indonesia. The In the Night Garden magazine is based on the kid's TV series of the same name.
With Aksara Sophiaan as Editor in Chief, the first issue of the magazine in Indonesia, debuts this week featuring 20% original content and 80% UK content. Produced by Ragdoll Productions, the In the Night Garden TV series debuted on CBeebies channel in Indonesia in April 2009.
Co-produced by Corus' Nelvana Studio, Guess with Jess made its initial launch on BBC's CBeebies channel (UK) in fall 2009, and now airs on broadcasters around the world. Additionally, Tele-Quebec (Canada) will also begin airing Guess with Jess in summer 2010.
BBC Worldwide inks a licensing deal with publisher PT Media Griya Harmony, a unit of MRA Printed Media, to launch the preschool-aimed In the Night Garden magazine in Indonesia. The In the Night Garden magazine is based on the kid's TV series of the same name.
With Aksara Sophiaan as Editor in Chief, the first issue of the magazine in Indonesia, debuts this week featuring 20% original content and 80% UK content. Produced by Ragdoll Productions, the In the Night Garden TV series debuted on CBeebies channel in Indonesia in April 2009.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday kids news
Nickelodeon picks up a second season of its new kid game show BrainSurge. Production on the new season or 40 episodes will commence this spring 2010, with Jeff Sutphen returning as host.
In addition to the BrainSurge TV series (Monday-Friday at 4:30p), kids can play the game online at www.nick.com/brainsurge . BrainSurge is produced by 310 Entertainment and Stone & Company.
In Canada Family Channel, Astral Media's commercial kid/family network, will premiere Disney Channel's new original TV movie StarStruck on Friday, March 19 at 7:30p.
The movie will also be available on Family OnDemand (an SVOD service) from March 16-April 5. StarStruck premieres as part of Family Channel's week of spring break programming Monday-Friday, March 15-19 and Monday-Friday, March 29-April 2.
The animated preschool series the WotWots (52x10) will premiere in Canada on Treehouse on February 22, 2010 at 6:15p. The WotWots will air regularly on Treehouse on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6:15p, and Saturdays at 6:30p and Sundays at 1:40p.
Created by Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor and Martin Bantyon, the WotWots made its initial launch in New Zealand on TVNZ last year and currently airs on TV2 and TVNZ6 daily. The series also airs in Australia (ABC1, ABC2), the UK (Channel 5's Milkshake), and in Finland (MTV3)
PBS Kids is inviting Mister Rogers fans young and old are invited to vote for their favorite episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at www.pbskids.org/rogers . Once at the site you can choose from seven Mister Rogers episodes, with the winning episode to broadcast on air and online on Saturday, March 20 (check local listings), as part of the third annual Won't You Be My Neighbor? Day, which celebrates Fred Rogers' birthday and his world of neighborhoods.
While online fans can also view previously unseen clips, behind the scenes moment and outtakes from the long running preschool series at pbs.org/video, as well as share their own photos and stories in the Neighbors of All Ages area at PBSKids.org/rogers. Additionally, PBS Kids has also recently introduced Mister Rogers' Make a Journal iPhone/iPod Touch application.
Dolphin Entertainment signs a program sales deal with NRK (Norway) for the live-action series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Created and executive produced by Scott Fellow, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide was developed and produced for Nickelodeon, which launched the series in 2003. The series airs around the world on various broadcasters.
In addition to the BrainSurge TV series (Monday-Friday at 4:30p), kids can play the game online at www.nick.com/brainsurge . BrainSurge is produced by 310 Entertainment and Stone & Company.
In Canada Family Channel, Astral Media's commercial kid/family network, will premiere Disney Channel's new original TV movie StarStruck on Friday, March 19 at 7:30p.
The movie will also be available on Family OnDemand (an SVOD service) from March 16-April 5. StarStruck premieres as part of Family Channel's week of spring break programming Monday-Friday, March 15-19 and Monday-Friday, March 29-April 2.
The animated preschool series the WotWots (52x10) will premiere in Canada on Treehouse on February 22, 2010 at 6:15p. The WotWots will air regularly on Treehouse on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6:15p, and Saturdays at 6:30p and Sundays at 1:40p.
Created by Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor and Martin Bantyon, the WotWots made its initial launch in New Zealand on TVNZ last year and currently airs on TV2 and TVNZ6 daily. The series also airs in Australia (ABC1, ABC2), the UK (Channel 5's Milkshake), and in Finland (MTV3)
PBS Kids is inviting Mister Rogers fans young and old are invited to vote for their favorite episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at www.pbskids.org/rogers . Once at the site you can choose from seven Mister Rogers episodes, with the winning episode to broadcast on air and online on Saturday, March 20 (check local listings), as part of the third annual Won't You Be My Neighbor? Day, which celebrates Fred Rogers' birthday and his world of neighborhoods.
While online fans can also view previously unseen clips, behind the scenes moment and outtakes from the long running preschool series at pbs.org/video, as well as share their own photos and stories in the Neighbors of All Ages area at PBSKids.org/rogers. Additionally, PBS Kids has also recently introduced Mister Rogers' Make a Journal iPhone/iPod Touch application.
Dolphin Entertainment signs a program sales deal with NRK (Norway) for the live-action series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Created and executive produced by Scott Fellow, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide was developed and produced for Nickelodeon, which launched the series in 2003. The series airs around the world on various broadcasters.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Doodlebops and Yo Gabba Gabba
The new preschool animated series Doodlebops Rockin' Road Show from Cookie Jar Entertainment will premiere on Kid's CBC (Canada) on Saturday, February 20, at 11:30a. Based on the live action Doodlebops series, the new series is a co-production with Argentina's Illusion Studios and Germany's OPTIX Entertainment.
The series, during which the Doodlebops will help viewers solve age appropriate problems, will air regularly on Kids' CBC on Saturdays at 11:30a and Wednesdays at 10:30a.
Nickelodeon premieres the third season of the preschool music series Yo Gabba Gabba! on Monday, March 8, 10:30a.
The new season debuts with a week of new episodes, Monday-Friday, March 8-12, featuring a range guest appearances including Sarah Silverman, Weird Al Yankovic, Black Kids, Jack McBrayer, Paul Scheer, Weezer, Anthony Bourdain, Of Montreal, Mos Def, Devo, The Aquabats, Mark Mothersbaugh, Biz Markie and a special remix by Travis Barker.
Created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz, Yo Gabba Gabba!, is produced by The Magic Store and Wildbrain. Returning in their regular segments is Biz Markie in the Biz's Beat of the Day, Mark Mothersbaugh in Mark's Magic Pictures and Jack McBrayer and Paul Scheer in the recurring Knock Knock joke segment. The season will include many other celebrity appearances.
The series, during which the Doodlebops will help viewers solve age appropriate problems, will air regularly on Kids' CBC on Saturdays at 11:30a and Wednesdays at 10:30a.
Nickelodeon premieres the third season of the preschool music series Yo Gabba Gabba! on Monday, March 8, 10:30a.
The new season debuts with a week of new episodes, Monday-Friday, March 8-12, featuring a range guest appearances including Sarah Silverman, Weird Al Yankovic, Black Kids, Jack McBrayer, Paul Scheer, Weezer, Anthony Bourdain, Of Montreal, Mos Def, Devo, The Aquabats, Mark Mothersbaugh, Biz Markie and a special remix by Travis Barker.
Created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz, Yo Gabba Gabba!, is produced by The Magic Store and Wildbrain. Returning in their regular segments is Biz Markie in the Biz's Beat of the Day, Mark Mothersbaugh in Mark's Magic Pictures and Jack McBrayer and Paul Scheer in the recurring Knock Knock joke segment. The season will include many other celebrity appearances.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Electus, JimJam, Big and Small
Electus, Ben Silverman's newly formed multimedia company that is a business of IAC, inks a development deal with kid-centric build-a-robot entertainment brand Robotgalaxy for TV and movie projects.
Under the deal, Electus will package, develop, distribute and produce original content based on the brand's likeness across a variety of platforms including TV and film worldwide.
Additionally, Electus has teamed with Charlie Walk's CWE Media to serve as producer on all Robotgalaxy projects. Robotgalaxy is a concept based on the RobotGalaxy comic book series that includes a build-a-robot retail experience, a web-enabled toy, as well as a virtual world, which allows kids to create and program their own robots.
JimJam, the global preschool channel, expands further throughout Asia, which coincides with the channel's new look. The JimJam channel has its first launch in Thailand as a 24/7 service on Cable Thai Holding, a consortium of TV operators, and also signs a carriage deal with Indovision (Indonesia). The channel's new look begins with the jungle theme and later this year will feature other themes such as outer space, circus and the sea. The JimJam on-air refresh, which was created by Chello Zone's in-house production team, also simultaneously rolls out on all its feeds, including 50+ countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Welsh broadcaster S4C acquires preschool series Big and Small (52 episodes), as well as the series website, from Kindle Entertainment. S4C will debut the series as part of its preschool service Cyw from April 2010, weekdays at 12:30p. The broadcaster will feature the Big and Small microsite as part of the Cyw website. Big and Small is a co-production of Kindle Entertainment the 3J's Productions for BBC, produced in association with Treehouse TV and studio 100.
Under the deal, Electus will package, develop, distribute and produce original content based on the brand's likeness across a variety of platforms including TV and film worldwide.
Additionally, Electus has teamed with Charlie Walk's CWE Media to serve as producer on all Robotgalaxy projects. Robotgalaxy is a concept based on the RobotGalaxy comic book series that includes a build-a-robot retail experience, a web-enabled toy, as well as a virtual world, which allows kids to create and program their own robots.
JimJam, the global preschool channel, expands further throughout Asia, which coincides with the channel's new look. The JimJam channel has its first launch in Thailand as a 24/7 service on Cable Thai Holding, a consortium of TV operators, and also signs a carriage deal with Indovision (Indonesia). The channel's new look begins with the jungle theme and later this year will feature other themes such as outer space, circus and the sea. The JimJam on-air refresh, which was created by Chello Zone's in-house production team, also simultaneously rolls out on all its feeds, including 50+ countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Welsh broadcaster S4C acquires preschool series Big and Small (52 episodes), as well as the series website, from Kindle Entertainment. S4C will debut the series as part of its preschool service Cyw from April 2010, weekdays at 12:30p. The broadcaster will feature the Big and Small microsite as part of the Cyw website. Big and Small is a co-production of Kindle Entertainment the 3J's Productions for BBC, produced in association with Treehouse TV and studio 100.
Monday, February 15, 2010
What kids’ buyers are looking for
(Kids | MIPJUNIOR, 04.10.09)
Although the new online screening system means programmes can be viewed online for the next 12 months, key buyers were making the most of the opportunity for two days of intensive screening at MIP Junior, fuelled by refreshments provided by Cookie Jar.
- “We want strong live action and animated comedy for 6-9s, and boys’ action series,” said Jules Borkent, SVP global acquisitions and international programming for Nickelodeon (photo).
- Francine Laprade, evaluation officer for CBC Radio-Canada, wanted 2- and 3D animated series of all lengths for all age groups between 2 and 12. “I will screen more than 50 series this weekend,” she said.
- David Levine of Disney Channels Worldwide directs programming strategy for nearly 100 Disney channels around the world. “Our priority is animation for Disney XD, and original movie co-production opportunities,” he said.
- Signe Lindkvist was buying for Ramasjang!, Danmarks Radio’s new kids’ channel. “We launch next month,” she said. “It’s Denmark’s first public service channel specifically for kids.”
- Bella Stjerna, head of children’s and youth at SVT was seeking ‘anything good’ for SVT Barnkanalen, SVT’s dedicated children’s channel. “We have plenty of good pre-school content,” she said. “But it’s more difficult to find content for the hard-to-please 7-11 year olds.”
- Ola Kurcz of Poland’s Canal+ Cyfrowy was seeking content for the pre-school channel Mini Mini and Zigzap, for 8-12s. “We saw a lot of new titles this year, particularly from Asia.”
- Nils Stokke, head of planning, scheduling and acquisitions for NRK Super, the Norwegian public service children’s channel, screened for kids from 2-12. “I’d like to see more live action for older kids,” he said. “That’s been hard to find for a couple of years now.”
- At his first MIP Junior, YLE’s Jusu Lounela was buying for 12-16 year olds for Finland’s TV2 channel. “I’m also seeking content for my youth magazine show, Summesi,” he said.
Although the new online screening system means programmes can be viewed online for the next 12 months, key buyers were making the most of the opportunity for two days of intensive screening at MIP Junior, fuelled by refreshments provided by Cookie Jar.
- “We want strong live action and animated comedy for 6-9s, and boys’ action series,” said Jules Borkent, SVP global acquisitions and international programming for Nickelodeon (photo).
- Francine Laprade, evaluation officer for CBC Radio-Canada, wanted 2- and 3D animated series of all lengths for all age groups between 2 and 12. “I will screen more than 50 series this weekend,” she said.
- David Levine of Disney Channels Worldwide directs programming strategy for nearly 100 Disney channels around the world. “Our priority is animation for Disney XD, and original movie co-production opportunities,” he said.
- Signe Lindkvist was buying for Ramasjang!, Danmarks Radio’s new kids’ channel. “We launch next month,” she said. “It’s Denmark’s first public service channel specifically for kids.”
- Bella Stjerna, head of children’s and youth at SVT was seeking ‘anything good’ for SVT Barnkanalen, SVT’s dedicated children’s channel. “We have plenty of good pre-school content,” she said. “But it’s more difficult to find content for the hard-to-please 7-11 year olds.”
- Ola Kurcz of Poland’s Canal+ Cyfrowy was seeking content for the pre-school channel Mini Mini and Zigzap, for 8-12s. “We saw a lot of new titles this year, particularly from Asia.”
- Nils Stokke, head of planning, scheduling and acquisitions for NRK Super, the Norwegian public service children’s channel, screened for kids from 2-12. “I’d like to see more live action for older kids,” he said. “That’s been hard to find for a couple of years now.”
- At his first MIP Junior, YLE’s Jusu Lounela was buying for 12-16 year olds for Finland’s TV2 channel. “I’m also seeking content for my youth magazine show, Summesi,” he said.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Branded Content initiatives
Walmart and Procter & Gamble (P&G) are teaming to produce family-friendly TV programming and begin this effort with the 2-hour TV movie Secrets of The Mountain, which will premiere on NBC on April 16, 2010.
Family-friendly TV commercials from both companies will run during the movie's breaks and, per the WSJ, it will also feature an array of product placements during the movie, and that P&G is spending $4.5+ million to produce the TV movie.
Secrets of the Mountain is described as a drama-adventure about a single working mother who takes her family to a mountain cabin they inherited from their eccentric uncle, where they set off on an adventure.
The partnership falls under Walmart's new Family Moments, a marketing, in-store and digital family-centric entertainment initiative. P&G is co-founder, and Walmart is c0-fhiar with P&G, of the Alliance for Family Entertainment (f/k/a Family Friendly Programming Forum), a group of about 40 national advertisers, which is supported by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).
Ameba, a Winnipeg-based IPTV system for kids' entertainment, prepares for the North American launch of AmebaTV.com ( www.amebatv.com ) by taking delivery of proprietary set-top boxes in preparation. This new portal aims to deliver commercial free, kid-targeted entertainment directly to television viewers via the web.
AmebaTV.com's library includes 500 hours of live-action and animated kid-centric content from producers including Decode Entertainment, Breakthrough New Media, Casablanca Kids, Sockeye, Marble Media, Portfolio, TVO, Compugraf, Blender, Agogo Entertainment, Ingaldson-Smith Productions, and Janet's Planet, National Film Board, among others.
Sprite is inviting teens to express their creativity via music and film in its first global integrated marketing campaign, The Spark, which takes its name from Sprite's newly updated Spark logo. The campaign includes TV commercials, an online interactive music mixer featuring content from music artist Drake and a digital film mixer, aimed at inspiring teens to interact and be creative. The Spark launches this year first in North America, and then across Europe, Africa and Asia. The new campaign will be showcased at the NBA All-Star 2010 this weekend, which will feature a soundtrack by Drake. A range of different artists will be featured in The Spark campaign around the world. Sprite is part of The Coca-Cola Company.
Family-friendly TV commercials from both companies will run during the movie's breaks and, per the WSJ, it will also feature an array of product placements during the movie, and that P&G is spending $4.5+ million to produce the TV movie.
Secrets of the Mountain is described as a drama-adventure about a single working mother who takes her family to a mountain cabin they inherited from their eccentric uncle, where they set off on an adventure.
The partnership falls under Walmart's new Family Moments, a marketing, in-store and digital family-centric entertainment initiative. P&G is co-founder, and Walmart is c0-fhiar with P&G, of the Alliance for Family Entertainment (f/k/a Family Friendly Programming Forum), a group of about 40 national advertisers, which is supported by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).
Ameba, a Winnipeg-based IPTV system for kids' entertainment, prepares for the North American launch of AmebaTV.com ( www.amebatv.com ) by taking delivery of proprietary set-top boxes in preparation. This new portal aims to deliver commercial free, kid-targeted entertainment directly to television viewers via the web.
AmebaTV.com's library includes 500 hours of live-action and animated kid-centric content from producers including Decode Entertainment, Breakthrough New Media, Casablanca Kids, Sockeye, Marble Media, Portfolio, TVO, Compugraf, Blender, Agogo Entertainment, Ingaldson-Smith Productions, and Janet's Planet, National Film Board, among others.
Sprite is inviting teens to express their creativity via music and film in its first global integrated marketing campaign, The Spark, which takes its name from Sprite's newly updated Spark logo. The campaign includes TV commercials, an online interactive music mixer featuring content from music artist Drake and a digital film mixer, aimed at inspiring teens to interact and be creative. The Spark launches this year first in North America, and then across Europe, Africa and Asia. The new campaign will be showcased at the NBA All-Star 2010 this weekend, which will feature a soundtrack by Drake. A range of different artists will be featured in The Spark campaign around the world. Sprite is part of The Coca-Cola Company.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hit Entertainment, Latin America Multimedia Corporation
Hit Entertainment goes ahead with the development of two new projects from noted US TV writer/producers:
For the Birds - an animated comedy series targeted to K8-11, which follows the adventures of Earl E. Bird. The series comes from writer/producers Tom Ruegger (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain) and Randy Rogel (Animaniacs, Batman).
Zip Zip Zippy - a music-based preschool series that invites viewers to physically participate in story-based adventures, and featuring a live-action host in an animated world of animals and kids. The series is created by Jeanine Kay and Luciana Brafman Bienstock.
Latin America Multimedia Corporation (LAMC) moves forward with new episodes of the live action preschool series Dos y Dos. Recorded in Spanish and English, the new episodes of Dos y Dos will include 26x30 new episodes for two new seasons of the series, which are scheduled to be available beginning September 2010. 4Kids Entertainment is the worldwide merchandising and licensing agent and brand manager for the property.
Mexico City-based Rose Entertainment handles international distribution for the series. Dos y Dos has also inked a deal with Peer Music to serve as the exclusive music publisher in the Americas and parts of Europe. Peer Music and 4Kids Entertainment will work together to develop merchandise that showcases music from the TV series.
Additionally, the four main characters from the series will star in a new live stage version of Dos y Dos, currently scheduled to stop in 10 cities in the US this summer.
For the Birds - an animated comedy series targeted to K8-11, which follows the adventures of Earl E. Bird. The series comes from writer/producers Tom Ruegger (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain) and Randy Rogel (Animaniacs, Batman).
Zip Zip Zippy - a music-based preschool series that invites viewers to physically participate in story-based adventures, and featuring a live-action host in an animated world of animals and kids. The series is created by Jeanine Kay and Luciana Brafman Bienstock.
Latin America Multimedia Corporation (LAMC) moves forward with new episodes of the live action preschool series Dos y Dos. Recorded in Spanish and English, the new episodes of Dos y Dos will include 26x30 new episodes for two new seasons of the series, which are scheduled to be available beginning September 2010. 4Kids Entertainment is the worldwide merchandising and licensing agent and brand manager for the property.
Mexico City-based Rose Entertainment handles international distribution for the series. Dos y Dos has also inked a deal with Peer Music to serve as the exclusive music publisher in the Americas and parts of Europe. Peer Music and 4Kids Entertainment will work together to develop merchandise that showcases music from the TV series.
Additionally, the four main characters from the series will star in a new live stage version of Dos y Dos, currently scheduled to stop in 10 cities in the US this summer.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Spin Master Entertainment, The Kratt Brothers, PorchLight Entertainment
Spin Master Entertainment, a division of Spin Master Ltd., and animation studio Titmouse are partnering to co-develop and produce a new tween animated music TV series The Special Offers.
Created by Titmouse's VP Keith Fay, the series will feature music by Fay and Gina Shock -- yes, you remember her as the drummer of the Go Go's (she has also penned songs for Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Miranda Cosgrove). Fay previously produced the first two seasons of Adult Swim's Metalocalypse, and was also creative producer for in-game cinematics scenes on the last five Guitar Hero video games.
The series follows four music-loving misfit kids that form a band, The Special Offers. Each episode will feature an original song, culminating in a soundtrack release at the end of the season.
We can also look forward to a live tour. Spin Master Entertainment will serve as the global merchandising, licensing agent and toy maker for the property, with Titmouse Entertainment creating the animated series and retaining the global music rights.
Spin Master's Matt Wexler and Jennifer Picherack and Titmouse's Fay and Shannon Prynoski will serve as Executive Producers of the TV series. Schock will serve as a producer and will collaborate on original music with Fay for the series.
The Kratt Brothers head back into the wild in the new animated wildlife adventure/comedy series Wild Kratts (40x22). Targeted to K6-9, Wild Kratts will premiere in January 2011 on PBS Kids Go!, and in Canada on TVOntario, Knowledge Network and Tele-Quebec, and will be showcased next week at the KidScreen Summit in NYC.
Co-produced and distributed by The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Entertainment, the series follows animated versions of real life zoologist brothers Chris and Martin Kratt as they take viewers on adventures where they explore habitats of unusual animals.
In each episode the brothers work to help animals in crisis, often instigated by their nemesis Zach Varmitech and his mission to collect endangered animals. 9 Story Entertainment will distribute the series outside of North America. The Kratt's created and produced Kratt's Creatures, Zoboomafoo and Kratt Brothers: Be The Creature.
PorchLight Entertainment adds the new Flash animated series Agent A to Agent Z (52x11) to its development slate. Created by Andy Rash (author/illustrator) and Dan Yaccarino (author/creator, Oswald, Willa's Wild Life) and based on Rash's kid's book of the same name published by Arthur A.
Levine Books, Agent A to Agent Z is a comedy/mystery that revolves around the misadventures of a father and son (12-yr-old Aaron) spy duo and their secret missions.
Created by Titmouse's VP Keith Fay, the series will feature music by Fay and Gina Shock -- yes, you remember her as the drummer of the Go Go's (she has also penned songs for Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Miranda Cosgrove). Fay previously produced the first two seasons of Adult Swim's Metalocalypse, and was also creative producer for in-game cinematics scenes on the last five Guitar Hero video games.
The series follows four music-loving misfit kids that form a band, The Special Offers. Each episode will feature an original song, culminating in a soundtrack release at the end of the season.
We can also look forward to a live tour. Spin Master Entertainment will serve as the global merchandising, licensing agent and toy maker for the property, with Titmouse Entertainment creating the animated series and retaining the global music rights.
Spin Master's Matt Wexler and Jennifer Picherack and Titmouse's Fay and Shannon Prynoski will serve as Executive Producers of the TV series. Schock will serve as a producer and will collaborate on original music with Fay for the series.
The Kratt Brothers head back into the wild in the new animated wildlife adventure/comedy series Wild Kratts (40x22). Targeted to K6-9, Wild Kratts will premiere in January 2011 on PBS Kids Go!, and in Canada on TVOntario, Knowledge Network and Tele-Quebec, and will be showcased next week at the KidScreen Summit in NYC.
Co-produced and distributed by The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Entertainment, the series follows animated versions of real life zoologist brothers Chris and Martin Kratt as they take viewers on adventures where they explore habitats of unusual animals.
In each episode the brothers work to help animals in crisis, often instigated by their nemesis Zach Varmitech and his mission to collect endangered animals. 9 Story Entertainment will distribute the series outside of North America. The Kratt's created and produced Kratt's Creatures, Zoboomafoo and Kratt Brothers: Be The Creature.
PorchLight Entertainment adds the new Flash animated series Agent A to Agent Z (52x11) to its development slate. Created by Andy Rash (author/illustrator) and Dan Yaccarino (author/creator, Oswald, Willa's Wild Life) and based on Rash's kid's book of the same name published by Arthur A.
Levine Books, Agent A to Agent Z is a comedy/mystery that revolves around the misadventures of a father and son (12-yr-old Aaron) spy duo and their secret missions.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Disney Television Animation, Sesame Street Old School Vol. 1
Disney Television Animation commences production on Jake and the Never Land Pirates, a new interactive mixed 2D and CG animated preschool series, which will premiere on Playhouse Disney-branded blocks and channels around the world.
Designed to underline the importance of teamwork, the original music-filled series follows Jake and his pirate friends (and parrot) as they travel through Never Land in search of lost treasures and learning to work together and hone their problem solving skills, with the help of the at home audience, to outsmart Captain Hook and his ever-present lackey Smee.
The series stars Colin Ford as Jack, and Madison Pettis (Cory in the House, The Game Plan) as Izzy, and Jonathan Morgan Heit (Bedtime Stories) as Cubby. Executive produced by Rob LaDuca (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), Jake and the Never Land Pirates features original music by Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson of the pirate rock band Captain Bogg & Salty.
On the heels of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, E1 Music will release the CD box set Sesame Street Old School Vol. 1 on March 23, 2010.
The box set features three of the earliest Sesame Street albums, cast and original art: The Original Cast Recording (1970), Big Bird Sings (1974) and Bert & Ernie Sing Along, all digitally re-mastered and all on CD for the first time.
A ton of great songs and of course performances including at least one song featuring Mr. Hooper.
Designed to underline the importance of teamwork, the original music-filled series follows Jake and his pirate friends (and parrot) as they travel through Never Land in search of lost treasures and learning to work together and hone their problem solving skills, with the help of the at home audience, to outsmart Captain Hook and his ever-present lackey Smee.
The series stars Colin Ford as Jack, and Madison Pettis (Cory in the House, The Game Plan) as Izzy, and Jonathan Morgan Heit (Bedtime Stories) as Cubby. Executive produced by Rob LaDuca (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), Jake and the Never Land Pirates features original music by Loren Hoskins and Kevin Hendrickson of the pirate rock band Captain Bogg & Salty.
On the heels of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, E1 Music will release the CD box set Sesame Street Old School Vol. 1 on March 23, 2010.
The box set features three of the earliest Sesame Street albums, cast and original art: The Original Cast Recording (1970), Big Bird Sings (1974) and Bert & Ernie Sing Along, all digitally re-mastered and all on CD for the first time.
A ton of great songs and of course performances including at least one song featuring Mr. Hooper.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
SpaceFace
Another kid-targeted social network launches. SpaceFace ( www.spaceface.com ) is a new space-centric virtual world aimed at kids/tweens 4-14.
SpaceFace features games, private messaging (SpaceChat), and a way to earn and collect points (SpaceGold), which can be used in its shopping area (SpaceMall). The also has 24/7 content monitors.
SpaceFace features games, private messaging (SpaceChat), and a way to earn and collect points (SpaceGold), which can be used in its shopping area (SpaceMall). The also has 24/7 content monitors.
Friday, January 15, 2010
PBS,BabyTV
Public broadcaster PBS, which recently retooled its video site to make it much easier on the eyes and the mouse, continues to impress by devoting significant creative resources to its online efforts.
The network unveiled two new projects at TCA this week worth noting. In partnership with its local New York affiliate, WNET.org, PBS plans to launch "Need To Know" in May, a broadcast and online news show hybrid.
The idea is to cover stories using multiple mediums that are getting missed as less and less American pick up a newspaper. The property will aggregate news and public affairs content along with offerings from editorial partners in a weekly one hour show produced by WNET.org and via a "supervertical" site at pbs.org.
PBS also continues to up the ante for its online kids properties.
Lifeboat to Mars is a new Flash-based educational game designed by Red Hill Studios that includes an ambitious array of customization features. Watching online video to today's kids is like reading the cereal box for earlier generations.
PBS says kids watched more than 87.5 million video streams across the PBS Kids family of sites last month, a new high for the portal.
BabyTV partners with the Hong Kong Bureau of Education (EDB) to launch a 'guidebook', Growing Together: Making the most of TV for toddlers. The book is designed to help parents make better media relate choices for their kids, as well as how to engage with their kids to get the most out of kid's TV and media.
Created using the results of a survey conducted last summer in Hong Kong by BabyTV, which found that while 90% of parents use screens with their kids most aren't well educated about what makes age appropriate content, the book will be distributed to parents at kindergartens across Hong Kong.
The network unveiled two new projects at TCA this week worth noting. In partnership with its local New York affiliate, WNET.org, PBS plans to launch "Need To Know" in May, a broadcast and online news show hybrid.
The idea is to cover stories using multiple mediums that are getting missed as less and less American pick up a newspaper. The property will aggregate news and public affairs content along with offerings from editorial partners in a weekly one hour show produced by WNET.org and via a "supervertical" site at pbs.org.
PBS also continues to up the ante for its online kids properties.
Lifeboat to Mars is a new Flash-based educational game designed by Red Hill Studios that includes an ambitious array of customization features. Watching online video to today's kids is like reading the cereal box for earlier generations.
PBS says kids watched more than 87.5 million video streams across the PBS Kids family of sites last month, a new high for the portal.
BabyTV partners with the Hong Kong Bureau of Education (EDB) to launch a 'guidebook', Growing Together: Making the most of TV for toddlers. The book is designed to help parents make better media relate choices for their kids, as well as how to engage with their kids to get the most out of kid's TV and media.
Created using the results of a survey conducted last summer in Hong Kong by BabyTV, which found that while 90% of parents use screens with their kids most aren't well educated about what makes age appropriate content, the book will be distributed to parents at kindergartens across Hong Kong.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Wilson & Ditch: Digging America
This week marks PBS Kids Go! and The Jim Henson Company's exclusive online launch of the comedy digital puppet series Wilson & Ditch: Digging America.
he series was created by Joe Purdy (story editor/Dinosaur Train, Sid The Science Kid) and Craig Bartlett (creator/Dinosaur Train, Hey Arnold), and produced by The Jim Henson Company.
Targeted to K6-10, Wilson & Ditch: Digging America takes viewers on a cross-country adventure with two gopher brothers (performed by Brian Henson and Paul Rugg), learning about American culture, history and geography along the way.
In addition to the webisodes, Wilson & Ditch also features interactive games, original comics a travel blog, online location audio podcasts, and downloadable activities from Wilson and Ditch's adventures.
Little Airplane Productions' new animated preschool series, Tobi (4x4), is set to make its worldwide launch on Sunday, March 7 on Nickelodeon Australia and Treehouse TV (Canada).
The series debut coincides with UNICEF's annual International Children's Day of Broadcasting, which encourages broadcasters to air programming for, about or by kids.
The short-form series revolves around a young boy, Tobi, who wants to make the world a better place and focuses on global issues in an age appropriate way, including human rights, endangered species and homelessness.
A traditionally hand drawn animated series featuring backgrounds created with recycled materials, Tobi is written in verse and uses a combination of stylized jazz and dialogue to support the narration. Tobi is produced at Little Airplane's NYC studio, with the company's Supervising Producer Tone Thyne heading up the production.
he series was created by Joe Purdy (story editor/Dinosaur Train, Sid The Science Kid) and Craig Bartlett (creator/Dinosaur Train, Hey Arnold), and produced by The Jim Henson Company.
Targeted to K6-10, Wilson & Ditch: Digging America takes viewers on a cross-country adventure with two gopher brothers (performed by Brian Henson and Paul Rugg), learning about American culture, history and geography along the way.
In addition to the webisodes, Wilson & Ditch also features interactive games, original comics a travel blog, online location audio podcasts, and downloadable activities from Wilson and Ditch's adventures.
Little Airplane Productions' new animated preschool series, Tobi (4x4), is set to make its worldwide launch on Sunday, March 7 on Nickelodeon Australia and Treehouse TV (Canada).
The series debut coincides with UNICEF's annual International Children's Day of Broadcasting, which encourages broadcasters to air programming for, about or by kids.
The short-form series revolves around a young boy, Tobi, who wants to make the world a better place and focuses on global issues in an age appropriate way, including human rights, endangered species and homelessness.
A traditionally hand drawn animated series featuring backgrounds created with recycled materials, Tobi is written in verse and uses a combination of stylized jazz and dialogue to support the narration. Tobi is produced at Little Airplane's NYC studio, with the company's Supervising Producer Tone Thyne heading up the production.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Team Umizoomi, Cooney Center Prizes for Innovation in Children's Learning.
Looking to empower preschools with early number skills Nickelodeon will launch its new math-centric series, Team Umizoomi (20x30), on Monday, January 25 with two back-to-back episodes from 11:30a.
A mixed 2D/3D animated and live action series, Team Umizoomi presents and bolsters preschoolers with math skills and self-esteem through interactive action-adventure missions.
Following the series premiere, Nickelodeon will air two weeks of new episodes Tuesday-Thursday, January 26-28 and Monday-Thursday, February 1-4 at 11:3oa. To supp the series launch, the network will offer a sneak peek at Team Umizoomi at Nick Jr. Video (at www.nickjr.com ) and wireless carriers via VOD.
The premiere episode will simulcast on Nick Mobile. Additionally, two episodes of the show will play back-to-back on the Nick Jr. channel on Sunday, January 31 and Sunday February 7 at 7p. Created by Blue's Clues alumni Soo Kim, Michael T. Smith and Jennifer Twomey, the series features a team of superheroes that use age-appropriate math to help solve their challenges.
NickJr.com will offer a Team Umizoomi learning section featuring math activities for parents to use with their kids, as well as games, videos, printables, and later this month additional free content such as personalized and customizable printables and a mo newsletter.
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center ( www.joanganzconeycenter.org) at Sesame Workshop is accepting online proposals (by April 1, 2010) for its first Cooney Center Prizes for Innovation in Children's Learning.
Designed to encourage creators to develop new tools and content in kid's digital media and learning, the new annual national competition was launched last week at the Consumer Electronics Show's Kids at Play Summit.
Creators can develop projects in two categories: Breakthroughs in Mobile Learning mobile learning projects for K3-11; and Breakthroughs in Literacy Learning: Innovate with The Electric Company projects should promote literacy skills for K6-9 using The Electric Company series, not only on TV but for wherever kids are.
Up to five finalists in each category will be invited to pitch their ideas to industry and educational executives at an event held at this year's E3 Expo
A mixed 2D/3D animated and live action series, Team Umizoomi presents and bolsters preschoolers with math skills and self-esteem through interactive action-adventure missions.
Following the series premiere, Nickelodeon will air two weeks of new episodes Tuesday-Thursday, January 26-28 and Monday-Thursday, February 1-4 at 11:3oa. To supp the series launch, the network will offer a sneak peek at Team Umizoomi at Nick Jr. Video (at www.nickjr.com ) and wireless carriers via VOD.
The premiere episode will simulcast on Nick Mobile. Additionally, two episodes of the show will play back-to-back on the Nick Jr. channel on Sunday, January 31 and Sunday February 7 at 7p. Created by Blue's Clues alumni Soo Kim, Michael T. Smith and Jennifer Twomey, the series features a team of superheroes that use age-appropriate math to help solve their challenges.
NickJr.com will offer a Team Umizoomi learning section featuring math activities for parents to use with their kids, as well as games, videos, printables, and later this month additional free content such as personalized and customizable printables and a mo newsletter.
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center ( www.joanganzconeycenter.org) at Sesame Workshop is accepting online proposals (by April 1, 2010) for its first Cooney Center Prizes for Innovation in Children's Learning.
Designed to encourage creators to develop new tools and content in kid's digital media and learning, the new annual national competition was launched last week at the Consumer Electronics Show's Kids at Play Summit.
Creators can develop projects in two categories: Breakthroughs in Mobile Learning mobile learning projects for K3-11; and Breakthroughs in Literacy Learning: Innovate with The Electric Company projects should promote literacy skills for K6-9 using The Electric Company series, not only on TV but for wherever kids are.
Up to five finalists in each category will be invited to pitch their ideas to industry and educational executives at an event held at this year's E3 Expo
Monday, January 11, 2010
Little Charley Bear and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Chapman Entertainment names Vivid Imaginations as the new master toy licensee for its new preschool series, entitled Little Charley Bear.
Commissioned by CBeebies, Little Charley Bear revolves around a teddy bear named Charley who uses his imagination to go on adventures under the watchful eye of his pal, the Narrator. The series also features other characters including Squeak (a penguin), Tina (teddy bear), Pixel (a robot), Bluey (bunny), Caramel (cow) and Bella (a ballerina).
Under the five-year toy deal Vivid Imaginations will develop a Little Charley Bear toy line including plush, playsets, role play, arts and crafts, puzzles and games for distribution in the UK, France, Benelux and Germany.
Vivid also has global manufacturing rights for the brand excluding the US, and plans to debut Little Charley Bear products in the UK in fall/winter 2011. Vivid Imaginations also serves as the master toy licensee on Chapman's preschool series, Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car.
Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, inks a deal with Lucasfilm, Ltd. to feature Yoda n a new middle school novel titled The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.
Written by Tom Angleberger, the book revolves around Dwight, a "total loser," who somehow provides his sixth-grade classmates with particularly useful advice via an origami Yoda finger puppet; like the date of a pop-quiz, who has a crush on whom, and moments of potential humiliation.
How does Dwight do it? That's what Tommy, a hipper classmate, wants to know and sets to finding out how a dork like Dwight is pulling this stunt off.
Commissioned by CBeebies, Little Charley Bear revolves around a teddy bear named Charley who uses his imagination to go on adventures under the watchful eye of his pal, the Narrator. The series also features other characters including Squeak (a penguin), Tina (teddy bear), Pixel (a robot), Bluey (bunny), Caramel (cow) and Bella (a ballerina).
Under the five-year toy deal Vivid Imaginations will develop a Little Charley Bear toy line including plush, playsets, role play, arts and crafts, puzzles and games for distribution in the UK, France, Benelux and Germany.
Vivid also has global manufacturing rights for the brand excluding the US, and plans to debut Little Charley Bear products in the UK in fall/winter 2011. Vivid Imaginations also serves as the master toy licensee on Chapman's preschool series, Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car.
Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, inks a deal with Lucasfilm, Ltd. to feature Yoda n a new middle school novel titled The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.
Written by Tom Angleberger, the book revolves around Dwight, a "total loser," who somehow provides his sixth-grade classmates with particularly useful advice via an origami Yoda finger puppet; like the date of a pop-quiz, who has a crush on whom, and moments of potential humiliation.
How does Dwight do it? That's what Tommy, a hipper classmate, wants to know and sets to finding out how a dork like Dwight is pulling this stunt off.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Forum Nokia and my iPhone APP
Forum Nokia launches its annual Calling All Innovators 2010 app development challenge, which is designed to inspire creative and change.
Additionally, Forum Nokia is partnering with Sesame Workshop for the education apps section of the life improvement category (see below) to encourage developers to create educational apps and possibly use Sesame Street characters to teach early literacy on Nokia devices. S
esame Workshop, which will offer guidance during the judging process, will work with select developers to further enhance their related projects.
The annual contest, which runs February 1-May 18 2010, is broken into four submission categories that enhance the use of Nokia mobile devices in the real world:
Eco/Being Green apps that help save the planet
Productivity apps that make users lives easier and more efficient (e.g. utilities, business, personal finance)
Life Improvement apps that positively affect on daily lives of those living in developing countries by using mobile devices to teach kids and illiterate adults critical skills among other things
Entertainment apps showcasing multimedia features including music, multimedia and games.
Here's the app for the Whole Wide World: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/art-star/id299569441?mt=8
Additionally, Forum Nokia is partnering with Sesame Workshop for the education apps section of the life improvement category (see below) to encourage developers to create educational apps and possibly use Sesame Street characters to teach early literacy on Nokia devices. S
esame Workshop, which will offer guidance during the judging process, will work with select developers to further enhance their related projects.
The annual contest, which runs February 1-May 18 2010, is broken into four submission categories that enhance the use of Nokia mobile devices in the real world:
Eco/Being Green apps that help save the planet
Productivity apps that make users lives easier and more efficient (e.g. utilities, business, personal finance)
Life Improvement apps that positively affect on daily lives of those living in developing countries by using mobile devices to teach kids and illiterate adults critical skills among other things
Entertainment apps showcasing multimedia features including music, multimedia and games.
Here's the app for the Whole Wide World: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/art-star/id299569441?mt=8
Thursday, January 7, 2010
digital media in the classroom
The use of digital media and internet in the classroom is on the rise according to the latest edition of an annual study conducted by Grunwald Associates for PBS.
More than three-quarters (76%) of K-12 educators say they use digital media, up from 69% in 2008. Of K-12 teachers who use digital media in the classroom, 80% say they are frequent or regular users.
While DVDs are still the preferred medium by a narrow margin, 72% of teachers reported streaming or downloading content from the Internet, up from 65% in 2008. About one in three (29%) pre-K educators use this method.
One-quarter of K-12 educators say they belong to an online community specifically for teachers such as PBS' pbsteachers.org site, and those who use social networking sites are comfortable with a variety of online activities. Results are similar for pre-K educators.
More than three-quarters (76%) of K-12 educators say they use digital media, up from 69% in 2008. Of K-12 teachers who use digital media in the classroom, 80% say they are frequent or regular users.
While DVDs are still the preferred medium by a narrow margin, 72% of teachers reported streaming or downloading content from the Internet, up from 65% in 2008. About one in three (29%) pre-K educators use this method.
One-quarter of K-12 educators say they belong to an online community specifically for teachers such as PBS' pbsteachers.org site, and those who use social networking sites are comfortable with a variety of online activities. Results are similar for pre-K educators.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Kids and Cell phones
If you've looked around or talked to friends recently you probably noticed that more and more younger kids have cell phones, but just how many more are there?
Well, there has been an increase of +68% of kids with cell phones in the past five year, according to MRI's recently release America Kids Study. Specifically, 20% of US Kids 6-11 owns a cell phone, this is up +11.9% from 2005, with the biggest increase among K10-11, which is up +80.5%, in the five-year period.
Not surprisingly boys were later to the cell phone ownership game, with the last three years showing the biggest growth among boys up by +47.6% since 2007, versus an increase of +17.2% among girls.
MRI believes that some of the increase, particularly with boys, is the result of wireless providers targeting parents and kids with kid-friendly phones and I'd add in the increase in kid-targeted wireless mobile content. So, what are kids doing most with their cell phones?
Survey Says... Top Cell Phone Activities for Children Ages 6-11:
Activity %
Call my parents 88.1
Call friends 68.1
Emergency purpose 55.7
Text messaging 54.1
Play games 49.0
Take pictures 47.8
Listen to music 34.4
Picture messaging 24.2
Download ringtones 16.5
Well, there has been an increase of +68% of kids with cell phones in the past five year, according to MRI's recently release America Kids Study. Specifically, 20% of US Kids 6-11 owns a cell phone, this is up +11.9% from 2005, with the biggest increase among K10-11, which is up +80.5%, in the five-year period.
Not surprisingly boys were later to the cell phone ownership game, with the last three years showing the biggest growth among boys up by +47.6% since 2007, versus an increase of +17.2% among girls.
MRI believes that some of the increase, particularly with boys, is the result of wireless providers targeting parents and kids with kid-friendly phones and I'd add in the increase in kid-targeted wireless mobile content. So, what are kids doing most with their cell phones?
Survey Says... Top Cell Phone Activities for Children Ages 6-11:
Activity %
Call my parents 88.1
Call friends 68.1
Emergency purpose 55.7
Text messaging 54.1
Play games 49.0
Take pictures 47.8
Listen to music 34.4
Picture messaging 24.2
Download ringtones 16.5
Monday, January 4, 2010
Tipping the Iceberg
Daisy Whitney, Dec 01, 2009 04:58 PM
Missing the mark with messages is costly (and common)
Sometimes a number can be both frightening and liberating. Like this one from Don Schultz, a professor of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern: Only 4 to 5 percent of customers account for the preponderance of a consumer product's sales. Does that make the other 95 percent of a marketer's customers chopped liver? Maybe a little bit. Because not only does that 4 to 5 percent comprise most of your sales and your profits, the rest of your customers often cost you money to acquire.
"What that says is, I better figure out who those 5 percent are and pick them up in a car and drive them to the store and help them shop," says Schultz. That's why he is advocating a complete overhaul in the way media planners approach campaigns. Rather than focus on the distribution of a message, they should concentrate on finding the customers. By flipping their thinking around, they'll have a much better chance of reaching prospects with the right media mix and, in so doing, gain a bigger share of dollars for digital budgets.
"Most advertisers and marketers will have some clear definition of who they are trying to reach and it could be broad, like women ages 18 to 49, or it could be individual names and addresses. All I am suggesting is starting at the other end of media planning. Start with what media forms they consume as opposed to what [the marketer] wants to do," Schultz says.
In some ways that sounds elementary, but many shops are still married to old ways of thinking. "We have used averages and broad statistical analysis for so long that we have lost sight of what the marketplace is really like," Schultz adds.
Instead, media planners should consider four critical measures in media consumption: what media is accessed, how much time is spent with each media form, what media is used together and which media has the greatest influence on product purchase. Makes perfect sense, right? So obvious that all marketers must do this in their sleep?
Maybe not.
Because, says Schultz, if you calculate cost weighted by the influence, then auto marketers overspent last year in TV by $3 billion, underspent in radio by $1.6 billion and underspent online by $1.5 billion.
Other marketers are misfiring, too. Computer marketers, as an example, should have been marketing online, in magazines and via email, while radio is much less relevant to prospective computer purchasers, Schultz says, citing data from June 2008.
The key to success is to study consumption. Most people consume multiple kinds of media at once. They read a magazine while talking on a cell phone or use Twitter while watching TV. Knowing the media consumption habits, preferences and combinations for your prospective customers is the proper way to plan a campaign. "It's what media combinations are most important to people and having a clue how to put media combinations together," says Schultz.
And that means reach isn't all it's cracked up to be. "It's not how many messages are distributed, it's how many are consumed. It's not what is most efficient, it's what is most effective. It's not how big your share of voice is, it's how important your customers think you are."
That 4 to 5 percent may seem small, but as the saying goes, good things come in small packages.
Missing the mark with messages is costly (and common)
Sometimes a number can be both frightening and liberating. Like this one from Don Schultz, a professor of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern: Only 4 to 5 percent of customers account for the preponderance of a consumer product's sales. Does that make the other 95 percent of a marketer's customers chopped liver? Maybe a little bit. Because not only does that 4 to 5 percent comprise most of your sales and your profits, the rest of your customers often cost you money to acquire.
"What that says is, I better figure out who those 5 percent are and pick them up in a car and drive them to the store and help them shop," says Schultz. That's why he is advocating a complete overhaul in the way media planners approach campaigns. Rather than focus on the distribution of a message, they should concentrate on finding the customers. By flipping their thinking around, they'll have a much better chance of reaching prospects with the right media mix and, in so doing, gain a bigger share of dollars for digital budgets.
"Most advertisers and marketers will have some clear definition of who they are trying to reach and it could be broad, like women ages 18 to 49, or it could be individual names and addresses. All I am suggesting is starting at the other end of media planning. Start with what media forms they consume as opposed to what [the marketer] wants to do," Schultz says.
In some ways that sounds elementary, but many shops are still married to old ways of thinking. "We have used averages and broad statistical analysis for so long that we have lost sight of what the marketplace is really like," Schultz adds.
Instead, media planners should consider four critical measures in media consumption: what media is accessed, how much time is spent with each media form, what media is used together and which media has the greatest influence on product purchase. Makes perfect sense, right? So obvious that all marketers must do this in their sleep?
Maybe not.
Because, says Schultz, if you calculate cost weighted by the influence, then auto marketers overspent last year in TV by $3 billion, underspent in radio by $1.6 billion and underspent online by $1.5 billion.
Other marketers are misfiring, too. Computer marketers, as an example, should have been marketing online, in magazines and via email, while radio is much less relevant to prospective computer purchasers, Schultz says, citing data from June 2008.
The key to success is to study consumption. Most people consume multiple kinds of media at once. They read a magazine while talking on a cell phone or use Twitter while watching TV. Knowing the media consumption habits, preferences and combinations for your prospective customers is the proper way to plan a campaign. "It's what media combinations are most important to people and having a clue how to put media combinations together," says Schultz.
And that means reach isn't all it's cracked up to be. "It's not how many messages are distributed, it's how many are consumed. It's not what is most efficient, it's what is most effective. It's not how big your share of voice is, it's how important your customers think you are."
That 4 to 5 percent may seem small, but as the saying goes, good things come in small packages.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
YouTube’s Quest to Suggest More
December 31, 2009
By MIGUEL HELFT
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — YouTube, the video site owned by Google, is about 10 times more popular than its nearest competitor. But Hunter Walk still thinks of it as an underdog.
For Mr. Walk, director of product management at YouTube, the competition is not other Web sites: it’s TV.
“Our average user spends 15 minutes a day on the site,” he said. “They spend about five hours in front of the television. People say, ‘YouTube is so big,’ but I really see that we have a ways to go.”
To that end, Mr. Walk leads a team of about a dozen engineers, designers and project managers who are fine-tuning YouTube to give its users what they want, even when the users aren’t quite sure what that is. The goal is to get them to spend a few more minutes on the site every day.
This is easier said than done. YouTube will not disclose the size of its video library, but the company has said that about 20 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. That is the equivalent of more than 100,000 full-length movies uploaded every week. With hundreds of millions of clips to choose from, the challenge that Mr. Walk’s team faces is to figure out how to select the 5 or 10 or 20 that a user might enjoy most.
The payoff could be large. Google executives have said YouTube is still losing money but is on a path to profitability. Getting users to spend more time on the site would help it get there faster by selling more advertising. It could also go a long way to extend its dominance, shoring up its position against sites like Hulu, which are attracting a growing number of users with full-length movies and television shows.
And it could also help YouTube keep up with other competitors, including video search engines like Truveo and Blinkx, or sites like Clicker.com, which specializes in recommending professionally created videos online.
After Blinkx added better analysis of the visual content of videos to its engine early this year, for example, the average number of clips watched by users jumped to nearly five, from 2.5, said Suranga Chandratillake, founder and chief executive of Blinkx.
For YouTube, part of the challenge is in handling people’s searches. In November, Americans typed some 3.8 billion search queries on YouTube, more than on any search engine other than Google, according to comScore, a market researcher. While Google queries tend to be quite specific, users often come to YouTube with requests as vague as “funny videos.”
But perhaps more important, YouTube must finesse what technicians call discovery. That’s the art of suggesting videos that users may want to watch based on what they have watched before, or on what others with similar tastes have enjoyed. The effort requires mastering data-mining techniques similar to those used by the likes of Netflix and Amazon to make movie or book recommendations.
“I don’t think the YouTube problem is different from the Netflix problem or the Amazon problem,” said Christopher T. Volinsky, executive director of statistics research at AT&T Labs Research. Mr. Volinsky recently helped lead a team that won a $1 million prize established by Netflix to improve that site’s recommendation engine by 10 percent.
That it took his team of top computer scientists three years to make a modest improvement to Netflix, which has some 70,000 titles, illustrates the complexity of the task, Mr. Volinsky said.
YouTube’s work in these areas is largely hidden from users and involves dozens of tweaks, small and large, that Mr. Walk’s team makes every month. Recently, for instance, the group began tackling what it calls topic exhaustion. No matter how much users may like to watch, say, Shaquille O’Neal highlights, they will inevitably reach a point when they will have had enough.
So while YouTube used to suggest more of the same topic to users who watched a particular video, it has gently begun to nudge them toward related topics. The Shaquille O’Neal video may prompt suggestions for Kobe Bryant highlights, N.B.A. clips or even topics further afield, like sports stars who appear in films.
“If we guess wrong, you could leave us sooner,” said Jamie Davidson, a 25-year-old associate product manager on Mr. Walk’s team. “But if we guess correctly, we may get you to watch another 10 videos. This is very hard.”
The techniques involve creating vast graphs, which Mr. Davidson calls conceptual maps, of related concepts like Shaquille O’Neal, the N.B.A. and Kobe Bryant, on which the proximity of two nodes indicates the closeness of two topics. The YouTube recommendation engine uses these maps to find new subject areas that might interest a user.
Over time, YouTube says it plans to rely more heavily on personalization and ties between users to refine recommendations.
Mr. Walk’s team meets weekly to discuss tweaks to YouTube’s software. During a recent meeting, a small group of engineers and user interface designers were brainstorming what might be the next big step in the site’s evolution: pages that would immediately begin playing a stream of clips tailored for a user, instead of offering lists of suggested videos. The idea is to push more videos at users in the hope of allowing them to abandon the keyboard and increasingly experience YouTube from the couch.
“On YouTube, every 45 seconds, you are stuck at a decision point,” Mr. Davidson said. “Any time there is a decision point, people may leave. We don’t want to take out the interactivity, but the default user experience should be a lot easier.”
Palash Nandy, an engineer on the team, suggests a couple of ideas. How about putting an “I’m feeling bored” button next to the search box, echoing Google’s famous “I’m feeling lucky” button? Or why not give users a slider to select the amount of time they want to be entertained, and let YouTube’s software assemble a playlist accordingly?
None of this is likely to appear on the YouTube home page soon. But the team is already working on new ways to let users collectively create lists of videos that share a topic, like cats playing keyboards (youtube.com/bestofkeyboardcat). The ideas may show up first in the TestTube, YouTube’s site for experimental features.
Gauging YouTube’s success so far is difficult. YouTube will not release detailed traffic statistics. But it says improvements in its search and discovery software have helped increase the average time that users spend on the site by 50 percent in the last year.
Data from comScore appears to back that up. The average YouTube user watched 83 clips in October, compared with 53 a year earlier, though it is difficult to know how much of that growth was the result of improvements in YouTube’s algorithms.
Either way, Mr. Walk’s team plans to speed up the pace of innovation to help YouTube users search less and watch more.
“We are the second-largest search engine, and yet search is not even the right paradigm for discovering video,” Mr. Davidson said. “We are trying to move beyond it.”
By MIGUEL HELFT
SAN BRUNO, Calif. — YouTube, the video site owned by Google, is about 10 times more popular than its nearest competitor. But Hunter Walk still thinks of it as an underdog.
For Mr. Walk, director of product management at YouTube, the competition is not other Web sites: it’s TV.
“Our average user spends 15 minutes a day on the site,” he said. “They spend about five hours in front of the television. People say, ‘YouTube is so big,’ but I really see that we have a ways to go.”
To that end, Mr. Walk leads a team of about a dozen engineers, designers and project managers who are fine-tuning YouTube to give its users what they want, even when the users aren’t quite sure what that is. The goal is to get them to spend a few more minutes on the site every day.
This is easier said than done. YouTube will not disclose the size of its video library, but the company has said that about 20 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. That is the equivalent of more than 100,000 full-length movies uploaded every week. With hundreds of millions of clips to choose from, the challenge that Mr. Walk’s team faces is to figure out how to select the 5 or 10 or 20 that a user might enjoy most.
The payoff could be large. Google executives have said YouTube is still losing money but is on a path to profitability. Getting users to spend more time on the site would help it get there faster by selling more advertising. It could also go a long way to extend its dominance, shoring up its position against sites like Hulu, which are attracting a growing number of users with full-length movies and television shows.
And it could also help YouTube keep up with other competitors, including video search engines like Truveo and Blinkx, or sites like Clicker.com, which specializes in recommending professionally created videos online.
After Blinkx added better analysis of the visual content of videos to its engine early this year, for example, the average number of clips watched by users jumped to nearly five, from 2.5, said Suranga Chandratillake, founder and chief executive of Blinkx.
For YouTube, part of the challenge is in handling people’s searches. In November, Americans typed some 3.8 billion search queries on YouTube, more than on any search engine other than Google, according to comScore, a market researcher. While Google queries tend to be quite specific, users often come to YouTube with requests as vague as “funny videos.”
But perhaps more important, YouTube must finesse what technicians call discovery. That’s the art of suggesting videos that users may want to watch based on what they have watched before, or on what others with similar tastes have enjoyed. The effort requires mastering data-mining techniques similar to those used by the likes of Netflix and Amazon to make movie or book recommendations.
“I don’t think the YouTube problem is different from the Netflix problem or the Amazon problem,” said Christopher T. Volinsky, executive director of statistics research at AT&T Labs Research. Mr. Volinsky recently helped lead a team that won a $1 million prize established by Netflix to improve that site’s recommendation engine by 10 percent.
That it took his team of top computer scientists three years to make a modest improvement to Netflix, which has some 70,000 titles, illustrates the complexity of the task, Mr. Volinsky said.
YouTube’s work in these areas is largely hidden from users and involves dozens of tweaks, small and large, that Mr. Walk’s team makes every month. Recently, for instance, the group began tackling what it calls topic exhaustion. No matter how much users may like to watch, say, Shaquille O’Neal highlights, they will inevitably reach a point when they will have had enough.
So while YouTube used to suggest more of the same topic to users who watched a particular video, it has gently begun to nudge them toward related topics. The Shaquille O’Neal video may prompt suggestions for Kobe Bryant highlights, N.B.A. clips or even topics further afield, like sports stars who appear in films.
“If we guess wrong, you could leave us sooner,” said Jamie Davidson, a 25-year-old associate product manager on Mr. Walk’s team. “But if we guess correctly, we may get you to watch another 10 videos. This is very hard.”
The techniques involve creating vast graphs, which Mr. Davidson calls conceptual maps, of related concepts like Shaquille O’Neal, the N.B.A. and Kobe Bryant, on which the proximity of two nodes indicates the closeness of two topics. The YouTube recommendation engine uses these maps to find new subject areas that might interest a user.
Over time, YouTube says it plans to rely more heavily on personalization and ties between users to refine recommendations.
Mr. Walk’s team meets weekly to discuss tweaks to YouTube’s software. During a recent meeting, a small group of engineers and user interface designers were brainstorming what might be the next big step in the site’s evolution: pages that would immediately begin playing a stream of clips tailored for a user, instead of offering lists of suggested videos. The idea is to push more videos at users in the hope of allowing them to abandon the keyboard and increasingly experience YouTube from the couch.
“On YouTube, every 45 seconds, you are stuck at a decision point,” Mr. Davidson said. “Any time there is a decision point, people may leave. We don’t want to take out the interactivity, but the default user experience should be a lot easier.”
Palash Nandy, an engineer on the team, suggests a couple of ideas. How about putting an “I’m feeling bored” button next to the search box, echoing Google’s famous “I’m feeling lucky” button? Or why not give users a slider to select the amount of time they want to be entertained, and let YouTube’s software assemble a playlist accordingly?
None of this is likely to appear on the YouTube home page soon. But the team is already working on new ways to let users collectively create lists of videos that share a topic, like cats playing keyboards (youtube.com/bestofkeyboardcat). The ideas may show up first in the TestTube, YouTube’s site for experimental features.
Gauging YouTube’s success so far is difficult. YouTube will not release detailed traffic statistics. But it says improvements in its search and discovery software have helped increase the average time that users spend on the site by 50 percent in the last year.
Data from comScore appears to back that up. The average YouTube user watched 83 clips in October, compared with 53 a year earlier, though it is difficult to know how much of that growth was the result of improvements in YouTube’s algorithms.
Either way, Mr. Walk’s team plans to speed up the pace of innovation to help YouTube users search less and watch more.
“We are the second-largest search engine, and yet search is not even the right paradigm for discovering video,” Mr. Davidson said. “We are trying to move beyond it.”
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Electric Company, Sesame Workshop
The second season of Sesame Workshop's series The Electric Company (12x30) is set to premiere January 25, 2010 on PBS Kids Go (check local listings).
Targeted to K6-9, the new season of The Electric Company, which airs five days a week, will begin with a special three-episode recurring role by Kyle Massey (Cory in the House), playing Keith's cousin PJ.
Following the debut week, new episodes will bow each Friday. The new season will also feature celebrity appearances by NBA player Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic/center), John Leguizamo, LL Cool J, and Sherrie Shephard among others.
Season two of The Electric Company is made possible by the support of American Greetings and Beaches Resorts. The series is part of PBS Kids Raising Readers national literacy initiative, which focuses on using public media to improve reading skills of K2-8, particularly for kids from low-income families.
Smart Kids Group debuts Live at the Hive, a new social networking community targeted to kids/tweens and their parents.
The bee hive-themed community features Bert the Bee and other characters that lead users through Live at the Hive, which includes a range of areas or in this case neighborhood hives like The Healthy Hive, The Travel Hive, and The Safety Hive among others.
Safety is a key component of this social network. So, it will include various features such as monthly reports to parents that show where their kids have visited and who they have been interacting with on the site.
Targeted to K6-9, the new season of The Electric Company, which airs five days a week, will begin with a special three-episode recurring role by Kyle Massey (Cory in the House), playing Keith's cousin PJ.
Following the debut week, new episodes will bow each Friday. The new season will also feature celebrity appearances by NBA player Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic/center), John Leguizamo, LL Cool J, and Sherrie Shephard among others.
Season two of The Electric Company is made possible by the support of American Greetings and Beaches Resorts. The series is part of PBS Kids Raising Readers national literacy initiative, which focuses on using public media to improve reading skills of K2-8, particularly for kids from low-income families.
Smart Kids Group debuts Live at the Hive, a new social networking community targeted to kids/tweens and their parents.
The bee hive-themed community features Bert the Bee and other characters that lead users through Live at the Hive, which includes a range of areas or in this case neighborhood hives like The Healthy Hive, The Travel Hive, and The Safety Hive among others.
Safety is a key component of this social network. So, it will include various features such as monthly reports to parents that show where their kids have visited and who they have been interacting with on the site.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The NPD Group leisure time activities research
Despite the excitement generated from new platforms, America is still mostly a nation of couch potatoes who spend a vast majority of their leisure time in front of the boob tube, according to the latest update to the "Entertainment Trends in America" consumer tracking surveys conducted by The NPD Group. Some 81% of respondents reporting watching an average of 10 hours of TV per week (not including movies.)
Other finding included:
Despite the proliferation of iPods and other MP3 players, 78% of Americans still spend 5+ hours/week listening to traditional AM/FM radio
with 60% still listening to music on a CD
70% of Americans spend 4 hours/week on average on IM and email
Some 47% visited social networking sites, spending an average of 5 hours/week
11% of respondents reported tweeting an average of 3 hours/week
Top 5 Leisure Time Activities in the U.S.
(based on % of consumers who took part in prior week)
Watch TV show/sports/news (excluding movies): 81%
Listen to music on traditional AM/FM radio (not satellite): 78%
Instant-messaging or e-mailing: 70%
Listen to music on a CD: 60%
Watch a movie on TV (excluding PPV and VOD): 58%
Source: The NPD Group
Other finding included:
Despite the proliferation of iPods and other MP3 players, 78% of Americans still spend 5+ hours/week listening to traditional AM/FM radio
with 60% still listening to music on a CD
70% of Americans spend 4 hours/week on average on IM and email
Some 47% visited social networking sites, spending an average of 5 hours/week
11% of respondents reported tweeting an average of 3 hours/week
Top 5 Leisure Time Activities in the U.S.
(based on % of consumers who took part in prior week)
Watch TV show/sports/news (excluding movies): 81%
Listen to music on traditional AM/FM radio (not satellite): 78%
Instant-messaging or e-mailing: 70%
Listen to music on a CD: 60%
Watch a movie on TV (excluding PPV and VOD): 58%
Source: The NPD Group
Friday, December 11, 2009
Kenn Viselman presents
Producer/marketer Kenn Viselman, he brought Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine to the US, forms a new film and TV production company Kenn Viselman presents ... The company recently completed filming its first feature film The Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure.
Targeted to kids, the interactive movie features Cloris Leachman, Chazz Palminteri, Jamie Pressly, Toni Braxton, Cary Elwes and Christopher Lloyd. Directed by Matthew Diamond, Viselman plans to release The Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure in November 2010 on 3000+ movie screens.
The company's development slate includes eleven movie projects including Sleeping Rudy, Step Off and a follow-up of The Oogieloves, which heads into pre-production this January. Kenn Viselman presents
... appointments include Angela Rivet as SVP/Production; Eileen Potrock as SVP/Marketing and Third Party Strategic Alliances; Julie Polkes as VP/Public Relations; Kara Moline as Director/Ancillary Rights; and Mitchell Rivet as Manager/Investor Relations.
Targeted to kids, the interactive movie features Cloris Leachman, Chazz Palminteri, Jamie Pressly, Toni Braxton, Cary Elwes and Christopher Lloyd. Directed by Matthew Diamond, Viselman plans to release The Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure in November 2010 on 3000+ movie screens.
The company's development slate includes eleven movie projects including Sleeping Rudy, Step Off and a follow-up of The Oogieloves, which heads into pre-production this January. Kenn Viselman presents
... appointments include Angela Rivet as SVP/Production; Eileen Potrock as SVP/Marketing and Third Party Strategic Alliances; Julie Polkes as VP/Public Relations; Kara Moline as Director/Ancillary Rights; and Mitchell Rivet as Manager/Investor Relations.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Our Little Genius, Sprout
Actor Kevin Pollak will host Fox's new kid-centric game show Our Little Genius. The series, which challenges kids that are expects in select areas, will makes its debut on Wednesday, January 13 as the lead-out to American Idol and then find its permanent home the following Tuesday, January 19 at 9p.
Mark Burnett Productions and Zoo Productions are the producers behind the Our Little Genius game series. Pollak is best known for his roles in the movies A Few Good Man, The Usual Suspects and Casino, with upcoming movies including playing opposite Bruce Willis in Kevin Smith's A Couple of DICS and Middle Men with Luke Wilson and Giovanni Ribisi.
Given the time slots, the series is more likely for adults which is good because most average kids don't likely want to watch genius kids on a regular basis.
Hit Entertainment teams with Sprout, the 24/7 preschool TV, on demand and online destination, to launch Let's Grow, a DVD series that will focus on life skills and lessons for preschoolers.
The new line will feature themed DVDs comprised of episodes of Hit Entertainment series, such as Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, among others, and tied together by live-action interstitial segments starring hosts from Sprout's Sunny Side Up Show.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment, a longtime distributor of Hit's home entertainment, will release the first DVD title, Lend a Helping Hand on January 12, 2010, followed by a second title in 2Q 2010. Additionally, each DVD will come with a parent resource guide including information and suggestions that correspond with the theme of that DVD.
Mark Burnett Productions and Zoo Productions are the producers behind the Our Little Genius game series. Pollak is best known for his roles in the movies A Few Good Man, The Usual Suspects and Casino, with upcoming movies including playing opposite Bruce Willis in Kevin Smith's A Couple of DICS and Middle Men with Luke Wilson and Giovanni Ribisi.
Given the time slots, the series is more likely for adults which is good because most average kids don't likely want to watch genius kids on a regular basis.
Hit Entertainment teams with Sprout, the 24/7 preschool TV, on demand and online destination, to launch Let's Grow, a DVD series that will focus on life skills and lessons for preschoolers.
The new line will feature themed DVDs comprised of episodes of Hit Entertainment series, such as Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, among others, and tied together by live-action interstitial segments starring hosts from Sprout's Sunny Side Up Show.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment, a longtime distributor of Hit's home entertainment, will release the first DVD title, Lend a Helping Hand on January 12, 2010, followed by a second title in 2Q 2010. Additionally, each DVD will come with a parent resource guide including information and suggestions that correspond with the theme of that DVD.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Sesame Street is headed for Nigeria!
Sesame Street is headed for Nigeria! Sesame Workshop is developing a new series targeted to Nigerian kids, which will offer messaging about staying in school, girl empowerment and HIV/Aids.
Sesame Street Nigeria (working title) is being produced through a 5-year grant from the American people via the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and will initially include 78x30 (making up three seasons) as well as outreach materials.
Sesame Workshop is working closely with an advisory board of local exporters in order to determine the focus and content for the new series. The series will feature Kami and Big Bird among other characters. The first three seasons will address these goals through the following themes:
Season 1: We Can - will focus on empowering kids to aspire to be anything they want and encourage them to stay in school. Show content will portray community participation in the learning process and suggesting there is also time for play, fun and creativity in kids' lives.
Season 2: We Do It Right will highlight honesty and integrity, courtesy and coping with mistakes. Themes will include mutual respect and understanding and gender parity.
Season 3: We Live Here will focus on community activities that reflect the importance of culture and caring for the environment.
Sesame Street Nigeria (working title) is being produced through a 5-year grant from the American people via the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and will initially include 78x30 (making up three seasons) as well as outreach materials.
Sesame Workshop is working closely with an advisory board of local exporters in order to determine the focus and content for the new series. The series will feature Kami and Big Bird among other characters. The first three seasons will address these goals through the following themes:
Season 1: We Can - will focus on empowering kids to aspire to be anything they want and encourage them to stay in school. Show content will portray community participation in the learning process and suggesting there is also time for play, fun and creativity in kids' lives.
Season 2: We Do It Right will highlight honesty and integrity, courtesy and coping with mistakes. Themes will include mutual respect and understanding and gender parity.
Season 3: We Live Here will focus on community activities that reflect the importance of culture and caring for the environment.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Chello Multicanal and Zon Multimedia
Chello Multicanal and Zon Multimedia ink a partnership for the production, marketing and distribution of kid's movie and entertainment channels across Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa.
The partnership sees the creation of a new company to handle these projects, Dreamia Servicos de Televisao, of which Chello and Zon are equal partners. The three companies will launch a Panda Biggs, a tween-targeted channel.
Dreamia will broadcast four channels, with the other three being the kid-aimed Panda, a movie channel titled Hollywood, and MOV, which will offer movies and TV series. Chello will distribute the Dreamia channels in Portugal, while Zon will do so in Portuguese-speaking Africa.
The partnership sees the creation of a new company to handle these projects, Dreamia Servicos de Televisao, of which Chello and Zon are equal partners. The three companies will launch a Panda Biggs, a tween-targeted channel.
Dreamia will broadcast four channels, with the other three being the kid-aimed Panda, a movie channel titled Hollywood, and MOV, which will offer movies and TV series. Chello will distribute the Dreamia channels in Portugal, while Zon will do so in Portuguese-speaking Africa.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Branded content and Educate to Innovate
Disney Online launches a new Clorox sponsored web series, The Possibility Shop, from The Jim Henson Company. Hosted by Courtney Watkins, The Possibility Shop offers various kid activities and projects and will update every two weeks with season and/or holiday-based content.
With Clorox as its exclusive sponsor, specifically supporting its Clorox2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster as well as its disinfecting wipes and toilet-cleaning products, The Possibility Shop features ads for these products in and around the episode.
President Obama yesterday launched the Educate to Innovate campaign, a nationwide initiative designed to encourage US kids to work hard to move to the head of the class in science, technology, engineering and math (also known as the STEM education courses) over the course of the next decade.
To support this new effort, the White House has entered into partnerships with several companies, foundations, non-profits and science and engineering societies that work to educate and motivate young people in the areas of science and math. Among the many plans, an annual science fair will be held at the White House, featuring winners from across the country.
Some partners and their efforts include:
Sesame Workshop in partnership with PNC Bank launches Sesame Street's Early STEM Literacy Initiative, a two-year and $7.5 million investment the science and math effort aimed at encouraging young kids to have positive attitudes towards nature and care for the environment.
In the new season of Sesame Street, which includes its My World is Green & Growing as part of the new 2-year initiative, 20 of the 26 episodes will focus on STEM, 13 will focus on science and seven on math. Additionally, Sesame Workshop, with PNC Bank's Grow Up Great Program, introduces a new math program for preschoolers entitled Math is Everywhere.
Time Warner Cable, in partnership with FIRST Robotics and the Coalition for Science After School, launches a campaign to connect 1+ million students to after-school STEM activities that are already available in their area. Time Warner will support this with a searchable website, connectamillionminds .com, public service announcements (PSAs), and has committed $100 million over the next five years, as well as further corporate philanthropy.
Discovery Communications launches Be the Future, a five-year campaign in partnership with universities and federal agencies to create content including PSAs for air on its 13 US networks, a commercial-free kid-targeted educational programming block on the Science Channel and other programming including its Curiosity series. Additionally, Discovery is creating interactive educational content for schools, and via a partnership with Siemens Foundation, will create STEM Connect, a resource for teachers.
National Lab Day, a grassroots effort that aims to upgrade science labs and support learning projects and support STEM teachers. The effort is a partnership with science and engineering societies with financial support from the Hidary Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other partners.
The MacArthur Foundation, Sony Computer Entertainment America and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and its partners launch National STEM game design competitions. The competitions will include the 2010 Digital Media and Learning Competition, an annual effort supported by the MacArthur Foundation that advances innovative approaches to learning through games, social networks and mobile devices. One competition will be open solely to kids. Sony will participate in one segment of the competition this year, encouraging the development of new games that build on the existing video game Little Big Planet.
With Clorox as its exclusive sponsor, specifically supporting its Clorox2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster as well as its disinfecting wipes and toilet-cleaning products, The Possibility Shop features ads for these products in and around the episode.
President Obama yesterday launched the Educate to Innovate campaign, a nationwide initiative designed to encourage US kids to work hard to move to the head of the class in science, technology, engineering and math (also known as the STEM education courses) over the course of the next decade.
To support this new effort, the White House has entered into partnerships with several companies, foundations, non-profits and science and engineering societies that work to educate and motivate young people in the areas of science and math. Among the many plans, an annual science fair will be held at the White House, featuring winners from across the country.
Some partners and their efforts include:
Sesame Workshop in partnership with PNC Bank launches Sesame Street's Early STEM Literacy Initiative, a two-year and $7.5 million investment the science and math effort aimed at encouraging young kids to have positive attitudes towards nature and care for the environment.
In the new season of Sesame Street, which includes its My World is Green & Growing as part of the new 2-year initiative, 20 of the 26 episodes will focus on STEM, 13 will focus on science and seven on math. Additionally, Sesame Workshop, with PNC Bank's Grow Up Great Program, introduces a new math program for preschoolers entitled Math is Everywhere.
Time Warner Cable, in partnership with FIRST Robotics and the Coalition for Science After School, launches a campaign to connect 1+ million students to after-school STEM activities that are already available in their area. Time Warner will support this with a searchable website, connectamillionminds .com, public service announcements (PSAs), and has committed $100 million over the next five years, as well as further corporate philanthropy.
Discovery Communications launches Be the Future, a five-year campaign in partnership with universities and federal agencies to create content including PSAs for air on its 13 US networks, a commercial-free kid-targeted educational programming block on the Science Channel and other programming including its Curiosity series. Additionally, Discovery is creating interactive educational content for schools, and via a partnership with Siemens Foundation, will create STEM Connect, a resource for teachers.
National Lab Day, a grassroots effort that aims to upgrade science labs and support learning projects and support STEM teachers. The effort is a partnership with science and engineering societies with financial support from the Hidary Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other partners.
The MacArthur Foundation, Sony Computer Entertainment America and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and its partners launch National STEM game design competitions. The competitions will include the 2010 Digital Media and Learning Competition, an annual effort supported by the MacArthur Foundation that advances innovative approaches to learning through games, social networks and mobile devices. One competition will be open solely to kids. Sony will participate in one segment of the competition this year, encouraging the development of new games that build on the existing video game Little Big Planet.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! DVD
Anchor Bay Entertainment will release a new Earth-themed Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! DVD, Wubbzy Goes Green (58-minutes), Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Featuring the star of Nick Jr.'s Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! preschool series, the DVD release coincides with the 40th annual celebration of Earth Day on April 22.
Comprised of five episodes, Wubbzy Goes Green will also offer two consumer promotions with two new partners. The first (April-December 2010), offers consumers a $3 rebate (via mail) with the purchase of any two First Juice Brand 8-0z reusable and recyclable sippy top or 32-oz. multi-serve refill bottles and any Wubbzy DVD. The second, (April-June 2010), consumers will receive $3 (via mail) with the purchase a MaMa Rosa's refrigerated pizza and any Wubbzy DVD.
Comprised of five episodes, Wubbzy Goes Green will also offer two consumer promotions with two new partners. The first (April-December 2010), offers consumers a $3 rebate (via mail) with the purchase of any two First Juice Brand 8-0z reusable and recyclable sippy top or 32-oz. multi-serve refill bottles and any Wubbzy DVD. The second, (April-June 2010), consumers will receive $3 (via mail) with the purchase a MaMa Rosa's refrigerated pizza and any Wubbzy DVD.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Cookie Jar Entertainment, Marblemedia
Indie kids producer Cookie Jar Entertainment has engaged Gorilla Nation's GNKids and Teens to handle the online advertising for Jaroo.com, its new streaming video portal for kids.
Marblemedia has established a new department that will be responsible for working in tandem with broadcasters and brands to develop new and innovative Canadian programming to multiple screens. To support this movie, marblemedia names Lisa Reis as Director/Brand Integration.
Integrations will be customized and developed collaboratively on in house projects as well as special initiatives with marblemedia partners including broadcasters, brands and producers. Marblemedia is currently in talks with several partners about branded entertainment initiatives for several upcoming projects such as Just Like Mom ... and Dad a remake of the classic Canadian family game show that is currently in development, which teams-up parents and their kids in two rounds of family-related trivia plus a frenetic bake-off challenge.
An online game will allow Just Like Mom ... and Dad viewers at home to play along online. Marblemedia recently partnered with Fresh TV, creators of the tween-targeted, animated and music-centric series Stoked, which currently airs on Teletoon. Marblemedia executed Stoked's interactive component as well as sourcing, negotiating and executing cross-platform brand integration initiatives.
Marblemedia has established a new department that will be responsible for working in tandem with broadcasters and brands to develop new and innovative Canadian programming to multiple screens. To support this movie, marblemedia names Lisa Reis as Director/Brand Integration.
Integrations will be customized and developed collaboratively on in house projects as well as special initiatives with marblemedia partners including broadcasters, brands and producers. Marblemedia is currently in talks with several partners about branded entertainment initiatives for several upcoming projects such as Just Like Mom ... and Dad a remake of the classic Canadian family game show that is currently in development, which teams-up parents and their kids in two rounds of family-related trivia plus a frenetic bake-off challenge.
An online game will allow Just Like Mom ... and Dad viewers at home to play along online. Marblemedia recently partnered with Fresh TV, creators of the tween-targeted, animated and music-centric series Stoked, which currently airs on Teletoon. Marblemedia executed Stoked's interactive component as well as sourcing, negotiating and executing cross-platform brand integration initiatives.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Adult Swim
Cartoon Network's Adult Swim brand launched a new website allowing users to create their own custom DVDs made up of Adult Swim programming from shows such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken.
Fans can mix-and-match up to 110 minutes of programming for a flat rate of $20 per DVD, including shipping. Warner Bros. Archive Collection launched a similar site earlier this year.
Fans can mix-and-match up to 110 minutes of programming for a flat rate of $20 per DVD, including shipping. Warner Bros. Archive Collection launched a similar site earlier this year.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Generation gap-shmeneration gap!
Generation gap-shmeneration gap! According to a new Nickelodeon Research study, The Family GPS, the gap between generations is closing and technology and cultural attitudes are at least some of the reasons. The Family GPS study was conducted as part of an ongoing partnership with Harris Interactive that looks at the changing face and role of the family in the US.
Looking specifically at the technology and entertainment factors findings include that 82% and 77% of families are watching TV or movies together at home respectively each week.
Additionally, 41% of parents and kids are listening to the same music, which really isn't all that surprising for the most part as rock n' roll and country music, for example, have remained strongholds for the music industry for 40+ years now. Gender-wise, 56% of sons 8-21 share the same taste in movies as their dads, and 48% enjoy listening to the same music. Meanwhile 64% of daughters 8-21 share similar tastes in movies as their moms, and 44% share the same sense of fashion and clothing as mom.
On the importance of being together as a family, 83% of parents said they spend at least some time each week just hanging out and talking with their kid(s); and 86% eat dinner together at least once a week. Additionally, 51% of parents say they worry a lot about spending enough time together as a family, equal to their concern about their own or their family's health (53%) and paying their bills (51%).
Attitudinally, parents of Boys 2-21 believe the most important value to instill in a son is to be respectful of women (70%), while for daughters the top values include self-sufficiency and independent thinking (66% each). Parents have equal educational expectations for sons and daughter, however, it is a bit more important to parents of girls than those of boys that their kid gets good grades (92% vs. 86%). One of the nicest findings, to me anyhow given that the kid entertainment industry has been stressing cultural tolerance messaging for some time now, is that 88% of kids believe that it's important to learn about different cultures, and 95% of kids value the importance of respecting other cultures.
Looking specifically at the technology and entertainment factors findings include that 82% and 77% of families are watching TV or movies together at home respectively each week.
Additionally, 41% of parents and kids are listening to the same music, which really isn't all that surprising for the most part as rock n' roll and country music, for example, have remained strongholds for the music industry for 40+ years now. Gender-wise, 56% of sons 8-21 share the same taste in movies as their dads, and 48% enjoy listening to the same music. Meanwhile 64% of daughters 8-21 share similar tastes in movies as their moms, and 44% share the same sense of fashion and clothing as mom.
On the importance of being together as a family, 83% of parents said they spend at least some time each week just hanging out and talking with their kid(s); and 86% eat dinner together at least once a week. Additionally, 51% of parents say they worry a lot about spending enough time together as a family, equal to their concern about their own or their family's health (53%) and paying their bills (51%).
Attitudinally, parents of Boys 2-21 believe the most important value to instill in a son is to be respectful of women (70%), while for daughters the top values include self-sufficiency and independent thinking (66% each). Parents have equal educational expectations for sons and daughter, however, it is a bit more important to parents of girls than those of boys that their kid gets good grades (92% vs. 86%). One of the nicest findings, to me anyhow given that the kid entertainment industry has been stressing cultural tolerance messaging for some time now, is that 88% of kids believe that it's important to learn about different cultures, and 95% of kids value the importance of respecting other cultures.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Our Little Genius, Google, Bollywood Bob, Gigapix, dirtgirlworld
FOX approved a new game show, Our Little Genius from Mark Burnett in association with ZOO Productions, producers of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. The game show features real child prodigies, from 6 to 12 years old, answering increasingly difficult questions and trying to win hundreds of thousands of dollars for their families.
The caveat at play is how far the little geniuses keep going will depend on the parents who gauge how a panel of leading experts, from Ivy League professors to world-famous doctors and scientists perform with the same questions. If a child is pulled by the parent, the tiny genius can still try to answer the question to prove his/her amazing ability.
The host of Our Little Genius will be announced at an upcoming date. Families interested in participating with their little genius can send inquiries to ourlittlegenius@yahoo.com. Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens are executive producing.
Google began testing a new "skippable" pre-roll ad format on select YouTube advertisements yesterday, in an effort to address high abandonment rates. (This measure when viewers click off the site rather than watch a pre-roll ad.) Abandonment rates, which tested as high as 70% when in-stream ads were first launched on the site in 2007 according to the company, are affected by several factors including length of the ad and the relevance of the creative.
Nickelodeon UK caps off the 10th anniversary celebration of SpongeBob SquarePants with a new live-action two-minute film Bollywood Bob. Choreographed by Longinus Fernandes (Slumdog Millionaire), Bollywood Bob will premiere on November 14 as part of Nickelodeon UK's weekend SpongeBob marathon, SpongeBash, and then across Nickelodeon channels around the world.
The short features a Bangra/Bollywood modified version of the SpongeBob theme song, arranged by Akbar Sami and Firoze Patel. A 30-second version of the film will screen in the Vue and Cineworld movie theaters in the UK from November 13 through January 1. Nickelodeon UK produced Bollywood Bob in collaboration with Nickelodeon International and Nickelodeon India.
Essential Entertainment inks a multi-picture deal with Gigapix Studios for five kid-targeted pictures (rated G or PG) through its Recess Films, per IndieWire. The movies, most of which will be live-action and one CGI animated, will be produced by Gigapix over a period of three years. The live action movies will have budgets of $8-10 million each and the CG title will carry a budget of $20 million.
Anchor Bay Entertainment has first look rights in the US while Essential Entertainment will handle all international rights to the movies. The first movie under the agreement is The Return of Captain Kidd, which features a script by Jymn Magon (DuckTales, A Goofy Movie) and Kern Konwiser (On Hallowed Ground, Miss Evers' Boys'), with Konwiser directing.
Production on The Return of Captain Kidd is slated to begin in early 2010. Kip Konwiser, head of production at Gigapix, said information about two other live action movies and the CG animated movie will be announced in the next few weeks.
The music-centric preschool series dirtgirlworld (52x11) is set to premiere in Australia on ABC1 and ABC 2 this December 4. A mixed live action, animation with photomontage and illustrated series, dirtgirlworld was developed by mememe productions and is a co-production with Decode Entertainment.
The series recently launched on CBeebies (UK) and CBC (Canada). The dirtgirlworld rights are held by mememe production in Australia, where it has appointed Merchantwise to manage the publishing and retail licensing program. In the UK, BBC Worldwide holding the UK rights, while for the rest of the world Decode Enterprises takes all TV, home entertainment and digital rights and DXK Licensing manages licensing and merchandising.
The caveat at play is how far the little geniuses keep going will depend on the parents who gauge how a panel of leading experts, from Ivy League professors to world-famous doctors and scientists perform with the same questions. If a child is pulled by the parent, the tiny genius can still try to answer the question to prove his/her amazing ability.
The host of Our Little Genius will be announced at an upcoming date. Families interested in participating with their little genius can send inquiries to ourlittlegenius@yahoo.com. Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and John Stevens are executive producing.
Google began testing a new "skippable" pre-roll ad format on select YouTube advertisements yesterday, in an effort to address high abandonment rates. (This measure when viewers click off the site rather than watch a pre-roll ad.) Abandonment rates, which tested as high as 70% when in-stream ads were first launched on the site in 2007 according to the company, are affected by several factors including length of the ad and the relevance of the creative.
Nickelodeon UK caps off the 10th anniversary celebration of SpongeBob SquarePants with a new live-action two-minute film Bollywood Bob. Choreographed by Longinus Fernandes (Slumdog Millionaire), Bollywood Bob will premiere on November 14 as part of Nickelodeon UK's weekend SpongeBob marathon, SpongeBash, and then across Nickelodeon channels around the world.
The short features a Bangra/Bollywood modified version of the SpongeBob theme song, arranged by Akbar Sami and Firoze Patel. A 30-second version of the film will screen in the Vue and Cineworld movie theaters in the UK from November 13 through January 1. Nickelodeon UK produced Bollywood Bob in collaboration with Nickelodeon International and Nickelodeon India.
Essential Entertainment inks a multi-picture deal with Gigapix Studios for five kid-targeted pictures (rated G or PG) through its Recess Films, per IndieWire. The movies, most of which will be live-action and one CGI animated, will be produced by Gigapix over a period of three years. The live action movies will have budgets of $8-10 million each and the CG title will carry a budget of $20 million.
Anchor Bay Entertainment has first look rights in the US while Essential Entertainment will handle all international rights to the movies. The first movie under the agreement is The Return of Captain Kidd, which features a script by Jymn Magon (DuckTales, A Goofy Movie) and Kern Konwiser (On Hallowed Ground, Miss Evers' Boys'), with Konwiser directing.
Production on The Return of Captain Kidd is slated to begin in early 2010. Kip Konwiser, head of production at Gigapix, said information about two other live action movies and the CG animated movie will be announced in the next few weeks.
The music-centric preschool series dirtgirlworld (52x11) is set to premiere in Australia on ABC1 and ABC 2 this December 4. A mixed live action, animation with photomontage and illustrated series, dirtgirlworld was developed by mememe productions and is a co-production with Decode Entertainment.
The series recently launched on CBeebies (UK) and CBC (Canada). The dirtgirlworld rights are held by mememe production in Australia, where it has appointed Merchantwise to manage the publishing and retail licensing program. In the UK, BBC Worldwide holding the UK rights, while for the rest of the world Decode Enterprises takes all TV, home entertainment and digital rights and DXK Licensing manages licensing and merchandising.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Do you know where your children are? Probably...
Nielsen reports television viewing by Americans (Persons 2+) reached a record high during the 2008-2009 TV season with an average of four hours and 49 minutes per day spent watching TV.
This total is up four minutes compared to last year and up 20% from 10 years ago. Furthermore, the average household watched an average of eight hours and 21 minutes per day, another record increase.
Primetime viewing per day was flat compared to last year though it is still at its highest level since 1991. Nielsen says the TV viewing increases may be due to more TV sets existing in homes, Americans have more channels and content to choose from and DVR usage is also on the upswing.
This total is up four minutes compared to last year and up 20% from 10 years ago. Furthermore, the average household watched an average of eight hours and 21 minutes per day, another record increase.
Primetime viewing per day was flat compared to last year though it is still at its highest level since 1991. Nielsen says the TV viewing increases may be due to more TV sets existing in homes, Americans have more channels and content to choose from and DVR usage is also on the upswing.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
75% of Students Prefer Downloading Music To Streaming
- Press Release
- Source: Comtex IT - Internet Research
- On 10:53 am EST, Tuesday November 10, 2009
NEW YORK, Nov 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey of 10,000 university students by the University of Reading, found that 75% of students download music, rather than buy in stores or pay for on music-streaming sites.
Despite the recent popularity of music-streaming sites such as Spotify, 75 percent said they wouldn't pay for a music-streaming service but would rather use sites such as iTunes to download and keep tracks on hard drives or MP3 players.
The industry is in for a shake up as more students and teenagers are looking at pricing and sites that offer songs without copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM. This prevents customers from being able to copy music or play the MP3 music on other devices other than Apples iPods or using iTunes player.
The industry is taking note of the growing demand for cheaper downloads; one such site that has already lowered prices considerably is TunesPro.com. Launched 3 months ago, the company has reduced the cost of its tracks already, to attract the younger customers.
A spokes man for TunesPro said, "We have seen a huge surge of younger people using our site as more and more of torrents and P2P files contain viruses, so our pricing must be competitive enough for the younger students with perhaps less disposable income than professionals. We keep our prices low and concentrate of making money through volume sales. Currently we charge 19c per song and offer a further 10% when a whole album is purchased. We believe this will attract the younger users away from iTunes, which charge almost 6 times more than we do."
Recording companies pick the prices, much as they did for CDs sold in stores and online. On day one, songs including "Jai Ho" from the "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack, "Single Ladies" by Beyonce and "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band were bumped up to $1.29. TunesPro have made agreements with a number of record companies and have decided to keep profits on single downloads at reasonable levels. iTunes have become greedy, but things look set to backfire as more and more download site open for business and like TunesPro.com, cash in on the younger users by keeping prices low.
Contact:
Comtex IT - Internet Research
922 W. Beverly Dr.
Beverly Hills, California 90210
Dr. Richard Jones - Chief Researcher
Website: www.certifiedby.com
Media Relations info@certifiedby.com
Telephone: 818-475-2935
40th anniversary of Sesame Street
Today is the official 40th anniversary of Sesame Street that includes the debut an all new look and format for the series, which continues to air on PBS. Produced by Sesame Workshop, the new season includes the launch of a new two-year environmental curriculum-based initiative titled My World is Green and Growing.
Among the many honors the series has received, NYC has proclaimed today Sesame Street Day. Also, opening today is a photo exhibit, Sesame Street: The longest Street in the World, open today at Washington D.C.'s Union Station. Additionally, the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater will throw a birthday celebration for the series on November 15, and the Brooklyn Public Library honors Sesame Street with a three month-long exhibition of the show's memorabilia.
Among the many honors the series has received, NYC has proclaimed today Sesame Street Day. Also, opening today is a photo exhibit, Sesame Street: The longest Street in the World, open today at Washington D.C.'s Union Station. Additionally, the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater will throw a birthday celebration for the series on November 15, and the Brooklyn Public Library honors Sesame Street with a three month-long exhibition of the show's memorabilia.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Rise of the FLIP, ABC3, Mar Vista Ent.
Cisco's Flip Video division is launching a new multi-million dollar national marketing campaign this week with BIRD Design, Urgent Content and Media Storm, utilizing both everyday users and celebrities to communicate how empowering the little handheld cameras can be.
Famous Flip users including Tony Hawk, Dwayne Wade and Stevie Wonder will appear in 10-30 sec. spots with the content they shoot for personal are charitable reasons.
The spots will appear on broadcast and cable, select websites and via outdoor digital advertising platforms. From Jan- Aug. 2009 Flip captured 75% of the handheld "shoot and share" camcorder market and 26% of the HD Camcorder unit market in the US, according to the NPD Group.
MORE for the UGC thirsty brands -
Nokia is partnering with Island Def Jam Music and UMG International artist Rihanna to promote its new X6 handset, which ships with Nokia's Comes With Music unlimited streaming service.
Rihanna will perform select tracks from her new album "Rated R" in London on Nov. 16, and the show will be broadcast live at nokia.com/rihanna and streamed to Nokia handsets.
The site will also feature UGC-uploaded videos shot by attendees via their Nokia X6 phones. Nokia will make an exclusive Rihanna application and exclusive footage from her London gig available at the Ovi Store and in selected territories, as well as an exclusive window to the track, 'Wait Your Turn' from the album before its release.
ABC3, Australia's new kid-targeted digital and online channel, commissions an Australian version of the series Prank Patrol (26x30), which will be produced by activeTV. Currently in production, ABC3 will launch Prank Patrol in primetime from Q4.
Created by Canada's Apartment 11 Productions, the original Prank Patrol is a long running series on YTV (Canada) with a UK format version airing on CBBC (UK). The Australian adaptation of Prank Patrol is the first production resulting from a partnership between activeTV and MarVista Entertainment. MarVista will also handle worldwide distribution of the Australian version of the program.
Famous Flip users including Tony Hawk, Dwayne Wade and Stevie Wonder will appear in 10-30 sec. spots with the content they shoot for personal are charitable reasons.
The spots will appear on broadcast and cable, select websites and via outdoor digital advertising platforms. From Jan- Aug. 2009 Flip captured 75% of the handheld "shoot and share" camcorder market and 26% of the HD Camcorder unit market in the US, according to the NPD Group.
MORE for the UGC thirsty brands -
Nokia is partnering with Island Def Jam Music and UMG International artist Rihanna to promote its new X6 handset, which ships with Nokia's Comes With Music unlimited streaming service.
Rihanna will perform select tracks from her new album "Rated R" in London on Nov. 16, and the show will be broadcast live at nokia.com/rihanna and streamed to Nokia handsets.
The site will also feature UGC-uploaded videos shot by attendees via their Nokia X6 phones. Nokia will make an exclusive Rihanna application and exclusive footage from her London gig available at the Ovi Store and in selected territories, as well as an exclusive window to the track, 'Wait Your Turn' from the album before its release.
ABC3, Australia's new kid-targeted digital and online channel, commissions an Australian version of the series Prank Patrol (26x30), which will be produced by activeTV. Currently in production, ABC3 will launch Prank Patrol in primetime from Q4.
Created by Canada's Apartment 11 Productions, the original Prank Patrol is a long running series on YTV (Canada) with a UK format version airing on CBBC (UK). The Australian adaptation of Prank Patrol is the first production resulting from a partnership between activeTV and MarVista Entertainment. MarVista will also handle worldwide distribution of the Australian version of the program.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The youngest development execs ever!
PBS Kids Go! and WNED-TV Buffalo/Toronto are partnering to launch the PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest, a national-local contest designed to promote the development of kid's reading skills via hands-on learning. The Writers Contest invites kids in grades K-3 across the country, to create and illustrate their own stories and submit them. Beginning on January 27, 2010, PBS stations nationwide will partners in the PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest and work with schools, public libraries and other literacy organizations to encourage kids in their communities to participate in the contest. Local winners will be entered into the national contest where a panel of noted judges will select the winners. The contest website, www.pbskids.org/read, will launch in early 2010.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Happy Birthday Sesame Street!
Posted by
Jack Schofield Wednesday 4 November 2009 14.44 GMT
guardian.co.uk
The Big Bird Google Doodle celebrates 40 years of Sesame Street
It's somewhat shocking to discover from a Google Doodle that Sesame Street is 40 years old. The educational show created by the Children's Television Workshop certainly has legs, as they say, and Google has chosen to highlight the ones belonging to Big Bird rather than exploit Kermit, Bert and Ernie, Elmo or other likely candidates…
Well, that's true for the US and Canada, though your local version of Google may vary. There are different logos and different characters in different countries, as The Next Web has pointed out. And in the UK, where Sesame Street (as distinct from The Muppets) has not had the same cultural impact, Google has gone with Wallace and Gromit's 20th birthday instead.
Google's Sesame Street celebration is slightly early -- it should be on 10 November, when there will be an anniversary show featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, with or without Hula Hoop. There will also be a couple of books: Sesame Street: A Celebration of Forty Years of Life on the Street, and Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.
When I was growing up in Canada in the early 1970s*, I almost never missed Sesame Street, and while Big Bird was never the best character, I enjoyed his jousts with Mr Hooper Hooper. In the UK, however, the series was considered too fast-paced and people frowned on its use of advertising techniques. Of course, a series made for disadvantaged inner-city kids also had lots of elements unfamiliar in suburban Surrey, or even Islington. And even the most brilliant of those early episodes would not pass through the Political Correctness barrier today.
* Technically, I was doing an MA at UBC at the time, but I also did some toddler-sitting with some of Sesame Street's biggest fans.
Jack Schofield Wednesday 4 November 2009 14.44 GMT
guardian.co.uk
The Big Bird Google Doodle celebrates 40 years of Sesame Street
It's somewhat shocking to discover from a Google Doodle that Sesame Street is 40 years old. The educational show created by the Children's Television Workshop certainly has legs, as they say, and Google has chosen to highlight the ones belonging to Big Bird rather than exploit Kermit, Bert and Ernie, Elmo or other likely candidates…
Well, that's true for the US and Canada, though your local version of Google may vary. There are different logos and different characters in different countries, as The Next Web has pointed out. And in the UK, where Sesame Street (as distinct from The Muppets) has not had the same cultural impact, Google has gone with Wallace and Gromit's 20th birthday instead.
Google's Sesame Street celebration is slightly early -- it should be on 10 November, when there will be an anniversary show featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, with or without Hula Hoop. There will also be a couple of books: Sesame Street: A Celebration of Forty Years of Life on the Street, and Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.
When I was growing up in Canada in the early 1970s*, I almost never missed Sesame Street, and while Big Bird was never the best character, I enjoyed his jousts with Mr Hooper Hooper. In the UK, however, the series was considered too fast-paced and people frowned on its use of advertising techniques. Of course, a series made for disadvantaged inner-city kids also had lots of elements unfamiliar in suburban Surrey, or even Islington. And even the most brilliant of those early episodes would not pass through the Political Correctness barrier today.
* Technically, I was doing an MA at UBC at the time, but I also did some toddler-sitting with some of Sesame Street's biggest fans.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Cookie Jar TV, jaroo.com, PBS and Disney XD
Children's entertainment producer Cookie Jar Entertainment is introducing a new ad supported premium video content destination for kids.
Jaroo.com launches in pubic beta in the U.S. and Canada this morning with about 500 full-length episodes from more than 50 of its popular shows including Inspector Gadget, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Johnny Test, Super Mario Bros. and Zelda. Cookie Jar's digital team decided to keep the portal focused on video, so don't look for social networking, games or other interactive features.
But new shows and episodes will be added daily, with the online schedule spelling out the rotation and over 2,000 episodes planned for the site over the next 3 months. Cookie Jar is currently in talks with other kids programmers about licensing additional titles, according to Frederic Soulie, VP/Digital Media.
Sesame Workshop is awarded a grant from MetLife Foundation to promote Healthy Habits for Life with the help of the Sesame Street Muppets in India and Mexico.
The initiative will launch in India via Galli Galli Sim Sim, a multimedia educational initiative that facilitates young kids learning basic and life skills, as well as delivering health messages to kids, parents, and educators, and in Mexico via the expanded Plaza Sesamo Habitos Saludables para la Vida, a multimedia effort that provides age-appropriate, educational health messages to meet the needs of Mexican preschoolers.
The grant will enable the production of special themed episodes, public service announcements (PSAs), online content, storybooks, posters, and community events. The PSAs begin airing in Mexico this month and distribution of the outreach materials is slated for the spring of 2010. In India, PSAs will begin airing this winter, along with the launch of mobile community viewings of Galli Galli Sim Sim content and online health messages and activities.
Disney XD will launch its new short-form sports-themed series Moises Rules! (4x2.5) on Monday, December 7 at 5p. The series features Moises Arias (Hannah Montana) going up against other kids in unique sporting events such as foam tetherball and finger football. The episodes will debut Monday-Thursday, December 7 10. Additionally, new features and exclusive show content will debut Tuesday, November 10 at DisneyXD.com, viewers can send a message to Moises, play sports-themed games and download all-new wallpapers.
Jaroo.com launches in pubic beta in the U.S. and Canada this morning with about 500 full-length episodes from more than 50 of its popular shows including Inspector Gadget, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Johnny Test, Super Mario Bros. and Zelda. Cookie Jar's digital team decided to keep the portal focused on video, so don't look for social networking, games or other interactive features.
But new shows and episodes will be added daily, with the online schedule spelling out the rotation and over 2,000 episodes planned for the site over the next 3 months. Cookie Jar is currently in talks with other kids programmers about licensing additional titles, according to Frederic Soulie, VP/Digital Media.
Sesame Workshop is awarded a grant from MetLife Foundation to promote Healthy Habits for Life with the help of the Sesame Street Muppets in India and Mexico.
The initiative will launch in India via Galli Galli Sim Sim, a multimedia educational initiative that facilitates young kids learning basic and life skills, as well as delivering health messages to kids, parents, and educators, and in Mexico via the expanded Plaza Sesamo Habitos Saludables para la Vida, a multimedia effort that provides age-appropriate, educational health messages to meet the needs of Mexican preschoolers.
The grant will enable the production of special themed episodes, public service announcements (PSAs), online content, storybooks, posters, and community events. The PSAs begin airing in Mexico this month and distribution of the outreach materials is slated for the spring of 2010. In India, PSAs will begin airing this winter, along with the launch of mobile community viewings of Galli Galli Sim Sim content and online health messages and activities.
Disney XD will launch its new short-form sports-themed series Moises Rules! (4x2.5) on Monday, December 7 at 5p. The series features Moises Arias (Hannah Montana) going up against other kids in unique sporting events such as foam tetherball and finger football. The episodes will debut Monday-Thursday, December 7 10. Additionally, new features and exclusive show content will debut Tuesday, November 10 at DisneyXD.com, viewers can send a message to Moises, play sports-themed games and download all-new wallpapers.
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