ITV

Category: Kids

  • WBCP unveils licensing programme for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros Consumer Products (WBCP) has enlisted a collection of global licensees to capture the magic of the film.

    Hitting theaters 15 July, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth installment and latest chapter in the popular film series from Warner Bros.


    Warner Bros Consumer Products executive VP domestic licensing and worldwide marketing Karen McTier says, “The franchise‘s global influence allows top licensees the opportunity to create imaginative and innovative product lines that convey the magic of Harry Potter.”


    The film reunites Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), as they prepare to battle Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). The new film also returns key characters including Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) and introduces Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent).


    In the film Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort‘s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information.


    Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn‘t counted on Romilda Vane‘s chocolates! And then there‘s Hermione, simmering with jealousy but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

  • Nickelodeon to roll out ‘Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash Weekend’

    MUMBAI: On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon will roll out ‘Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash Weekend‘ event hosted by Patchy the Pirate.

    Starting on 14 July at 9 pm, Nickelodeon‘s sister channel VH1 will premiere Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants, the first original SpongeBob SquarePants TV documentary.


    This will be followed by a 50-hour programming marathon on 17 July on Nickelodeon. The premiere starts with ‘To Square Pants or Not to Square Pants‘ at 8 pm.


    On 18 July, the top 10 most memorable SpongeBob episodes will be screened as picked by fans on Nick.com. The night will be capped off with the film The SpongeBob SquarePants at
    8 pm.


    Finally, on 19 July, viewers can catch a top 10 countdown of celebrities‘ favourite episodes at 10 am. The weekend-long marathon culminates with 10 all new premieres beginning at 7 pm.


    Spongebob SquarePants is seen in 171 markets in 25 languages and is one of the most widely distributed properties in MTV Networks‘ history.

  • Nick India inks deal with Bilt to launch Dora & SpongeBob notebooks

    MUMBAI: Nick has partnered with Bilt Ten-on-Ten to launch a range of Dora and SpongeBob notebooks. The range includes exercise books, long notebooks and drawing books.

    Priced at Rs 5-28, the products will also be available in large format stores like Crossword, Landmark, Odyssey, Spencers and Hypercity across India.


    Says Viacom 18 Media VP consumer products Sandeep Dahiya says, “The launch of Dora and SpongeBob notebooks is in line with Nick‘s philosophy of providing more and more opportunities to Nick viewers to interact with their favourite Nicktoons outside television.”


    The notebooks contain 2-4 fun pages, where kid‘s can solve puzzles and colour-up Spongebob and Dora.


    Says Bilt COO Yogesh Agarwal says, “The Nick characters are immensely popular and with this range of Ten-on-Ten books, we are sure to make a place for ourselves in every school bag in the country.”

  • Polk Museum of Art nominated for Nickelodeon Parents’ Award

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon has nominated the Polk Museum of Art for the kid‘s channel‘s ParentsConnect Parents‘s Pick Awards.

    The Museum has been nominated in the categories of Best Museum and Best Art Class for the Tampa area.


    “We pride ourselves in making high quality programmes, like our classes, student exhibitions, and annual art related festivals, available to the children and families in our area. This nomination shows that our community thinks we‘re doing a great job, and we are sincerely honored by this recognition,” said Polk Museum of Art executive director Daniel E Stetson.



    Nickelodeon‘s ParentsConnect.com will allow parents to pick the best of their local communities. The Parents‘ Picks Awards will identify winners in 52 major US cities. Anyone can vote for nominees online until 15 July to help determine the “top picks” in their city.


    ParentsConnect will announce the winners online on 15 August.

  • TV5Monde to launch online TV for kids

    MUMBAI: French global TV network TV5Monde is set to launch TiVi5MONDE Plus, their first online TV platform dedicated to kids.


    The channel is targeted at the French speaking kids aged 3-12. As part of its programming lineup, the platform will offer over 70 hours of content that will be extend further to 100 hours from January 2010.


    Later, the network plans to refresh the catalogue will be refreshed on a daily basis with an aim to provide an average 30 hours of new content per month.


    The titles that will be available as part of the channel content include Le Man?ge Enchanté (The Magic Roundabout), Spirou et Fantasio (Spirou and Fantasio), and Cédric. Kirikou et la Sorci?re, a feature film directed by French director Michel Ocelot, will also form part of the lineup.

  • ABC’s kids channel to be on-air by Christmas

    MUMBAI: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is all set to roll out its new channel ABC3, a kids-centric digital channel by Christmas.


    The channel has also announced the programming line up that include shows such as After School Care, West Coast Kids and Dead Normal.


    After School Care is a comedy pilot, whereas West Coast Kids and Dead Normal are 13-part comedy and drama series respectively.


    The other shows that were revealed by the channel were Dance Academy, My Place and CJ the DJ. Channel will also feature news, sports and music.


    The Federal Government will provide $67 million over three years to fund the channel.


    ABC3, aimed at 6-to-15-year-olds, will telecast 15 hours of programming with special focus on children between eight to 12 years old.


    Meanwhile, ABC2 will expand its service for pre-schoolers by 90 minutes a day, and ABC1‘s children‘s content will be highlights from the other two channels as well.

  • CBeebies gets under-sixes cooking with ‘I Can Cook’

    MUMBAI: CBeebies has commissioned Initial, an Endemol Company, to produce a new cookery show, I Can Cook.Aimed to get children under the age of six into the kitchen, the series will celebrate a hands-on approach to cooking and discover the magic of the full cycle of food.

    With a selection of specially-tailored simple recipes, cookery tips and the chance to get a bit messy, the children will learn how to grow it, cook it and eat it.


    Hosted by newcomer Katy Ashworth, the series is set in a bespoke kitchen studio, specially created for under-sixes.


    CBeebies controller Michael Carrington says, “I Can Cook will inspire youngsters (and their moms, dads and carers) to get in the kitchen and get cooking together. The series has a bright, contemporary feel and embraces CBeebies‘ core aim of encouraging young children to learn through play.”


    For each programme, Ashworth will welcome five children into the I Can Cook kitchen to create one recipe a day. Together they will explore where ingredients come from and how some foods are made.


    There will also be plenty of joining-in songs about washing hands and laying the table as well as action songs for lots of kitchen fun.


    Initial executive producer Christopher Pilkington says, “The programme is especially designed to empower children with the gift of cooking. The series will encourage them to get involved and have a go in a fun and entertaining way.”


    Transmission of the show is expected to take place later this year.

  • CN to premiere 3 home-grown mobisodes on 28 June

    MUMBAI: Kids entertainment channel Cartoon Network is set to premiere three original mobisodes on 28 June as part of its snaptoons (Short New Asia Pacific Cartoons) initiative that looks at developing original content. The channel had first launched the initiative in 2006.


    All the three minisodes, co-created by the channel, will be telecast at 5.30 pm.


    These include Kul-Veera with Graphiti Multimedia, Johnny Goes to Bollywood with Famous House of Animation and Sulochna with Miditech.


    Said Turner International India Private Limited (TIIPL) VP and deputy general manager – entertainment networks Monica Tata, “”The snaptoons premiere of these three minisodes is a milestone for the Indian animation. We were the first kids‘ network to acquire Indian animation in 2001, and now with snaptoons we‘re again raising the bar by co-creating exciting original content with our home grown talent.”

  • Nickelodeon Asia to launch ‘China Toon’ on 5 July

    MUMBAI:Nickelodeon Asia is rolling out a one-hour branded block dedicated to Chinese animation.


    Starting 5 July 1 pm, Creative Power Entertaining‘s Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf and Zhejiang Zhongnan Group Animation Video‘s Magic Wonderland will broadcast to 13 territories across Asia.


    While Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, a comedy cartoon series, is targeted towards kids aged between 4-9 years, Magic Wonderland is an action adventure aimed at the 5-12-year-olds.


    Magic Wonderland is the story of a fairy‘s daughter who gets trapped in the fight against evil.

  • Toonz in strategic partnership with Ireland firm

    MUMBAI: Toonz Animation India has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Ireland‘s Telegael Group wherein both the parties will combine their resources to develop, co-produce and finance a slate of animation projects for global distribution.

    While Toonz is a provider of animation to US and European producers, Telegael is a live action and animation production house which operates one of Europe‘s post-production studios.


    Toonz and Telegael have previously worked together on the Freefonix animation series for BBC, which emerged as a cult show in the UK and is now being distributed internationally.


    “We aim to mutually leverage our competencies in our core domains



    . To start off, we are looking at the production of a slate of television series with a combined worth approaching $30 million,” said Toonz Animation India CEO P Jayakumar.


    Added Telegael Group CEO Paul Cummins, “The animation industry now operates on a global model. This strategic collaboration will enable Toonz and Telegael to exploit obvious synergies which exist between our two companies and enable us to produce animation content for a global audience.”