TRT rolls kids channel out to Europe

MIPCOM: Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT has set the date for the launch of the international version of its children’s channel, aimed at Turkish families who live outside the country.

İbrahim Eren

TRT Çocuk Dünya (aka TRT Kids World) is due to launch in Germany, the Western European country with the most Turkish immigrants, on January 16 next year before arriving in other territories later in 2016.

According to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are currently more than five million Turkish people living abroad around the world, four million of whom live in Western European countries.

Ibrahim Eren, TRT’s deputy director general for television content, told C21 here in Cannes that the pubcaster is currently finalising agreements with satellite and cable providers in Europe to carry the pay TV channel.

The aim is to also grow the reach of the channel to the US and Australia, where it is estimated around 500,000 and 200,000 Turkish people live, respectively.

Eren added that providing locally produced children’s programming in Turkish to the country’s diaspora was “part of its duty” as a public service broadcaster.

Series set to feature on the channel include Rafadan Tayfa, a local show set in a colourful Istanbul neighbourhood from Turkish prodco ISF Productions, and Maysa ve Bulut, another local toon.

TRT Çocuk’s emphasis is on local programming, which currently amounts to around 75% of its output. The channel’s schedule is largely animation-driven, sourced principally from local third-party production companies.

It currently focuses on preschool children and kids up to the age of nine, but it is also working on providing more content for children aged 9-12, Eren said.