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Astro Ceria COUNTRY: Malaysia LAUNCH DATE: August 2006 OWNERSHIP: Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad DISTRIBUTION: Cumulative reach for 2013 is 6.4 million for
total Malay 4-plus ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE: Alice Sim ASSISTANT VP: Hadzelynda Khairuddin WEBSITE: www.astro.com.my/ceria
DESCRIPTION: Astro Ceria is the largest Malay kids’ channel in Malaysia, with a kids’ audience share of 5.8 percent. PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: The 24-hour Malay-language
channel targets kids aged 4 to 14. Around 60 percent of the schedule is comprised of acquired content, with 30 percent representing local commissions and the remainder coming from in-house productions. From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Astro Ceria dedicates its programming to preschoolers, aged 4 to 5. Starting at 9 a.m. until 7 p.m., the programs are geared to kids aged 6 to 13. Prime time is weekdays 9 a.m. to noon and weekends/school holidays 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Among the recent acquisitions for the channel are Code Lyoko from Moonscoop, Action Dad from Toonzone, Chibi Maruko-chan from Nippon Animation, Wendy from ZDF Enterprises and Red Kite and Ultraman Kids from Tsuburaya. In the way of original programming there is a children’s singing reality show, Ceria Popstar, which has achieved its highest ratings at 400,000 viewers, as well as the dance reality show Ceria Superstar, with highest ratings at 700,000 viewers. Hadzelynda Khairuddin, assistant VP at Astro Ceria, says that on the current shopping list is 3D animation with slapstick comedy, and also hybrid 2D and 3D animation that is action-packed.“The trend is comedy-centric programs, as the kids love slapstick comedy,” says Khairuddin. “Hence most of our comedy shows work best.” “We are acquiring online rights, VOD rights, IPTV rights as well as 90-day catch-up rights,” says Putri Yasmin Megat Zainuddin, Astro’s VP of Generation Next. 92