NBC Universal Buys Into KidsCo

Okay, for starters, I know that this is something that would have been posted at The X Bridge, but, that site resumes normal programming on September 10, 2007. A lot of stuff on that end coming down the pike. I'll reveal it then.

Second, I'm kind of interested in this story as someone looking for something different from the normal.

Remember KidsCo? Let me refresh your memory if you don't.

A consortium of entertainment companies (DiC Entertainment, Corus Entertainment, and Sparrowhawk) got together earlier in the year and announced plans to launch a "fourth voice in children's entertainment," a joint venture that would lead to the creation of international channels worldwide with the exception of North America. That's when I stopped giving them any credence because, well, how could you compete against the other three voices (Disney, Nickelodeon, and that channel that I refuse to talk about based in Atlanta) if you don't do it on their home turf?

But something came up yesterday.

NBC Universal annuonced plans to acquire the company that makes up a third of KidsCo, Sparrowhawk Media, which also owns international Hallmark Channels, Movies 24, Diva TV , a broadcast facility in Denver, and international distribution rights to more than 580 titles in the Sparrowhawk International Library.

Now, here's something interesting to note. NBC Universal and Corus are partners in a pair of endeavors now, the aforementioned KidsCo joint venture and, along with Scholastic, Entertainment Rights/Classic Media, and ION, the qubo programming brand, which also includes a digital channel.

Now that NBC Universal has become a partner in the KidsCo endeavor, would they seriously take on the role of being a "fourth voice" AND be brave enough to take on the big three on their home turf? When it was just DiC, Corus, and Sparrowhawk, they weren't, but now with the increasingly growing monster conglomerate with the body of a planet and the head of a peacock joining them (not to mention a company willing to expand globally and create more programming outlets worldwide, including in the US), they might seriously consider launching a Stateside channel/outlet in the future.

Interesting times we're living in, aren't they?