Al Jazeera to launch English-language kids channel
09 Mar 11 -

Middle Eastern broadcaster Al Jazeera is planning to launch an English-language version of its kids channel JCC. The company is hoping that an English feed of the channel, which was launched in the Middle East in 2005, will allow it to expand across North America and Asia.

Al Jazeera Children's Channel (JCC) is currently available across the Middle East and Europe, via Nilesat and Hotbird satellites, and airs series including Big Bad Boo Studios' animated series 1001 Nights, DQ Entertainment's remake of The Jungle Book and Cyber Group Studios' Manon. The company, which is run by the Qatar Foundation, also has a preschool channel Baraem that launched in 2009.


"We have an ambition to create an international feed for JCC that will benefit other markets, Asia and North America. We are thinking probably by the end of 2012 because it takes a long time to prepare and to penetrate the market... we have so many requests from Asian countries to bring Al Jazeera Children's Channel in Arabic and to be dubbed in English. It is essential our international feed will cover North America," Al Jazeera Children's Channel general manager Mahmoud Bouneb told Abu Dhabi newspaper The National.