KidsCo facts for kids
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| Country | Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | available in 18 languages |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 576i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | NBCUniversal (51%) Corus Entertainment (43.8%) |
| History | |
| Launched | September 7, 2007 (Central and Eastern Europe, Western Asia) January 1, 2008 (Philippines and the Middle East) March 20, 2008 (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and South Korea) November 15, 2009 (Australia) November 27, 2009 (Greece) May 1, 2010 (South Africa) June 1, 2012 (Malaysia) |
| Closed | 5 May 2013 (Poland) 31 December 2013 (Europe) February 13, 2014 (Southeast Asia and Australia) 2014 (all countries) |
KidsCo was a television channel made just for children. It showed cartoons and fun shows for kids aged 6 to 14. The channel was available in many countries around the world. It could be watched in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. KidsCo offered its shows in 18 different languages.
How KidsCo Started
KidsCo began in April 2007. It was created by three different companies working together.
- Corus Entertainment's Nelvana from Canada helped start it. Nelvana is known for making many popular cartoons.
- DIC Entertainment from the United States also joined in. They were another big producer of kids' shows.
- Sparrowhawk Media Group from Europe was the third partner.
These companies wanted to create a new channel just for kids. They combined their efforts to bring a variety of shows to young viewers globally.
Changes in Ownership
Over time, the ownership of KidsCo changed a few times.
- In late 2007, NBCUniversal bought Sparrowhawk Media Group. This meant NBCUniversal now owned a part of KidsCo.
- In June 2008, Cookie Jar Group bought DIC Entertainment. So, Cookie Jar Group also became a part-owner of KidsCo.
- By May 2012, NBCUniversal and Corus bought out Cookie Jar's shares. This made NBCUniversal the main owner with 51% of the channel. Corus Entertainment owned 43.8%.
Why KidsCo Closed Down
KidsCo stopped broadcasting in early 2014. The owners decided to close the channel for a few reasons.
- NBCUniversal had bought another children's TV channel in the US called Sprout.
- There were also growing difficulties in the international children's TV business. It became harder for KidsCo to compete.
At the time it closed, KidsCo's main office was in London, England. The channel stopped broadcasting in Poland in May 2013. It closed across Europe by December 2013. Finally, it shut down in Southeast Asia and Australia by February 2014, and then in all remaining countries later that year.
See also
In Spanish: KidsCo para niños
