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Children's programming on ABC Television

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This article is about children's programming on ABC Television in Australia. For children's programming on the American ABC network, see Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company.

ABC Television broadcasts the greatest amount of children's content than any other network in Australia.[1] Prior to early 2009, there was a brand called ABC Kids (stylised as abckids) which was separate from regular ABC TV and contained all children's programming on the ABC. To prepare for the launch of ABC3, the brand has been completely removed and all children's programming now coexists with the rest of ABC 1 and 2. However, during preschooler's programming, the ABC network identities have been replaced with more kid-friendly animations which display a new "ABC For Kids" identity, which is similar to a former identity. They are still present in the programming aimed at older children.

On the 4 December 2009, the children's programming block on ABC2 was rebranded "ABC For Kids On 2" with new identities, schedule and watermark. In addition to this, all children's content aimed at school-aged children was removed, effectively making this a preschooler's block. This was the same date as the launch of ABC3. In May 2011 this was again re-branded along with a consolidation of kids programming on ABC2 as ABC4KIDS[2] This consolidation created a daily 13 hour block from 6am to 7pm of pre-school programming on ABC2. On 2 March 2015 the channel was rebranded once again to ABC Kids.

History

ABC for Kids commenced as a replacement in 2009 for the previously aired ABC Kids branding used on ABC Television and ABC Online. On 7 March 2005, ABC2 launched allowing for ABC Kids' programming to be broadcast for 13 hours a day across ABC1 and ABC2. In early 2009, the ABC Kids brand was discontinued and was replaced by two very different identities, one for preschoolers (ABC For Kids) and one for older children. Later in 2009 they launched another channel for grade school children called ABC3.

Identity history

1991-Early 1993

After the ABC Video Logo & Video Selection Australia Before ABC Kids, a short promo would appear. The promo featured the announcer saying ABC Kids' shows by the first letter in their name. They included: 

B is for Babar
T is for Thomas the Tank Engine
P is for Play School
F is for Fireman Sam
S is for Spot

And at the end, the announcer said that A, B and C are for ABC Kids.

In the early days, a bee would carry a ribbon with part of the ABC For Kids logo: a yellow square with a blue A, a green square with an orange B and a red square with a yellow C. It would bounce back at the top of the screen and form the part of the ABC For Kids logo (Note: This part was saved for later videos such as The Wiggly Big Show). The bee would form the 1975-2001 ABC logo and then fly to the ground. It would bounce back up in a violet square, an apple in a pink square would bounce down next to it, and a carrot would sprout next to it in a blue square. (Note: this part was also used from its end until 1996). The rest of the old logo would fade in from the bottom. (Note: this part was edited for the "Live in Concert" video to feature rock music and shining "For Kids"). This logo is completely animated by hand in 2D.

1998-2005

An ant will walk along (six blue squares), turn into an aardvark (pink squares) that would turn into an apple (yellow squares with "A" in topleft). The kids yell "A". A bird would fly along (pink squares), turn into a butterfly (blue squares) and turn into a bee (green squares with "B" in centre left). The kids yell "B". A cow would walk along (pink squares) a cat would jump (green squares) and turn into a carrot (red squares with "C" in topright). The kids yell "C". The squares would spin (yellow) and turn into the ABC For Kids logo. The kids yell "ABC!". For 1998-2005 videos, they each contain clips from Hooley Dooleys (The Characters sing the intro song), Blinky Bill (Blinky introduces his name), Bananas in Pyjamas (B1 and B2 say "Trust us, we're Bananas" to Rat in a Hat in Cinder Rat), Arthur (Arthur practices spelling Aardvark in his treehouse in Arthur's Spelling Trouble), Noddy (Noddy is declared champion of the Sports games by Mr. Plod), Johnson and Friends (The Toys need to trick Alfred, Alfred overs hears and wonders if they're talking abut him and McDuff says No), Magic Mountain (Dragon blows his magic smoke making Lion's body disappear), Sesame Street (Elmo sings and does Happy Tapping with Elmo), Postman Pat (Pat had fallen into a pile of straw and he gives Alf his catalogue in Postman Pat in a Muddle), Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (Thomas and Percy have been thanked for a letter from a girl in Thomas and the Special Letter), Spot the Dog (Spot thinks that the ball is his favourite toy in Spot's Favourite Toy) and The Wiggles (The Characters sing Get Ready To Wiggle near the end of the wiggly concert in Wiggle Dance). The squares would spin (yellow) and turn into the ABC For Kids Logo. The kids yell "ABC!" again and when the music ends, the narrator says "Bringing in the Best in Children's Video". This logo is animated in CGI animation and it can be a bit scary.

2001-2005

To promote the introduction of ABC Kids multichannelling in 2001, and to lead in to the start of programming within a part-time multichannel on some platforms, a set of identities featuring everyday kids was introduced, followed by an animated ABC Kids logo. For example, the "Crafty Kids" identity featured an ABC Kids logo made out of handprints, the "Cool Kids" identity made out of oval-shaped fish. The opening intro is like a puppet show as the ending saying goodbye. These were animated by zspace and composed by Blarter Music.

2005-2009

To help promote amongst the new ABC1/ABC2 identities, ABC Kids changed their slogan from "ABC Kids" to "More Kids". The ABC identities now were the ABC Kids logo change into a television with characters speaking and words appearing above them, differing depending on the character. These identities are similar to ABC1's "There's More To..." identities from 2005. The opening intro is like a puppet show as the ending saying goodbye just like the one from 2001-2005.

2009-2011

An ant would come out of a box, and an aardvark below it throws an apple which lands next to the letter "A". A box with a bilby in it is on top of a box of butterflies, which is on top of the "B" next to a redesigned bee. A cat bounces to another box, turning into a crocodile and then into a carrot which falls next to the letter "C".Children make way for the ABC For Kids logo. This identity is used only for the preschoolers block. The block for older children uses identities which are used for regular ABC 1 and 3 programming respectively. To help new ABC For Kids On 2 from everyday. This is similar to the one from 1998-2005 except that a bilby replaces the bird and a crocodile replaces the cow which now comes after the cat. This is the second logo to be done in CGI and the first logo to be done with live action,except that the old characters have new appearances and some new characters were introduced.

2011-2015

A new brand "ABC 4 Kids" is introduced, featuring a logo with a large 4, with the word "kids" and the ABC logo underneath.

2015-present

The "ABC 4 Kids" brand is retired in favour of ABC Kids. The logo is also updated with a new design featuring an updated version of the Apple/Bee/Carrot theme from the 2009 logo. The idents for this logo are the same as the "ABC 4 Kids" brand's idents in 2014, but with some differences in comparison to the original.

ABC For Kids Video

A related sub-brand, ABC For Kids Video, creates videos and DVDs.

1980s-1990

The Festival/Mushroom Records Video (FMR is now part of Warner Bros. Records and Warner Music Australia) logo is briefly seen before a cut to the ABC Identification.

1991-1993

The Video Selection Australia (previously Festival Video and Mushroom Video) logo is briefly seen before a cut to Babar and the famous "B" (Note: There was an error in ABC For Kids Video Hits and Bananas in Pyjamas with a fade instead of cut) A clip from Babar with him reading to his children in Babar's First Step is followed by Young Babar balancing three books on his head In City Ways With Babar Theme. A "T" is followed by a Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends clip Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Wrong Road for Thomas theme and "P" a snippit from the Play School theme in Special and Concert. An "F" is followed by two snippits from the Fireman Sam opening sequence and "S" one from Spot's Theme. The letters A, B and C pop up on the screen, followed by the ABC logo.

1993-1998

A 1992 combination of Bananas in Pyjamas clips from 1993, (B1 and B2 scare the Teddies by jumping out of a bush, the gang except for Rat play on a see-saw in See-Saw, the Bananas follow a rainbow in Chasing Rainbows), Play School from 1993 two presenters (George Spartels and Benita Collings) clap their hands in Play School Meets The Orchestra, Fireman Sam from 1993 (Sam slides down the bannister of his stairs, Sam and Elvis drive in Jupiter in Fireman Sam Theme) or in other version, Johnson and Friends from 1994 (Squeaky ties the toys up with a rope in Baby of the Family), Lift Off from 1992 (the Wakadoo gang play music in Someone Tells Me, one of the Bonaza men say something's big in That's Not Fair, Wolf agrees with Zelda in Which One?), Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends from 1991 (eight puffs of smoke form the Thomas logo while Thomas chugs along with Annie and Clarabel In Trust Thomas), Widget the World Watcher (Widget transforms into a kangaroo, Widget introduces his name in Widget's Walkabouts), Postman Pat (Pat drives in his van in Postman Pat Theme, Pat delivers a letter in Postman Pat and the Toy Soldiers), a clip from ABC For Kids: Live In Concert (with The Wiggles, Mic Conway, Gillian Eastoe, and Mike Jackson with Ian Blake performing Get Ready to Wiggle), it later shows The Wiggles except Jeff doing Here Comes a Bear, Ferry Boat Fred (Fred sails until a monkey breaks his mast in Fred the Floating Zoo, Fred's Captain climbs aboard to start work in Fred Meets Pete/Fred Joins a Band) or in other version, Blinky Bill (Blinky carries his sack in Blinky Bill Theme) and Spot the Dog (Spot barks and jumps off a tractor in Spot Goes to the Farm) is followed by 0:14-23 of the identity and rocks back to wipe the rest of the logo as a ladybug traces an orange "the", a violet "best", a green "in", a blue "children's", a red "entertainment", a yellow "on" and a pink "video". The clips would end with a snippit from Lift Off (Two of the backsaks hanging on Aku and Nipper's(who's holding EC) backs finish singing from Which One?).

1998-Early 2005

An ant will walk along (six blue squares), turn into an aardvark (pink squares) that would turn into an apple (yellow squares with "A" in topleft), and some kids yelled "A!" A bird would fly along (pink squares), turn into a butterfly (blue squares) and turn into a bee (green squares with "B" in center left), and then the kids yelled "B!" A cow would walk along (pink squares) a cat would jump (green squares) and turn into a carrot (red squares with "C" in topright). The kids yelled "C" and the squares would spin (yellow) and turn into the ABC For Kids logo. The kids yelled "ABC!" Down Here ABC For Kids Club! During this, Everybody sings "Roll Up! Roll Up!" (Not the Hooley Dooleys version)

two kids named Dereck and Jodi coloured in pictures. then Monica Trapaga said "Who is the Member of the New ABC for Kids Club?" For the Hooley Dooleys (the characters sing their intro song), Dereck is! so is his little sister Jodi. And So are Hundreds of Families All around Australia!" Repart of Thomas and Friends of Troublesome Trucks, Blinky Bill (Including Their name) and The Petals (Petal Laughs and Petal Angry) and Mister Whiskers sing "I'm Mister Whiskers Children Sing" (Children Dance) "Join the ABC For Kids Club! Call 1300-656-323."

Monica Trapaga says "When You Join, Your Kids will receive a Special ABC For Kids Club Video an ABC For Kids Music Cassette A Story Time Audio Cassette and A Beautiful Hard Back Book. It's magic!" The Dragon in Magic Mountain. Mr Squiggle jumped and a woman laughed "Mr Squiggle! lots of fun for everyone!" "Every two months, You Get a news letter with a bars notice of ABC For Kids Concerts and product releases. and there's a colouring in magazine. full of Games and Stories for the Kids!" miffy appears. "There's Always a Surprise in store with the ABC For Kids Club. Join Today!"

Broadcast schedule

Programming for older children
Weekdays
  • ABC3: 6:00AM-10:30PM (Mon-Thu), 6:00AM-10:00PM (Fri)
Saturday
  • ABC3: 6:00AM - 10:00PM
Sunday
  • ABC3: 6:00AM - 2:00AM
Programming for preschoolers
Weekdays
Saturday
Sunday

References

  1. ^ "Annual Report 2006-07" (PDF). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
  2. ^ "ABC to launch new ABC 4 Kids branding". Retrieved 5 May 2011..

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