FAMILY ORIENTATED CHANNEL TO OFFER VOD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

London - 14th April 2008 - KidsCo, the joint venture channel owned by leading media companies NBC Universal, DIC Entertainment (DIC) and Corus Entertainment Inc. (Corus) is offering a video-on-demand (“VOD”) service in South Korea.  The new VOD service is a first for the channel and is the result of a major agreement between KidsCo and South Korean operator, hanaTV, the leading IPTV company in the territory. 

The agreement sees leading KidsCo programming including Babar, Madeline, Sonic the Hedgehog, Cyberchase, Franklin and Rolie Polie Olie available on demand in the region.  KidsCo’s presence in South Korea follows its strategic expansion into the world’s TV markets with the channel now broadcasting in key territories including Romania, the Middle East, Hungary, Russia, Turkey, Poland, Singapore, the Philippines and territories across sub-Saharan Africa. It is anticipated that KidsCo will be airing in up to 40 territories including Europe and Latin America within the next 18 months.

KidsCo Managing Director, Paul Robinson commented:  “KidsCo is committed to rapidly expanding across international television markets and we are excited to add South Korea to our list of key territories.  Our relationship with hanaTV is a milestone because it is KidsCo’s first video on demand service and is an example of how children are trailblazing consumers and key drivers of new technology services.”

Daniel Kim, Head of hanaTV Business Unit added: “hanaTV continues to expand its content for children.  We believe that the collaboration with KidsCo will be instrumental in strengthening our position as the No.1 IPTV service in the region.”

KidsCo features renowned animated and live-action television series and feature-length movies from pre-eminent independent animation programme suppliers, DIC and Corus’ Nelvana. DIC’s programming library features approximately 3,000 half-hours of top quality series, including; Inspector Gadget, Strawberry Shortcake, Madeline, Dennis the Menace, Care Bears and more.

With more than 3,200 half-hours of kids’ programming, Nelvana Enterprises’ catalogue features international favourites such as Babar, Franklin, The Adventures of Tintin and Rolie Polie Olie.