The 10th anniversary of Nick Latin America last year is a jarring reminder to television market veterans just how much the animated TV scene has changed in that region.

An announcement that Nickelodeon was celebrating the 10th anniversary of Nick Latin America on Dec. 20, 2006, was a jarring reminder to television market veterans just how much the animated TV scene has changed in that region. That and how NATPE in January 2007 has chiefly become the destination to broker shows for Latin America seemed a good time to delve into this region to see what has been the impact of all-kids channels gaining a stronghold there in the past decade. AWM talked to some of the broadcasters and producer/distributors to get their perspective on changes in this region.

Some 25 years ago kids got a few half-hours to short blocks of cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, Disney and Warner Bros. broadcast on terrestrial channels, the biggest ones being Telemundo and Televista. Worldvision, then the distributor for Hanna-Barbera product, would fly out the creators during NATPE to sign autographs in their hospitality suites or booths, take photos with the walkaround characters and entertain channel owners at dinners at the top restaurants in the convention-hosting city.

Once a viewer in the region and now a seller to it, Luca Bentivoglio, president/ceo, Educational Adventures, recalls, "It was basically controlled by major terrestrial broadcasters with their kid's programming blocks. Depending on the country and their laws you had more or less hours of animation at different times. I remember when I grew up in Caracas, coming back from school to a very long afternoon block of animation with Warner Bros. and Disney product."

"In the last five years, I have seen a proliferation of product as well as outlets, said Bentivoglio. "I believe programming for kids has evolved considerably in the region and educational content is becoming more attractive to consumers in Latin America. In the case of The Danger Rangers, there are many opportunities to work with pan regional channels as well as terrestrial broadcasters. The alternatives are greater and competition is always healthy.

The syndication market drastically shrunk in the U.S. with vertical integration as major producers were allowed to buy their means of distribution (TV stations and networks) and consolidation became king. Cable rose to give viewers an alternative, but the majors then launched their own cable channels and found great success in the kids market with the all-toon Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Fox Kids (which became Jetix), The Walt Disney Co. (TWDC) Latin America and Discovery Kids.

Luca Bentivoglio of Educational Adventures notes that with The Danger Rangers, there are many opportunities to work with pan regional channels as well as terrestrial broadcasters. Courtesy of Educational Adventures.

The cable channels were welcomed by distributors, certainly by 20-year vet Ximena Rubio, sales manager for Salsa Ent., the distribution arm for Spanish-speaking territories of TV-Loonland. "What was great about that was that it became the first stop to premiere your programming." Admittedly it affected the company's terrestrial business, as those channels became more popular. "I think it's great those channels exist, because I like working with them. It gives you more avenues to sell to," he said.

"Now get yourself a diversified enough catalogue, which we are fortunate enough to have with TV-Loonland," he continued. "It allows you to fill the niche in each of those channels. If you have preschool then go to Discovery Latin America, which is very big on preschool. For the 6-8 age group, then you have Cartoon Network or Nick. It's important to have that," he said.

"My dream is to put a show on every one of the channels," said Rubio. "That would be something I'd call a wonderful day for me, when one day I open my avail book and in my avail book each of the channels has got one of my shows, at least one. Preferably I'd like them to take all of them!"

Another good advent for sellers is multiplatforms. While the U.S. is ahead of Latin America in this use, Latin American use is growing. "It's good for a distributor, it allows you more places to do work and sell," Rubio continued. "Now it's not just TV. Our primary business is television; the rest of the stuff is just what comes with the evolution of this business."

The outlets have increased by the license fees have not changed much in years. So points out, "You gotta remember that some of countries suffer unfortunately from economic, political, social problems that don't allow for there to be raising of fees. What they are going to make on advertising dollars on animation is not what they would make on film." He said kids don't draw advertisers because they are not the consumer with the money.

Rubio said he doesn't quite buy the argument some make that terrestrials won't want shows that premiered on cable. "Remember that children love to watch things over and over."

Anime has been a staple with Latin broadcasters who typically seek long runs of episodes (65+) at a lower cost than animation from North America or Europe, something the Japanese distributors have been capitalizing on as they have increased their market presence at shows over the past 15 years and major studios hold their product to launch on the cable channels first.