ITV

Category: Kids

  • Official Jetix Magazine to be relaunched as ‘Nitro’

    MUMBAI: Future Publishing is relaunching children‘s magazine ‘Official Jetix Magazine‘ under a new brand name – ‘Nitro‘.

    The new magazine launches on 3 September and is priced at $ 2.99. It will be available in supermarkets and retail outlets. The magazine will continue to cater to boys between 5-13 years.






    ‘Nitro‘ will include news, toys, comic strips and features based on games and characters of TV shows including The Simpsons, Ben 10 and Pokemon. As part of the re-launch, the magazine plans to cover-mount four toys per issue.

  • Nick to give away ‘Nickgoggles’ to its viewers for watching the solar eclipse

    MUMBAI: Nick is giving away ‘Nickgoggles’ to its viewers to help them see the total solar eclipse on 22 July.

    ‘Nickgoggles’ has a special filter to look directly at the diamond ring that the sun and moon form.


    “The kids have to log on to the Nick India website and register themselves under the solar eclipse contests section. All the kids who register will get the ‘Nickgoggles’. Additionally, we will be giving out 20 TI cycles to the short listed entries,” says Nick India senior SVP and GM Nina Elavia Jaipuria.


    Kids will get a chance to bust ‘eclipse myths’ and learn about the sun and the moon with Nicktoons Sponge Bob Square Pants and Dora the Explorer till 22 July.

  • Cartoon Network launches SlamBall in US

    MUMBAI: Kids entertainment channel Cartoon Network has launched SlamBall, the new full-contact competition sport from Tollin Productions and IMG Sports Media, in the US.


    The hour-long show will run for five weeks and will be aired every Saturday and Sunday at noon.


    The show will feature highlights and recaps from additional games, player profiles, news and notes from around the league and also a ‘SlamBall Game of the Week‘.


    “SlamBall is an up-and-coming sport that is exciting fans around the world and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce it to the Cartoon Network viewer,” says SlamBall creator Mason Gordon.

  • CN, GoAnimate to promote online creativity among kids

    MUMBAI: Cartoon Network (CN) has partnered with GoAnimate, an online animation platform, for creating and sharing short animated films with an aim to promote online creativity among kids.


    Under the partnership, GoAnimate‘s software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology



    will enable the regional interactive platform Toon Creator.


    GoAnimate‘s SaaS platform will put customisable and animated versions of the brands into the hands of users and enable them to create their own content on the websites.


    “We are encouraging kids to think out of the box via new and innovative platforms. Cartoon Network‘s Toon Creator, built on GoAnimate‘s SaaS platform, gives kids the opportunity to create their own animation using some of the network‘s most popular characters,” said Turner Entertainment Interactive Media regional director Benjamin Grubbs.



    “By licensing the GoAnimate platform as a service, we are now helping brands to engage directly with their users,” said GoAnimate founder and CEO Alvin Hung.


    As part of the interactive initiative, Cartoon Network has also partnered with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to launch the inaugural Toon Creator Awards, set to run from 13 July to 30 September.

  • Cartoon Network’s Chowder to hit screens on 13 July

    MUMBAI: Kids entertainment channel Cartoon Network is set to launch Chowder, an animated comedy series, on 13 July.













    The new property will be telecast from Monday to Thursday at 4 pm.

     


     

    Chowder chronicles the magical misadventures of a young chef‘s apprenticeship in an imaginative and magical city of Dakaarpur.


    Chowder‘s days are filled with running errands, helping around the kitchen and learning how to turn some of the weirdest ingredients into some of the best dishes.

  • Camp Rock sequel to premiere in 2010

    MUMBAI: Disney Channel is gearing up to begin production on the sequel of its popular 2008 original movie, Camp Rock.

    Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is scheduled to premiere in 2010 with Demi Lovato, Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas reprising their original roles.


    The sequel star cast also includes Meaghan Martin, Alyson Stoner, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Roshon Fegan, Daniel Fathers and Maria Canals-Barrera.


    Said Disney Channels Worldwide president – entertainment Gary Marsh, “Camp Rock has had tremendous success around the world-on television, on DVD and as a soundtrack. Our goal with this sequel is to raise the stakes and dig deeper into these wonderful characters and their musical journey.”

  • Indian kids get busy in kitchen: Study

    MUMBAI: When it comes to eating habits, Indian kids love desi food. More like the local content that they enjoy watching.


    According to Cartoon Network‘s ‘Chowder‘ survey, the weirdest food Indian children have ever eaten include spicy curry with powdered laddoo, yogurt with chilli powder and dosa with sugar cubes amongst others.


    The survey found that Indian kids love Indian cuisine the most and North Indian and South Indian food are the equal top raters in their choice. Cooking



    is no longer a girl‘s phenomenon reveals the survey. While about 68 per cent of Indian kids have cooked before, 81 per cent of these kids enjoy getting busy in the kitchen.







    The channel conducted the survey on cartoonnetworkindia.com to explore kids‘ eating and cooking habits.

     


    According to the channel, almost 900 kids responded to the survey from all over India including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bangalore.


    Bringing out their experimental spirit, 76 per cent of Indian kids enjoy trying new food while 33 per cent of Indian kids prefer going out. 57 per cent of the respondents are keen to learn more about world cuisine.


    Said Turner International India director Krishna Desai, “As a kids‘ entertainment expert, Cartoon Network is ahead of the curve in identifying interesting trends amongst kids. The ‘Chowder‘ survey findings reflect the views of India‘s next generation and it is clear that both girls and boys believe in the importance of cooking and food.”

  • ‘Jimmy Two-Shoes’ to broadcast in Japan

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney Television International has bagged the broadcast rights of Jimmy Two-Shoes, a Breakthrough Entertainment production, for the Japan region.


    The 26 episode series is set to premiere during 2009 fall.


    “The international response to Jimmy Two-Shoes has been very gratifying. The fun and humour in the series continue to spread across all regions. We are delighted to have Disney Channel in Japan as part of the Jimmy family,” says Breakthrough Entertainment head distribution Nat Abraham.


    Jimmy Two-Shoes has already been licensed to Cartoon Network in Asia and Australia, Jetix in the US and Nickelodeon in Latin America.

  • Nickelodeon’s AddictingGames launches games on iPhone

    MUMBAI: US kids broadcaster Nickelodeon has announced that AddictingGames,which offers free online games, will extend to the iPhone this month with the launch of several games and a cross-promotion publishing network for iPhone game developers called the AddictingGames iNetwork.


    Game developers will now be able to tap into the AddictingGames.com‘s promotional reach, upsell capabilities and social gaming features including: high scores; reviews and player matching – in order to reach iPhone users with their game applications. Games based on properties from Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and other divisions of MTV Networks will also be part of the AddictingGames iNetwork.


    Nickelodeon Kids and Family Games Group senior VP, GM Dave Williams says, “With the AddictingGames iNetwork, we are extending our relationships with developers to the iPhone platform and are giving them a new promotional vehicle for their games.”The AddictingGames iNetwork for the iPhone is just one of several ways that the site is strengthening its developer relationships. The AddictingGames Showdown, a convergent, prime-time TV event that had aired on Nickelodeon last month honoured the best in online games and recognised developers who have provided engaging content to AddictingGames.


    The broadcaster claims that The AddictingGames Showdown drew more than five million votes and 16 million game plays. AddictingGames also has a Game Performance Bonus Programme to reward its developers who have created high-performing games for AddictingGames‘ users.

  • CBBC announces raft of shows for next year

    MUMBAI: CBBC has ordered a raft of diverse new programmes across its drama, documentary, comedy, and natural history genre.


    Announced by CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist, the new commissions include a Simon Nye adaptation of children‘s classic Just William, a new wildlife series which sees children explore behind-the-scenes of the BBC‘s new natural history blockbuster Life in Inside Life, an innovative new comedy which stars a pair of 10-month-old babies with the heads of two men in their mid-twenties in Big Babies, and a hard-hitting new single documentary strand series.


    Gilchrist says, “These new commissions reflect the originality and diversity of the CBBC schedule and reinforce our commitment to working with the most innovative new and established creative British talent around.”


    Simon Nye waves his comedy wand over Richmal Crompton‘s classic about an irrepressibly mischievous 11-year-old in Just William. Set in England in 1952, this adaptation for Sunday afternoons sees the world‘s most-famous scruffy schoolboy in a new series of appalling scrapes. The series airs next year.


    Combining live action, puppetry and CGI, Big Babies is a new 26 x 15-minutes comedy series about two babies with the heads of grown men which will air next year.


    Rocco and Brooks are two babies who would happily sit and watch television all day if Brooks‘ mum didn‘t take them out for excursions in their double buggy. But when the kids are away, the toys in their nursery come out to play and that‘s when the trouble really starts.


    Big Babies is the creation of comedy collective Broken Biscuits led by John Riche and Spencer Jones, with Sharon Horgan (Pulling, Free Agents) acting as programme consultant. The executive producers are Jack Cheshire for BBC Comedy and Japhet Asher for CBBC.


    In Inside Life, CBBC goes behind the scenes of the BBC Natural History Unit‘s landmark new series, Life, to find out just what it takes to get footage of the world‘s most extraordinary wildlife. From Madagascar to Patagonia, this series for this autumn sees 10 CBBC agents go on a global adventure to get the inside track on the BBC‘s new natural history blockbuster.


    Following the success of its homelessness documentary series, Sofa Surfers, which aired earlier this year, CBBC has commissioned an issue-led single documentary series, with each programme reflecting a different aspect of children‘s disparate lives in the UK today. The strand will feature programmes from independent and in-house documentary makers.


    The team behind Amazon with Bruce Parry from independent production company Indus Films will make two films – one about a rite of passage for boys in a Coventry school and another one about a group of traveller children in Essex.


    Children‘s indie, The Foundation, have teamed up with documentary maker Mick Robertson to produce one about Young Mayors; and Welsh indie Boomerang will be following three children whose parents are in prison. Alison Gregory will executive produce the strand which will air next year.