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ABC Kids (Australia)

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ABC Kids
CountryAustralia
NetworkABC Television
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
Links
Websiteabc.net.au/tv/abcforkids/

ABC Kids (stylised as ABC KIDS) is the name of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's part-time channel, broadcasting shows between the hours of 5am and 7pm in each local Australian market for children 6 and under. ABC Kids shares the same bandwidth as ABC2 which broadcasts outside of ABC Kids' scheduled hours and supplements the flagship ABC channel with extra adult-oriented programming.

History

1991–2009

In 1991, all children's programming on the ABC was organised into a daily broadcasting block under the name ABC For Kids. This new programming block featured a range of programming ranging from preschoolers to young children and included both old and new content. The logo featured six blocks (3 across, 2 down) with the top row lettered "A", "B" and "C", and the bottom row featuring an apple, a bee and a carrot beneath their respective letter.

2001–2009: ABC Kids

In 2001, the ABC For Kids timeslot was rebranded as ABC Kids and content was expanded to include shows for older children as well as younger children. A new logo was also introduced, featuring a solid green Lissajous curve (taken from the ABC's logo) with "ABC Kids" in lowercase blue letters in front.

2001–2003: ABC Kids/Fly TV channel

In addition to the daily broadcasting block on the ABC, a new children's channel with the ABC Kids branding commenced transmission nationally on 1 August 2001 on channel 21, becoming ABC Television's first digital multichannel service. The service was officially inaugurated by former ABC Managing Director, Jonathan Shier, at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on 7 August 2001. The ABC launched the channel without additional funding, hoping that its success would prompt an additional government grant.[1] ABC Kids was broadcast from 6:00am to 6:00pm, with the remaining broadcasting time occupied by its sister service Fly TV. Fly TV was launched on 1 November 2001 to feature programming aimed at teenagers and young adults and broadcast a 6-hour block from 6:00pm to 12:00am, which was repeated again from 12:00am to 6:00am. In addition to their availability on free-to-air television, the ABC Kids/Fly TV channel was also available on Austar channel 14 and Optus TV channel 21.

File:Flytvlogo.png
Fly TV logo

The ABC Kids/Fly TV channel was discontinued on 30 June 2003 in the first of a series of cuts to save around A$25 million a year for the ABC. The ABC could not secure government funding to keep the channel on-air, and the sluggish uptake of digital television in Australia at the time made justifying a digital-only channel with a low viewership against the cost of keeping the channel on air difficult.[2] However, the ABC Kids brand still remained throughout this period on the ABC's daily children's broadcasting block.

After the close of the ABC Kids/Fly TV channel, programming for younger Fly TV viewers was integrated into the ABC Kids broadcasting block.

2009–2015

In 2009, two daily blocks of children's programming were launched as ABC For Kids, running from 8:00am to 11:00am and 2:55pm to 4:00pm on ABC. From 4 December 2009 (the day that ABC3 was launched to target 7 to 14-year olds), a new preschool children's block, ABC For Kids on 2 was launched on ABC2 in 2009-2011, featuring children's programming everyday until 7pm. Some ABC2 programmes had to be cancelled or relocated to other channels, such as Rage. The classic ABC For Kids logo from 1991 was rendered in 3D when the ABC For Kids name was revived.

2011–present: Current format

File:ABC 4 Kids logo.png
ABC4 Kids logo

On 2 May 2011, the all children's programming was removed from the main ABC channel and was divided between the ABC2 children's block and ABC3. The ABC2 children's block was rebranded as ABC4 Kids and was refocused as a part-time channel for preschoolers sharing the same bandwidth of ABC2 between 6am and 7pm. A new logo based on the ABC3 logo was also introduced.[3]

Broadcasting of the channel was rescheduled to begin at 5am instead of 6am on 7 July 2014.[4] On 2 March 2015, the name of the channel was changed to ABC Kids and a new logo inspired by the classic children's logo was unveiled.[5]

Current programming

Movies

On Sundays at 5pm, ABC Kids air feature length episodes or one-off specials. One of the feature length episodes was Thomas and Friends: Day of the Diesels.

Former Programming

References

  1. ^ "ABC Launches Kids Channel". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 August 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2007.[dead link‍]
  2. ^ "ABC Closes Digital Multichannels". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 May 2003. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  3. ^ "ABC to launch new ABC 4 Kids branding". 21 April 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  4. ^ ABC Kids [@abckids] (7 July 2014). "ABC4Kids now commences at 5am, seven days a week. Here's information about our new schedule: http://ab.co/1kxKyTx" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "ABC Kids unveils new brand identity via brand, design and communications agency Hulsbosch". 10 March 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
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