Press Release from KidsCo
London -- 23rd April 2009 -- KidsCo, the international children's channel owned by leading media companies NBC Universal, Cookie Jar Group and Corus Entertainment Inc., today announces that leading pre-school brand, THE WIGGLES is to launch on KidsCo, the home of entertaining and educational programming, in Western Europe.
Today's announcement follows the recent launch of KidsCo into France and Portugal and will see THE WIGGLES available for the first time in Western European territories which will also include Spain and Germany. KidsCo has launched on French platform Orange TV with both a linear channel and a KidsCo SVOD service. In Portugal, KidsCo launched on Clix who will offer KidsCo on IPTV. KidsCo will be fully localised in the regions and the channel will also be accompanied by fully languaged KidsCo websites which can be visited at www.kidscotv.tv.
THE WIGGLES first appeared on KidsCo in November 2008 with their successful launch on to KidsCo's Asia Pacific/Sub-Saharan African feed. THE WIGGLES, who made their debut in this key territory on KidsCo, have been widely embraced in Asia and have already built a strong fan base in the region.
THE WIGGLES, the fab four of the toddler set, Sam Moran (Yellow), Murray Cook (Red), Jeff Fatt (Purple), Anthony Field (Blue) along with Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus have been entertaining children since 1991. The children's entertainers have rewritten the book about how children can be entertained through song and dance and their gentle form of educational entertainment has seen them develop into one of the most popular and successful performing acts in Australia -- across any age group. With sales of over 23 million DVDs and 7 million CDs worldwide, THE WIGGLES have become a major force in the pre-school entertainment scene and are already hugely popular in key territories around the world including the US, Canada, South America and Japan.
KidsCo offers three programming zones of preschool, kids 6-10 and family, which have been designed to fit audience availability and lifestyle, and feature great animated and live action content plus movies which can be enjoyed by the whole family. Viewers around the world have already embraced KidsCo and recognise how it connects families by providing safe, trusted, age-appropriate and educational programming to kids everywhere. KidsCo only selects shows with strong educational values, enabling kids to learn through entertainment. Families in Western Europe can also look forward to enjoying much loved programming including PADDINGTON, INSPECTOR GADGET, HEATHCLIFF, CORDUROY, MADELINE and much more including feature-length family movies.
Commenting on today's announcement, Paul Robinson, Managing Director, KidsCo said: "We are delighted to continue our association with The Wiggles as we expand into Western Europe. We have already successfully launched the brand into the Asian and Sub-Saharan African markets and we look forward to repeating this success by building the brand in Western Europe. The Wiggles is a key brand for KidsCo and entirely fits in with our ethos which is to provide children and families with innovative and educational programming which is trusted by parents and loved by children. We have no doubt that The Wiggles will prove to be extremely successful in Western Europe."
Wiggles Managing Director, Mike Conway said: "The Wiggles are equally thrilled to be entering the Western European market with KidsCo, who like The Wiggles are dedicated to quality children's entertainment. Our television series is now broadcast in over 100 countries and we continue to expand into new territories to become a truly global brand. The Australian children's performers who formed as a group 18 years ago are one of the international leaders in educational entertainment for Children. We are looking forward to our future together."
