KI.KA (Kinder Kanal - "childrens channel)
ARD and ZDF's children's channel, Germany.
audience 3 - 13
ARD - "a consortium of Germany's federal public service broadcasters"
broadcasting since 1st january 1997
the influence of media on children's lives is growing.
"A TV channel especially for children should not and can not assume the role of a parent, but it can provide food for thought. With a variety of programmes, the children's channel of ARD and ZDF encourages and supports the social, emotional and cognitive development of its young audience."
"The public service children's channel should inform, educate, advise and entertain and in doing so, meet the specific needs of the young target audience. KI.KA thus makes an invaluable contribution towards preparing its viewers for the demands of the future."
children's - news programmes, magazine slots, interactive live shows, advice shows and documentaries, fiction and entertainment.
Programmes for very young children "demand highly responsible attitudes and awareness of educational and developmental issues."
"Thanks to the mutual efforts of ARD and ZDF, KI.KA has the best produced preschool formats in Germany."
advert free
"KI.KA encourages self-confidence, not brand awareness, and promotes positive values, not products."
It's not nieve "It has to provide positive ways of dealing with conflict. The theme of violence is not ignored, but violence is never depicted as a way of solving problems, or used merely in order to build tension."
"ARD and ZDF's children's channel is on children's side and at children's side."
Ellen Karcher (head of promotions and design) and Alexandra Grundmann (Art director of FEEDMEE)
AG: "We see ourselves as a general interest channel aimed at children and younger viewers."
"The look is based on collage. There's a combination of elements which are specific to the target age groups and laid out in advance." - also the use of unusual objects rather then the stereotypical playroom objects helps to stimulate the children's imagination.
EK: "The target audience of "children" is divided into target audience subgroups, so KI.KA divides the programmes and their packaging into individual clusters which reflect the different developmental stages of the different age groups"
"The rapid pace at which children develop makes them an extremely diverse target audience."
AG: "KI.KA divides its viewers into three main groups: pre-school, school age and pre-teens."
Pre-school - Sunny yellow and light
little text, slower mode of address
School age - blue
Pre-teens - bright pink
Play with action and humour in the trailers
(KI.KA's head of programme doesn't like irony very much)
Differing attention spans are taken into account.
EK: "The most important thing for us is to get the 'what and when' across - the children have to receive clear information."
"The starting point for the channels look was the idea that children grow up with the channel and are kind of accompanied on an evolutionary process through different stages of childhood."
Detailed briefs are developed with consideration of children's perceived abilities - the channel works universities who have established expertise in the field.
"KI.KA's On-Air promotion is aimed at parents as much as the children."
EK: "Studies have shown that even pre-reading age children are able to identify our brand by its logo."
on the challenge of conveying a programmes individual identity while adhering to the channels visual identity
AG: "The collage principle gives you a certain openness and flexibility on the one hand and on the other, the specific characteristics of the elements create a very clear basis
"KI.KA uses a wide range of animation and image techniques. This means that their are always fresh elements in the design."
Everything (Ep. 17) from dannyjelinek on Vimeo.