KidsCo inks Asian content deals

KidsCo, the kids channel owned by Sparrowhawk Media, DIC Entertainment and Corus, is inking content deals with Asian producers ahead of its launch in the region. The channel has already launched across Eastern Europe in Romania, Hungary, Russia and Turkey and expects to be in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong within months.

Paul Robinson, managing director of KidsCo, said that it has closed a deal with Korean animation producer Iconix for preschool series Pororo The Little Penguin.

“In Asia, live-action works less well so we’ll do deals with animation producers. We’ve signed a deal with Iconix and we’re looking at doing deals with other Asian content creators,” he said.

KidsCo is set to sign distribution deals with the Singtel’s IPTV platform mio and will also cut deals with cabler StarHub and Malaysian DTH operator Astro. In Europe, Robinson said that it was also negotiating carriage with Spanish cabler Ono, France’s CanalSat and Numericable and was close to a deal with UK cable company Virgin Media. “We’re not advertising driven so we don’t need to maximise distribution,” Robinson said.

Two-thirds of the catalogues of co-owners Nelvana and DIC will be available and the channel is set to air shows including Inspector Gadget and Incredible Dennis the Menace.