KOL joins DIC’s slumber party

DIC Entertainment has brought kids internet giant KOL in as a partner for its planned CBS Saturday morning block set to debut on September 16. KOL becomes co-producer of the block, rechristened KOL’s Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party, and it looks like the site’s premier property Princess Natasha will play a key role on the airwaves come the 2007/08 season. New eps are in development now, says general manager of DIC Entertainment Noah Fogelson, adding Natasha should fit in with the partners’ goal of capturing the six- to 14-year-old-girl demo. For the 2006/07 season the block will include a number of DIC-KOL co-productions including Dance Revolution (based on the Konami game), Horseland and Cake, while an on-line component featuring web-only content such as polls, behind the scenes clips and preview episodes, will launch in tandem with the TV offering.

Disney makes broadband inroads with Thailand IPTV plans

Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney Channel will now be available on Thailand’s True IPTV, the country’s first broadband television broadcaster. The deal between Walt Disney Television International (Southeast Asia) and True Digital Entertainment will give Thai subscribers the option to order new commercial-free channels for approximately US$3 a month each. Disney plans to program the two channels with animated and live-action shows culled from its library that will be dubbed into Thai. As well, an English-language feed will be available in certain areas. This is Disney’s second foray into the IPTV market; it already has a presence on Hong Kong’s NOW Broadband TV.

True currently boasts 400,000 broadband subscribers and predicts it will have 300,000 IPTV subscribers by the end of 2007. The company’s long-term goal is to have a 55% share of the Thai TV market.