ITV

Category: Kids

  • Jetix unveils content line-up for July

    MUMBAI: Disney has announced its shows on Jetix, lined up for the month of July. Amongst the line up, the highlights include Urban Vermin, Inspector gadget, Hero Bhakti hi Shakti Hain, Dennis the Menace and Vicky aur Vetaal.



    Urban Vermin airs daily at 1:30 pm. Its 4 July episode will see Biffy, the central character, returning to the ‘Block‘ to film a behind the scenes documentary on the ‘GLF‘ for his school project.



    Inspector Gadget airs daily at 4 pm. In the 9 July episode of the show, Gadget will go on a vacation in Hawaii with Penny and Brain. Gang will also be on the island trying to make the inhabitants flee so that he can install a base for his missiles. However, Gadget will interrupt his vacation to prevent Gang from succeeding.


    The other show on the channel, Hero Bhakti Hi Shakti Hain, is the story of Joy who transforms with “divine intervention.” Joy’s devotion to Durga evokes a boon from her that turns an ordinary boy into ‘The Hero.‘



    The show airs every Saturday and Sunday at 4:30 pm.




    Dennis the Menace will air on 13 July at 12 noon. Dennis and his parents visit his favourite Uncle Bud‘s beautiful ranch. Uncle Bud, who has always wanted his ranch to win the local rodeo, finally gets his wish when Dennis volunteers to ride the wildest bronco in six counties.


    Vicky aur Vetaal airs daily at 5:30 pm. The story begins with Vetaal having been stuck hanging upside down from a banyan tree for 300 years. One dark night, he is accidentally rescued by 11-year-old stubborn brat Vicky. Athough Vetaal once had magical power, after 300 years they have become rusty, resulting in his magic going wrong almost all the time and landing Vicky in trouble.

  • Nick to air The legend of the Monkey King on 6 July

    MUMBAI: Nick will introduce its viewers to yet another hero series and this time its is based on the Monkey King. The show, The Legend of the Monkey King, will kick off on 6 July with back to back episodes from 2 pm to 9 pm.


    After this, it will continue to air regularly every Monday to Friday at 5:30 pm.


    To delight its viewers, the channel has announced ‘nick-alicious‘ contest on 6 July. Kids have to watch the show and answer simple questions by logging on to the Nick India website or by sending SMS to 26882.


    100 lucky kids will get a pizza dinner sponsored by Dominoes.



    Speaking on the launch of the show Nick India GM and VP Nina Elavia Jaipuria said, “Kids love super heroes; and Nick always gives kids what they want. Through Monkey King – the epic superhero, kids will find a loveable superhero that they can truly adore and emulate as a role model. Kids will not only have a lot of fun through this show but also learn values of friendship, discipline and commitment.”


    The Legends of the Monkey King is an epic tale which recounts the Monkey King‘s quest to find immortality for himself and his disciples. He is accompanied by his disciples, the stupid and funny Pigsy and the honest and brave Sandy.


    Monkey King is a rebellious extraordinary being, born out of a rock, blessed by the grace of Heaven. He is extremely smart and capable; and has learnt all the magic tricks which enable him to transform himself into 72 different images such as a tree, a bird, a beast of prey or a bug as small as a mosquito so as to sneak into an enemy‘s belly to fight him inside or out.


    As the Monkey King and his disciples venture through the Himalayas, they are faced with several unexpected incidents and dangers. They are up against evil witches, magicians, demons and monsters and they need all the help they can get! It takes teamwork, courage and of course Monkey‘s magical powers to tackle all the difficulties. But just when the brave foursome experiences one thrilling adventure, another one just begins.

  • Cartoon Network New Media launches Mini Match

    MUMBAI: Cartoon Network New Media has launched Mini Match, an action-based 3D virtual world that is built around social gaming.


    Mini Match features a 3D rendered world where players can challenge their partners in multiplayer games, start impromptu “tag” battles and work together to solve social puzzles.


    After “minimising” themselves into customisable avatars, players can navigate the “intricate” environments based on adventure themes in Cartoon Network shows.



    Mini Match focuses on multi-player match-ups in a social gaming environment, along with chat and exploration features. The two-player Mini Match games are branded to popular Cartoon Network content. Kids earn reward points for playing games, and they can use these reward points for further avatar customisation and in-game abilities.


    “Mini Match opens up a whole new world of gaming to our online audience. The action-adventure theme complements some of our most popular shows and provides kids with a safe virtual destination for social gaming. Kids can come and enjoy the multiplayer games or insert themselves into the fabric of the Mini Match story by joining the ranks of ninjas, pirates, space pilots and other characters, customizing their ‘Minis’ with the gear those adventurous characters bring,” said Turner Broadcasting System SVP digital paul Condolora.


    Mini Match features four distinct game-play environments: Haunted Garden, Tower of Heroes, Underwater Lab and Alien Zoo. As they explore each setting, Mini Match players can interact with other “Mini-zens” by playing multiplayer games featuring characters from fan favorite shows such as Ben 10 and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.


    Also, players can chat with one another using a custom dictionary that allows only kid-appropriate words and phrases, claims the company.

  • Disney to showcase ‘Art Attack’, ‘Being Ian’ this month

    MUMBAI: Disney has announced the line up of shows for this month.


    Some of the highlight shows are Phineas and Ferb, Being Ian, Art Attack, Wizards of Waverly Palace and High School Musical a worldwide hit original movie from Disney.



    Being Ian will air daily at 11:30 am. It is a story of Ian Kelley, a 12-year-old with the kind of imagination that goes cut in the night. In other words, he thinks life is a stage and he‘s the director. Ian tends to get himself into strange predicaments. But somehow he manages to walk away from each set with a sense of accomplishment, or a detention.


    The other show is Art Attack which airs daily at 2 pm.The show has introduced millions of children to the joy of art. The show encourages children of any age to unleash the artist within them. The show also pays regular visits to its creator, Neil Buchanan, whose specialty is creating really BIG art.


    Latest Buzz centers around five 14 year-old writers‘ who work at a youth magazine during 8th period at school. Follow Rebecca, Michael, Noah, Amanda and Wilder as they learn about the fast-paced world of publishing, all while living the fast-paced life of a teenager.

    The show airs daily at 4:30 pm.


    On 27 July, Disney will air its movie High School Musical at 7 pm. It has songs, dancing. This TV movie tells the story of two high school students – Troy, a popular basketball player and Gabriella, a shy, brainy newcomer – who share a passion for singing. When these two polar opposites try out for the school musical, it wreaks havoc on East High‘s rigid social order.


    In a desperate effort to maintain the status quo, the school‘s cliques conspire to keep them from performing. But by defying expectations and pursuing their dreams, Troy and Gabriella inspire other students to go public with some surprising hidden talents of their own.

  • Fame announces winners of Fame Reel Kids

    MUMBAI: Multiplex chain Fame has announced the winners of Fame Reel Kids, an interactive film-based workshop which was announced in summer.


    The grand finale of Fame’s initiative was held on 27 June in Mumbai.



    The workshop, which was announced in summer, saw kids in the age group of 7-15 years participating in several workshops like dialogue delivery, facial expression, story writing and direction.



    Fame Cinemas head of marketing Abhishek Raina said, “Fame Reel Kids is a very special concept and was developed with the sole thought of giving something unique to the children. Even though we are not a movie training school or an acting workshop/ school, but with the help of professionals we aimed at making a 7 day theatre cum acting workshop for nurturing the talent of the kids.”



    The Workshops were held in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore.



    The winners of the Fame Reel Kids were crowned by Harman Baweja and Javed Akhtar.


    “After speaking with the parents in all the 3 cities, we believe that we were able to deliver what we had envisaged and are ready to make this into an annual event, every summer. We at Fame believe in creating a differentiation with our activities and this is one such initiative leading us to that road,” added Raina.

  • Paul Ward joins as MTVN EVP

    MUMBAI: Paul Ward has been appointed as executive vice president, primetime acquisitions and strategy at Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.


    The 18-year veteran from MTV Networks will report to Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami.



    In his new position, Ward will oversee program acquisitions for the primetime and overnight ‘Nick at Nite‘ programming block.



    He will partner with all Kids and Family Group departments, including programming, on-air promotions and ad-sales, to devise strategies that build upon Nickelodeon‘s “equity with parents” and further develop its position in family entertainment during primetime.



    “Paul will be a key member of our team as ‘Nick at Nite‘ continues its evolution from its original mission as an adults-only destination to one that is inclusive of kids and serves the first generation of Nickelodeon families currently coming of age,” said Zarghami.



    “He will help us identify and acquire new primetime programming and will help put a long-term strategy in place. We will use Paul‘s skills as thinker, writer, strategist and marketer to further hone Nick at Nite‘s creative voice to this audience,” Zarghami added.



    Additionally, ‘Nick at Nite‘ had also recently announced the acquisition of Everybody Hates Chris and Family Matters, along with event programming including the Worldwide Fido Awards and My Family‘s Got Guts.



    Ward comes back to Nickelodeon and the MTVN Kids and Family Group after serving as senior vice president of communications for TV Land. There he oversaw and managed all facets of publicity, media relations and pro-social efforts for the network.



    Ward had served as SVP communications for both ‘Nick at Nite‘ and TV Land since 1999, before becoming solely dedicated to TV Land in late 2006.

  • Hyundai encourages children to ‘Sketch the i’

    MUMBAI: Car manufacturer Hyundai is doing an educational initiative for children.


    The Sketch the i programme is aimed at creating safer drivers in the future by targetting today‘s school children. The company is organising a series of school meets where students would be encouraged to present imaginative and interesting ideas on Road Safety.



    The programme will continue till the third Week of August, and will be organized at three levels – the school, the city and finally the all India competition. The final round of the competition will culminate in a competition at Chennai in August.


    Through this programme Hyundai aims to contact 140,000 students targeting 250 schools in 14 different cities – including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.


    Hyundai Motor India MD HS Lheem says, “Hyundai is committed to providing communities with the resources they need to create safer traffic environments on local streets. Through this program, we aim to educate children on road safety, and we hope they will be safer in the future, whether they are drivers or pedestrians.


    “The association with school children is all about innovation and ideas and given that road safety is a prime concern for us at Hyundai, it followed naturally that we should link the two. We are always looking for ideas on how to boost road safety and where better to look than among the youngsters, who are the most imaginative.”


    While the three submissions adjudged the best at the national competition will get the winning participants the opportunity to visit the Hyundai plant in Korea, all 52 participants in the national competition will be awarded a prize of Rs 10,000.


    Winners of city-wide competitions will be presented Rs 1,000 as prize money. Five of the best presentations from each of the 245 schools will be taken to city-wide competitions, from where three winning entries will be sent to the national competition at Chennai.


    Hyundai adds that it has long supported the cause of road safety and is involved in running the student traffic volunteer scheme in the cities of Delhi and Chennai which will expand to include other metros in the coming months. This concept too links safety and environment together and is a step further in the cause of spreading awareness about these two issues.

  • Disney ABC-ESPN TV announces key promotions for distribution in EMEA

    MUMBAI: Following the integration of its channel and programme distribution teams in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Disney-ABC-ESPN Television has rejigged its top management.



    Carsten Fink has been promoted as vice president for channel distribution, EMEA (North).



    Fink will be responsible for the distribution of the company‘s kids and family channels across the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Nordic, Israel, and Benelux, and will report to EMEA senior vice president channel and sports distribution Simon Amselem.



    Amselem commented, “Carsten has played a vital role in the strong growth of Disney’s programme distribution business in German markets, and we are delighted to have him drive our channel distribution to further success in key markets in EMEA. I am sure that with his passion for the television business, energy and experience, he will greatly contribute to providing our clients with the best service and support and growing our channels‘ business in the region.”



    In his new role, Fink will also lead the distribution and future growth of Disney and Jetix-branded channels across the region, including brands such as Disney Channel, Disney Cinemagic, Playhouse Disney, Toon Disney, Jetix, Jetix Play and GXT.



    Fink was previously vice president, programme sales, German-speaking Europe. Since joining Disney in 2000 from Bavaria Media, he has lead the division‘s German-speaking content distribution business in the market.



    Additionally, Tomas Arteaga has been elevated to vice president, programme sales, German-speaking Europe.



    He will report to Catherine Powell, senior vice president, Programme Sales, EMEA (North) SVP programme sales Catherine Powell.



    Powell said, “Amongst his other achievements, Tomas has grown an enviable kids and family content business in German markets for Disney, and in doing this, has contributed greatly to the success of our wider programming business there, supporting key franchise properties to benefit the whole Company. As we increase our investment in our local market presence, Tomas is the ideal executive to deliver future success for our content in these markets.”



    He will lead sales for these key markets, across all genres of content.



    Arteaga was previously executive director, sales, German-speaking Europe. He joined Disney in 2002 from the former Saban/Fox Family business, and since then has led kids and family content sales in the region, and more recently, has helped drive German market success across all genres of content and platforms.

  • Disney to revamp website

    MUMBAI: Disney will be overhauling its website for the second time in 18 months, citing competition from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Webkinz.



    The changes will take place in the next few months. The site will be enhanced with additional features like free video, movie streaming, games and mobile applications.



    The site will no longer ask the visitors to navigate across categories. It will be made more user friendly and attractive.



    Designers will also incorporate few YouTube characteristics.



    The previous changes that appeared in January 2007 came with features like social networking and became a huge success for the site.

  • Disney sells Movies.com to Fandango

    MUMBAI: Fandango, North American online movie ticketing agent, has acquired Movies.com from the Walt Disney Internet Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company.








    Fandango said that the two sites would provide a complimentary resource for its users.


    Fandango intends to provide online ticketing to Movies.com, making available to that site‘s users ticketing access to some 15,000 cinema screens in North America.