ITV

Category: Kids

  • Disney’s KidSense 3 unlocks the emerging ‘codes’ of tweens in India

    MUMBAI: The third edition of Disney’s KidSense has unveiled the new tween ‘codes’ that are replacing the old tenets for tweens in India. The research was conducted by the research agency- The Third Eye.













    These codes are visible in the three Cs of tween’s lives – culture, clan and core. Disney’s KidSense 3 aims to study the ‘senses’ and uncover the truth and trends of the tweens – girls and boys aged 8-14 years across metros and smaller towns.


    The Third Eye managing director Gitanjali Ghate stated, “The findings from this study are remarkable because the ‘sensing’ has been done through a different process. Disney’s KidSense 3 was a collaborative research exercise with embedded observations and co-creation of data. We had tween researchers versus just tween respondents along with mothers and experts from tween’s lives”.


    Additionally, the research also provides a peek into the future of mass tweens by researching the core life environments of ‘trendy’ tweens (aged 8-14 years belonging to Sec A+). The findings showcase similarities in the direction of this movement in tween psyche while the pace of these changes and shifts vary for trendy and mass tweens.


    Walt Disney Television International India senior vice president and managing director Antoine Villeneuve said, “Tweens today are wise and wired, yet vulnerable. Understanding the dreams, realities, environments and aspirations of Disney channel audience is an important pillar for creating relevant and memorable experiences that are appealing, entertaining, safe and family inclusive.”





    Some of the emerging codes of culture, clan and core of tweens from Disney’s KidSense 3 are:


    Culture:




    • Digiplay is today’s Physiplay: The trendy tween is the ‘techknow’ generation seamlessly merging the physical and digital spaces while the mass tween is many steps behind.


    • Their language – ‘Tweenglish’ With Its Own Rules: Tweenglish is the new language that is vital to the tween’s identity – constantly evolving, dynamic and is visible across mediums.


    • School – The New Onland Social Networking Site: From place of authority, homework, strict teachers and punishments, school today means enjoyment, fun & pranks – a place for connectedness, conversation and fun.


    • Teachers Are About Autonomy Vs Authority: True for trendy tweens, whereas the mass tweens still see teachers in a more conventional role – the educator and endorser.


    • Tuition Classes – The Parallel School: Tuitions are a virtual guarantee to success in life.


    • Marks Are Cool….Add To The Tween’s Image: Marks define the CQ (cool quotient) and not just the IQ (Intelligence quotient), helping to make an impression and enable negotiations with parents.



    • Today’s Interests AreTomorrow’s Careers: Investing in interests for the future -alternative careers are becoming the mainstream careers especially for trendy tweens. While classical careers prevail for masses, there is more openness to different career choices.




    • I want To Be A Millionaire: Tweens today have million dollar dreams – the ‘mega’, ‘moneyed’ life which is all about money, luxurious bungalows and fancy cars and power.




    • Money Is Their Life Currency: Money power is more than just purchasing power. Constant money is in, while pocket money us out, especially for the trendy tweens.




    • A Fashion Worshipping Audience– Allowed & Encouraged By Parents & restricted By School: Fashion is the new religion with many gurus. Awareness of what is fashionable is very high across both the trendy and the mass tweens.



    Clan:



    • Tween Gangs About Image & Intimacy… Not just Play & Fun: Groups are the new family for tweens whether it is a ‘bonding’ group- where the tween can show their true self or a ‘badge’ group – where they showcase self. They seek the status of badge groups and the security of bonding groups.




    • Girl Friends & Boy Friends Aspirational… Image Enhancing: Romance is an active aspiration and consuming conversation across tweens of all SEC’s, gender and centers. Not only are the tweens talking romance, they are also ‘romanticizing’ romance.




    • Parent Bonding & Bashing – Parallel & Permissive: A sign of new parenting styles: The tweens have found greater openness and freedom with parents. Trendy tweens are both openly complimentary and critical of parents while mass tweens are more conventional.



    • Tweens have many Heroes… But Brand Bollywood Is The New God…Omni Present & All: From the way they talk to the way they interact, feel and emote, Bollywood, for both trendy and mass tweens, is God.

  • 9 Story Ent unveils 2009 production slate

    MUMBAI: Production and distribution company 9 Story Entertainment has announced its 2009 slate that includes a new animated pre-school series, Wibbly Pig and the live-action kids‘ series Survive This.













    The company will also deliver new episodes of Best Ed, the award winning Peep and the Big Wide World and the popular Max and Ruby series.





    “Our production line-up for 2009 mirrors the growth of 9 Story‘s development and acquisitions this past year. We are firmly committed to these exciting projects and look forward to bringing more properties, like these, from development to production,” says 9 Story Entertainment CEO Vince Commisso.



    Survive This features eight 14 to 16 year-olds who head to the wilderness to survive on their own for three weeks with no food, shelter, Internet or video games. Best known for his hit TV series Survivorman, Les Stroud serves as their mentor and survivor skill judge. The series is commissioned for YTV Canada and will premiere in April 2009.



    Wibbly Pig is a new animated series co-produced with Wish Films (UK). Wibbly Pig features a funny, inquisitive and engaging character that turns the simplest of daily tasks and activities into a comedy routine. Based on Mick Inkpen‘s multi-award winning books, Wibbly Pig is set for fall 2009 delivery. 9 Story Entertainment, who co-distributes the series with BBC Worldwide, has secured broadcast agreements with Canada‘s TVO and Knowledge Network.



    Best Ed is a 9 Story original production for Teletoon in Canada and Cartoon Network UK. Best Ed revolves around the unlikely friendship of the always helpful Ed, a dog, and his squirrel pal Buddy. Scheduled for completion by April 2009, the series has been pre-sold to Cartoon Network for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Korea, and ABC (Australia).



    Peep and the Big Wide World will return for a fourth season with six new episodes for TVO, Knowledge and SRC. Max and Ruby will also return for a fourth season with 12 episodes.

  • Disney to launch new tween series on 8 February

    MUMBAI: Kids entertainment channel Disney is set to launch its new tween series, Sonny With A Chance, on 8 February.













    Targeted at viewers aged 6-14, the series will be aired at 8 pm.





    Meanwhile, in a bid to promote the series, Disney is building a digital magazine that will help viewers take a sneak peek into the “lives” of the characters in the series. The magazine will also be launched on 8 February.


    Sonny With A Chance is a TV show within a TV show that looks at exploring the lives of the stars of the fictional series So Random.

  • Pogo to air Make Way For Noddy from 6 Feb

    MUMBAI: Kids channel Pogo is set to air a special marathon on the Noddy series called Make Way For Noddy from 6 February onwards.













    The month-long marathon will be aired every Friday at 8 am.





    According to the channel, Make Way For Noddy, is set in the magical world of Toyland, a place where toys come to life and “adventures never cease”. There are wind-up clowns, bouncing balls, teddy bears, toy trains and houses made of colourful wooden blocks.

  • Shrek is best children’s film ever made: Survey

    MUMBAI: According to a poll conducted by onepoll.com, DreamWorks’ 2001 animation flick Shrek has been voted as the best children‘s film ever made.


    The poll was conducted across 3000 people wherein participants were asked to choose their favourite children’s film from a select list as part of the survey.



    Standing tall at the second spot was Johnny Depp‘s 2003 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, followed by Disney/Pixar classic Finding Nemo that tells the story of clownfish Nemo.



    Meanwhile, Toy Story and Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s Stone grabbed the fourth and fifth spot respectively, while The Lion King stood sixth.



    The top 10 kids’ films include:



    1 Shrek


    2 Pirates of the Caribbean


    3 Finding Nemo


    4 Toy Story


    5 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone


    6 The Lion King


    7 Mrs Doubtfire


    8 Monsters Inc.


    9 Ice Age


    10 Wallace and Gromit Curse of the Were-Rabbit

  • David Archuleta to star in Nickelodeon’s ‘Crush Night’

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon has announced that American Idol runner-up David Archuleta is set to kick off the new episodes of “back-to-back, romance-themed primetime premieres” as part of the network‘s Pre-Valentine‘s primetime programming event, “Crush Night”.



    The event will be aired on 7 February at 8 pm.



    The “Crush Night” programming slate includes special episodes of iCarly, True Jackson, VP and The Naked Brothers Band.

  • Nickelodeon Latin America unveils 2009 lineup

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon Latin America has announced its new programming lineup at the National Association of Television Programme Executives Conference (NAPTE) for 2009.



    The lineup will include new and original series like The Mighty B!, The Penguins of Madagascar, Speed Racer: The Next Generation, Back at the Barnyard and True Jackson.



    VP Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and Ben and Holly‘s Little Kingdom will be a part of the Nick Jr Latin America lineup.



    Meanwhile, the programming lineup will also include episodes of current Nick and Nick Jr series like tween live-action properties iCarly, Naked Brothers Band and Isa TKM, along with animated series Fairly Odd Parents, Tak and the Power of Juju and SpongeBob SquarePants.

  • BBC Worldwide signs new licensees for ‘3rd and Bird’

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC‘s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has confirmed the signing of two new licensees to develop and distribute the pre-school property 3rd and Bird! into the UK wood and wheeled toy market.

    Following the announcement of Fisher-Price as master toy licensee last month, BBC Worldwide has inked deals with DanJam for wooden toys and MV Sports for wheeled toys. The products will be launched in 2010.



    BBC Worldwide holds the global distribution rights including programme distribution, DVD and merchandising for the show, produced by Little Airplane Productions. The series has been created in photo-puppetry animation – a style of animation created by Little Airplane – and is targeted at three to five year old children.


    BBC Worldwide senior licensing manager for toys Julie Kekwick says, “3rd and Bird! is proving extremely popular on CBeebies at the moment which is a great platform to gauge interest in the property. With a raft of new licensees signed up to develop the brand further into toys and other apparel, we‘re confident 3rd & Bird! is going to shake a few feathers in the pre-school licensing arena.”


    DanJam‘s 3rd and Bird! range will include wooden stacking toys, pull along vehicles, play sets and musical instruments.


    MV Sports will develop a range of 3rd & Bird! inspired wheeled toys, including trikes, scooters, and ride-ons.


    DanJam Toys director Warren Traeger says, “Following the success of the wooden In the Night Garden range in 2008, we are thrilled to be partnering with BBC Worldwide again on 3rd & Bird! It‘s such a fun and vibrant brand that it lends itself perfectly to the development of wooden toys. With a planned retail launch of Spring 2010, we look forward to presenting the initial range to customers later in 2009.”


    MV Sports sales and marketing director Phil Ratcliffe says, “For MV, 3rd & Bird! ticks all the right boxes in terms of television platform, licensing potential and intrinsic appeal. Our product range will reflect the charm, humour and musical attributes of this great new pre-school show.”


    Fisher-Price‘s product line will debut in spring/summer 2010 in the UK. Under the multi-year master toy licence, Fisher-Price has global rights (excluding Asia) to develop pre-school, infant and toddler toys including electronic and non-electronic plastic figurines, toys, vehicles, play sets and feature and standard plush.


    BBC Children‘s DVD will release the first DVD of the series on 30 March, containing eight episodes under the title 3rd & Bird: Bird‘s the Word.


    BBC Children‘s Books and BBC Audiobooks will launch their publishing ranges to time with the first line of toys in 2010. The ranges will include audiobook, storybooks, novelty and sound books.

  • Disney to telecast ‘Bunny Town’ from 2 February

    MUMBAI: Disney Channel is set to launch its new show Bunny Town from 2 February onwards.


    Targeted at kids aged 2-5, the show will be screened on the Playhouse Disney programming slot everyday at 8 am.



    Says Walt Disney Television International (India) senior VP and managing director Antoine Villeneuve, “Playhouse Disney is based on established curriculum, developed by early childhood experts. This programming is designed to help parents raise well-rounded children through confidence-building tasks and foster learning through age-appropriate tools and experiences.”


    Bunny Town is about a world populated by the funny bunnies- a group of laughter-loving and gleefully bouncy puppet bunnies.


    The Playhouse Disney programming block currently features shows such as Mickey Mouse Club House, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Little Einsteins and Jojo‘s Circus.

  • Nickelodeon, BKC partner for Annual Kids’ Choice Awards

    MUMBAI: Kids channel Nickelodeon has tied up with Burger King Corp for the 22nd Annual Kids‘ Choice Awards wherein BKC will reward 25 winners with a trip for four to the award ceremony.



    The awards will be held on 28 March in Los Angeles.



    As a part of the initiative, BKC customers that register and enter a code at www.ClubBK.com will be automatically entered to win the sweepstakes.



    Nickelodeon‘s 22nd Annual Kids‘ Choice Awards will take place via a live telecast and will be hosted by Dwayne Johnson (The Game Plan).




    Burger King Corp. has partnered with Nickelodeon to give 25 families exclusive access to the Nickelodeon‘s 22nd Annual Kids‘ Choice Awards.