KidsCo
KidsCo was an international children's television channel founded and owned by a joint-venture between Corus Entertainment, DIC Entertainment, and Sparrowhawk Media Group in April 2007. By the end of 2007, Sparrowhawk was purchased by media conglomerate NBC Universal, thus giving the company its share in the brand. In June 2008, DiC Entertainment was acquired by Cookie Jar Group, thus also having a stake. In May 2012, Cookie Jar's minority shares in KidsCo were brought by NBCUniversal and Corus, which saw NBCUniversal become majority shareholder with a 51% share while Corus obtained a 43.8% share.
Channel's logo from 2012 until its closure. | |
| Type | children's television channel |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Broadcast area | Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | available in 18 languages |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 576i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | NBCUniversal (33%, later expanded to 51%) Corus Entertainment (33%, later expanded to 43.8%) DiC Entertainment/Cookie Jar Group (33%, until May 2012) |
| History | |
| Founded | April 2007 |
| Launched | September 7, 2007 (Poland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Russia) January 8, 2008 (Asia, South Africa, Middle East) April 10, 2008 (Africa) May 9, 2008(Spain) May 12, 2008(Hong Kong) November 15, 2009 (Australia) November 27, 2009 (Greece) May 1, 2010 (South Africa) |
| Closed | May 5, 2013 (Poland) December 31, 2013 (Europe) February 13, 2014 (Southeast Asia and Australia) 2014 (all countries) |
| Links | |
| Website | kidscotv.tv (closed) |
KidsCo was closed down worldwide on early 2014 by its owners, in light of NBCUniversal's acquisition of US children's network Sprout and "growing challenges in the international children's television industry". The network was based in London at the time of its closure.