Category: Kids

Bakra will air every weekday at 6.30 pm with repeat telecasts at 9.30 pm. On weekends, the show will be aired as a one-hour specials at 4 pm.

Nick India vice president and general manager Hema Govindan said, “Bakra, whose popularity transcends all ages, will be a valuable addition to our already laugh-riotous Nick Hahaha block, which also includes Kenan & Kel, Drake & Josh and Laurel & Hardy. We’re sure that during summer vacations, Bakra on Nick will keep our young audiences smiling.”

Bakra is a half-hour show sportingly cons and makes ‘bakras’ of unsuspecting people. Host Cyrus Broacha and his team put the regular junta through strange situations with sometimes unexpected – but always hilarious – results, all captured on hidden cameras.

Vermeulen joins from Entertainment Rights where she was territory manager UK, Ireland and German-speaking Europe, responsible for maximising TV, new media and DVD sales for a range of properties including Postman Pat, Basil Brush, Little Red Tractor and Barbie. In addition, she managed the strategic rollout of licensing and merchandising for core brands in Germany.

At National Geographic, Vermeulen will build on this experience, undertaking the key sales role for National Geographic Kids’ programming, but she will also have responsibility for managing the growing stable of brand franchises and developing properties for maximum benefit.

Current programmes in production from National Geographic Kids include Mama Mirabelle‘s Home Movies, a mix of animation and live-action wildlife footage for preschoolers, produced in partnership with King Rollo Films; Iggy Aruckle, an animated comedy adventure for kids 6 – 11, produced with Blueprint Entertainment; Toot & Puddle: I‘ll Be Home For Christmas based on the award-winning book by Holly Hobbie and being animated by Grand Slamm Children’s Films; and the first global reality adventure series for little kids, Are We There Yet?, produced in partnership with Cellar Door and Sinking Ship Productions.

Friedman Meir said, “We are thrilled to welcome Karen to the team and to have someone in London who can work more closely with our European partners on a regular basis. She brings a wealth of very valuable experience to our developing business and has a real feel for integrated property management. She joins National Geographic at a pivotal time; in addition to those shows already in production we have a large number of unique and outstanding properties in development, targeting pre-schoolers, school-age kids and tweens with our hallmark approach – entertaining programmes that excite kids to explore their world.”

NGTI president Ian Jones added, “The addition of Karen to our team, along with the kids programming to the NGTI catalogue, marks a new era for our business and a natural extension for our brand. Donna and her team in the US have already done a fantastic job in establishing National Geographic as a player in the kids market, particularly in Europe, and I have every confidence that Karen is the ideal person to consolidate and build on that activity going forward.”

The channel announced today that as part of the its new look, it will be streamlining its programme structure to target this market segment, as well as introducing a creative campaign, Imagine-Nation, to capture the imaginative minds of the youth market.

“Like all entertainment genres, animation continues to evolve, and we have noticed that the animation from Japan is moving towards a more youth-driven demographic. Animax too must move ahead with current trends to provide viewers with the coolest entertainment,” said SPE Networks – Asia vice president Animax, programming and production Betty Tsui.

In line with the channel’s commitment to bringing the latest, hottest animation from Japan to its target audiences, helming the refresh programme this summer are two blockbuster animations, God Save Our King and Trinity Blood. Viewers can also expect unique programme content covering a wide variety of themes and styles in the next few months, including the latest Inuyasha: Fire on the Mystic Island, Paradise Kiss, Honey & Clover, Black Cat and Girl from Hell amongst others.

The new initiative Imagine-Nation will roll out together with the channel refreshment. The Imagine-Nation project is Animax‘s showcase of successful or famous people from the region who are connected to the creative world of games, film, anime and design. This project also features those who dared to let their imagination lead them to success and fame.

A host of talent, including local animation guru Nickson Fong and StickFas Toys founder Bany J from Singapore, and India’s first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan will share their visions and inspirations with viewers in a series of candid interviews.

Fong said, “I am excited to be able to share my passion with youth through the Imagine-Nation project. Hopefully, this will inspire some local talent to go into designing, animation or film-making as a career choice, and take the burgeoning animation industry in Singapore to new heights.”

Tsui added, “Like imagination and creativity, Anime is more than an art form. Anime is inspiring, innovative, unique and always on the edge. It is a lifestyle. We hope that the new Animax will inspire our youths to live out their dreams.”

She further said that with the refreshed look of the channel, viewers will now be able to enjoy more edgy anime programmes that are most suited to their lifestyles, and viewers can certainly look forward to greater ‘out-of-the-box’ activities and off-air offerings to experience the ultimate animation lifestyle Animax presents.

High School Musical has thus become the fastest selling television programme on DVD for the home entertainment industry this year and the industry‘s fastest selling television movie of all time on DVD. In the film Troy and Gabriella – two teens who are worlds apart – meet at a karaoke contest and discover their mutual love for music.

Gabriella Montez is a shy, studious new student at East High School; but all that changes when she is forced to sing at a karaoke contest with Troy Bolton, the captain of the school‘s basketball team. After spending time with each other, both realise that they share a passionate love for music and singing. But will they retain this love when their school is telling them they cannot be together?

Disney adds that the success of the film on DVD continues the phenomenon of the franchise. The film also has a triple-platinum selling soundtrack. The DVD contains bonus features including a ‘Learn the Moves‘ feature led by Emmy Award-winning director Kenny Ortega , a never-before-seen music video I Can‘t Take My Eyes Off of You.

The television movies are on Friday nights from 9 June. It will unreel new animated telefilms based on the series Danny Phantom, The X‘s, Avatar and Jimmy Neutron/The Fairly
OddParents along with Nick network debuts of the theatrical films Rugrats in Paris and Kangaroo Jacke.

In Danny Phantom/Reality Trip an escaped evil
ringmaster with ghostly minions reveals phantom-fighting teen Danny‘s secret identity. Then, Truman‘s a turncoat and family menace in The X‘s/”Truman X, Supervillain after the wayward tween is recruited as an evil agent of SNAFU. The Fury of the Avatar finds Aang and the Avatar gang traversing the deadly Serpent‘s Pass into Ba Sing Se just as a colossal fire nation invention aims to destroy the Great Wall there. A friendship blooms between erstwhile rivals Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner in the Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour III: “The Jerkinators as the tween leads of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and The Fairly OddParents join forces to battle old foes and an evil new one bent on stealing Jimmy‘s brains and Timmy‘s magic. Whisking kids on adventures to Australia and France on 23 and 30 June.

As far as new shows are concerned, the channel will kick off the fish-out- of-water anime action comedy Kappa Mikey on 20 August. It chronicles the madcap adventures of once- struggling American actor Mikey Simon as he adjusts to his new role as the biggest anime star Japan has even seen. Shuriken School is a crazy place in fictional Tokirohama where Eizan and his pals learn how to melt into the walls, fly over rooftops and disappear in a cloud of smoke.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was released on 5 April and has sold over 11 million units in route to claiming this year‘s top DVD spot.

“We are delighted with the tremendous success of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe DVD. This award-winning film is a stellar addition to the celebrated Disney collection and has set the tone for the next chapter in this promising franchise,” commented Bob Chapek.

Concurrently, with Narnia in the top DVD spot of 2006, BVHE holds five of the top 10 titles so far this year. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Chicken Little, Lady and the Tramp, Flightplan, and Bambi II are all strongly positioned within the top 10 titles of 2006, states an official release.

“We are very fortunate to have such a strong line up of titles that appeals to every demographic. It is the backbone of what this studio has always been known for,” Chapek added.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is available as a single disc DVD with outstanding bonus features and as a Special 2-Disc Collector‘s Edition DVD.

The special edition takes viewers on a deeper adventure into the world of Narnia with nearly ten hours of bonus features — including a behind-the-scenes tour with the film‘s child stars, director‘s diary, ‘cinematic storytellers‘ film diaries, multiple audio commentaries, 3-D map, interactive timeline, featurettes on the creatures and much more, informs the official release.

Many parents also express satisfaction with the educational benefits of TV and how it can teach positive behaviours.

According to the study, in a typical day more than eight in 10 (83 per cent) children under the age of six use screen media, with those children averaging about two hours a day. Media use increases with age, from 61 per cent of babies one year or younger who watch screen media in a typical day (for an average of 1:20) to 90 per cent of four to six year-olds (for an average of 2:03).

The report, “The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parents,” is based on a survey of 1,051 parents with children age six months to six years old and a series of focus groups across the country.

In many homes, parents have created an environment where the TV is a nearly constant presence, from the living room to the dining room and the bedroom. One in three (33 per cent) children this age has a TV in their bedroom (19 per cent of children ages one year or younger, 29 per cent of children ages two-three years, and 43 per cent of those ages four-six years).

The most common reasons parents give for putting a TV in their child‘s bedroom is to free up other TVs in the house so the parent or other family members can watch their own shows (55 per cent), to keep the child occupied so the parent can do things around the house (39 per cent), to help the child fall asleep (30 per cent), and as a reward for good behaviour (26 per cent).

As one mother who participated in a focus group in Irvine, CA said, “Media makes life easier. We‘re all happier. He isn‘t throwing tantrums. I can get some work done.”

A third (32 per cent) of children this age live in homes where the television is on all (13 per cent) or most (19 per cent) of the time and a similar proportion (30 per cent) live in homes where the TV is on during meals all (16 per cent) or most (14 per cent) of the time.

As a focus group mother from Columbus, OH explained, “The TV is on all the time. We have five TVs. At least three of those are usually on — her bedroom, the living room and my bedroom.”

Children whose parents have established these heavy TV environments spend more time watching than other children: for example, those who live in households where the TV is on all or most of the time spend an average of 25 minutes more per day watching TV (1:16 vs. 0:51), and those with a TV in their bedroom spend an average of 30 minutes more per day watching (1:19 vs. 0:49).

“Parents have a tough job, and they rely on TV in particular to help make their lives more manageable. Parents use media to help them keep their kids occupied, calm them down, avoid family squabbles and teach their kids the things parents are afraid they don‘t have time to teach themselves,” said Kaiser vice president and director program for the study of entertainment media and health Vicky Rideout.

At a time when there is great debate on the merits of educational media for children, many parents are enthusiastic about its use. For example, two-thirds of parents (66 per cent) say their child imitates positive behavior from TV, such as sharing or helping. A large majority of parents (69 per cent) say computers mostly help children‘s learning and a plurality (38 per cent) say the same about watching TV (vs. 31 per cent who say TV “mostly hurts” and 22 per cent who say it doesn‘t have much affect either way).

The study found that how parents feel about TV‘s benefits is related to how much time children spend watching. Children whose parents say TV mostly helps learning spend an average of 27 minutes more per day watching than children whose parents think TV mostly hurts.

In focus groups, parents noted many specific benefits of TV viewing for their children, such as spurring imaginative play, teaching letters and words and learning a foreign language. One mother noted, “Out of the blue one day my son counted to five in Spanish. I knew immediately that he got that from Dora.”

Another mom said, “My daughter knows her letters from Sesame Street. I haven‘t had to work with her on them at all.”

Since a similar survey in 2003, there have been increases in the share of children in households with at least one computer (from 73 per cent to 78 per cent), with internet access (from 63 per cent to 69 per cent), and with high-speed internet access (from 20 per cent to 42 per cent).

There was a small but statistically significant decrease in the per cent of children living in households where the television is kept on always or most of the time, from 37 per cent in 2003 to 32 per cent in 2005, and of children living in households where the television is on during meals always or most of the time, from 35 per cent in 2003 to 30 per cent in 2005.

The study also found that among children who do each activity in a typical day, children are spending an average of 17 minutes less per day listening to music and 10 minutes less per day watching TV.