The Kitchen's CEO, Ken Lorber, on today's kids TV market

Twenty years ago, according to Ken Lorber, President/CEO of The Kitchen Worldwide, there was ‘little variation in content’, explains the exec on an article. ‘Formats were long and topics discussed were rudimentary. Today, we’re seeing a lot more short-form programming for children; often between 3-11 minutes per episode, that truly gets the message across. Today, the topics discussed reflect a changing world. While we do see material for pre-schoolers a lot, the most asked for localization content is for 6–12-year-olds. They are smarter today. They are more worldly today. They are asking for answers, not just a fairy tale’, said.

Lorber appoints that animation itself, is ‘far more complex and sophisticated’. There are more songs and music requiring true musical talent, musical scoring, and musical direction. There is more anime for teens and 20-somethings, again much more sophisticated in animation quality and content, remarks.

All The Kitchen’s 14 global dubbing studios are seeing a vast increase in children’s programming requests. ‘Children’s programming was reported to be a $8.15 billion business as of 2018. Today, most titles are being translated and dubbed into multiple languages’, expressed the CEO’s The Kitchen. Predictions by the Global Children Entertainment Centers Market forecast this segment of the industry to reach $15.37 billion by 2026.

‘During the pandemic, we did see a dramatic increase in requests for children’s programming, both live action and animation’, Lorber added. ‘So, I’m guessing the actual forecast to be must greater than the above, since the Global Children Entertainment Center’s predictions were posted pre-pandemic’.

The exec said that it wasn’t that long ago that the first channel for kids was launched, and the segment experimented a lot of changes. ‘It was in 1979 and the channel was Nickelodeon, one of The Kitchen’s long-time clients. And the programming was for all ages. Today, every country touts its own children’s network(s). Streaming platforms, of which there are new additions almost daily, count children’s programming to be a priority.

US-originated children’s TV channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney, etc., are now competing for global delivery of programming. Networks are wanting more content, more talent, more dubbing capacity. ‘That’s music to my ears,’ Lorber commented. ‘What that means for us, is that we must be ready for growth, we must consistently search for new talent, we must continue to increase our capacity’.

Children’s programming today is ‘packaged’, according Lorber, and broadcast through independent, customized channels globally. ‘We are finding that many of our clients are working on multiple titles simultaneously specifically for this purpose’.

All in all, The Kitchen’s 14 global dubbing studios are very excited about what the future holds in developing new children’s formats, programming, and genres. ‘We’re excited to be playing a part of the new global launches, for streaming and broadcast’,  Lorber concluded.

The company has its US headquarters in Miami, Florida, with additional studios in: Mexico; Argentina; Brazil; France; Italy; Germany; Spain; Hungary; Turkey; MENA; Russia and Israel. All The Kitchen global studios will be represented at MIPCOM, in October.