KidsClick

KidsClick

Network	This TV (national) Syndication
Launched	July 1, 2017 (2017-07-01)
Country of origin	United States
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group
Key people	Daniel Barnathan (Vice President, Family and Children's Programming and Sales) Jonathan Dern (Executive Producer)[1]
Format	Weekday/weekend morning cartoon block
Running time	3 hours
Original Language(s)	English
Official website	Official website

KidsClick is a daily children's programming block distributed by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which premiered on July 1, 2017. The block, which primarily consists of long-form animated series as well as some short-form content, is carried nationally on digital multicast network This TV, and on Sinclair-owned/operated television stations in several markets.^[2] At launch, the block was available in 75 million households.^[1] The block also marks the return of traditional weekday cartoons and Saturday morning cartoons to over-the-air television,^[3] as well as the first children's programming block on U.S. broadcast television not to comply with Children's Television Act regulations since the Saban-produced Vortexx was discontinued by The CW in September 2014.

The This TV iteration of the block will accompany an existing, unbranded lineup of educational programming on weekend mornings, which has aired on the network since November 1, 2013, after the discontinuation of Cookie Jar Toons (which coincided with original co-owner Weigel Broadcasting transferring its 50% interest in the network to Tribune Broadcasting, as well as the Cookie Jar Group's absorption into DHX Media); it also marks the first time that This TV has carried children's programming on Monday through Saturday mornings since Tribune – which Sinclair announced that it would acquire for $3.9 billion on May 8, 2017^[4][5] – assumed partial ownership of the network.

History

On May 2, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would launch a multiplatform children's programming block on linear television and digital platforms. The company partnered with MGM Domestic Television Distribution to develop and distribute KidsClick, which it planned to air nationally on This TV and select network affiliates (particularly those aligned with The CW, and the MyNetworkTV programming service, as well as some Fox-affiliated stations that do not carry local morning newscasts in the block's designated timeslots) and independent stations owned and/or operated by Sinclair on July 1, 2017. Its content encompasses short- and long-form material and will be distributed online.^[2][6]

This puts Sinclair back in the children's television market, an industry estimated to be worth $1 billion, which is currently largely split in advertising revenue between Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.^[2][7] Speaking to the return of children's programming on American commercial broadcast television, Steven M. Marks, COO and EVP of Sinclair Television Group, said in an earnings report on May 3, 2017: "That's a $1 billion-plus spot business that we don't get $0.10 from. So again, it's an illustration of going back into the marketplace and fishing in ponds that we haven't fished in. So that's $1 billion that is pretty much split between [two] cable networks: Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network. Disney is a subscription network. 18 years ago, we were the kings of reaching kids every day. There's no reason in the world why we can't be successful in that space."^[8]

Scheduling

The block airs each Monday through Friday from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. local time (these designated time periods also apply to the national block aired on This TV, which broadcasts on an Eastern Time schedule).^[2] Scheduling variances may exist for the syndicated block in certain markets due to network programming obligations (such as One Magnificent Morning, which may delay or preempt the KidsClick Saturday lineup on CW-affiliated stations that carry both blocks) as well as a preference to air news and sports programming in those slots.^[9]

Because the programs featured on KidsClick do not meet educational content guidelines defined in the Children's Television Act by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), This TV continues to air a block of live-action travel and wildlife series from Steve Rotfeld Productions immediately after the weekend broadcasts of the KidsClick lineup to fulfill the mandate (accordingly, the network's E/I block switched from a singular, three-hour block aired only on Sunday mornings to two separate 90-minute-long blocks that will air on Saturdays and Sundays).^[10][11] Sinclair-operated independent stations that air KidsClick also continue to provide E/I-compliant programs acquired from the syndication market through individual distributors, from Fox's Xploration Station block managed by Rotfeld, or via the Litton Entertainment-distributed Go Time block to meet the quotas.

Programming

Current programming

• Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (July 1, 2017)
• Pink Panther and Pals (July 1, 2017)
• RoboCop: Alpha Commando (July 1, 2017)
• Scary Larry (July 1, 2017)
• Super 4 (July 1, 2017)^[12]
• Angry Birds Toons (July 3, 2017)
• Max Steel (July 3, 2017)
• Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (July 3, 2017)
• Rocket Monkeys (July 3, 2017)

Upcoming programming

• Sonic X (TBA)^[13]
• Transformers: Prime (TBA)^[14][15]
• Zak Storm^[16](October 2017)^[17]

Stations

The following is a list of stations that carry KidsClick in syndication; this includes the possibility that a This affiliate on a station owned by Sinclair or another owner will also air the programming block near or at the same time:

References