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TV KIDS
Sebastian Debertin KiKA hen KiKA (Der Kinderkanal) launched in 1997, it had a very clear mission. While young viewers expected to be entertained by a channel entirely dedicated to them, management believed KiKA had a responsibility to quench children’s thirst for knowledge and weave important values like tolerance, friendship and conflict resolution into programming story lines, and reflect the diversity of the real world. Sebastian Debertin, who today is the head of fiction, acquisitions and co-productions, was on the team that established those goals for the channel and then looked for programming that would support that vision. He buys from all territories, but his main suppliers are from Europe—in Germany, France, Ireland, and the U.K.— along with Canada, the U.S. and Australia. The German TV market has always been crowded, and with major U.S. studio product locked up by competing channels, KiKA has had to innovate, create its own brands and search for shows from independent distributors. Thanks to the deep pockets of its shareholders, the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, KiKA has had the resources to do so. Debertin also led the strategy to offer more than simply fun animation and live-action series. KiKA’s schedule includes a daily news show as well as documentaries. In line with its parent companies, ARD and ZDF, KiKA is commercial-free. Some of Debertin’s recent acquisitions include Cloudbabies, Poppy Cat, Doozers and Whatever. Co-productions are very important to KiKA, and Debertin and his team are currently involved in 15 jointly produced or financed projects, including Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Mouk, Annedroids, Super Wings, Insectibles and Guess How Much I Love You.
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