Status: 01/13/2022 2:26 p.m.
In January 1997 the children’s channel of ARD and ZDF went on air for the first time – now the 25th birthday is being celebrated. In the anniversary year, KiKa wants to renew its digital offers and create more opportunities to participate.
The KiKa is 25 years old. The children’s and youth channels of ARD and ZDF want to celebrate its birthday with new productions and digital developments, among other things. An editorial board with ten children is also to be set up in the spring. At the moment, the application phase, which is aimed at children between nine and 13 years of age, said Kika program manager Astrid Plenk in Erfurt.
Include children more
Over the entire birthday year, they want to “try harder to involve children in the work of the KiKa and to allow them to make decisions”. MDR-Intendant Karola Wille said: “I am very sure that the need and the existence of a public service for children is undisputed.” KiKa continues to convey knowledge and values to this day and is “more important than ever” with its classifications.
The media library should be designed to be more user-oriented, added Plenk. The aim is to ensure that children can use the Internet in their favorite formats for longer. It is planned to supplement well-known formats from the linear program, such as “Schloss Einstein”, on the Internet with podcasts or sections such as “Behind the Scenes”.
ZDF director Thomas Bellut emphasized: “We are 100 percent behind this offer.” The program will be constantly reviewed and revised at the same time, added Wille. In recent years, for example, with more strong girls in the hero role, they have positioned themselves more diverse. “A lot has changed there,” said Wille.
Knowledge app and a podcast
According to Plenk, the children themselves have also changed over the past 25 years. Although topics such as friendship and togetherness still predominate in the age group – “these are long-running issues and they are not changing either” – today’s young people are more committed again. They were interested in sustainability, participation and diversity and asked questions such as: “How can I help others?” and “What can I develop to make life easier?”
The station has also planned a lot for the second half of the birthday. The program mandate “Education and Knowledge” is to be strengthened. For example, kika.de should start from scratch. “In addition, we will be launching a knowledge app,” announced Plenk. The “Tigerenten Club” should get an additional program, new animations should be shown. They also want to cater more to primary school children and further develop the range of offers for parents.
In addition, the start of a KiKa company podcast with the title: “Generation Alpha – The KiKa podcast” is planned. In dialogue with partners from society, the media and culture, it should deal with important future topics of the young generation. The podcast, which is aimed primarily at parents, claims to be a guide to accompany the “Generation Alpha” – that is, children born between 2010 and 2015 – in a media-competent manner.
Future of children
25 episodes will deal with possible approaches and visions for the future of children and children’s media. The planned guests include the climate protection activist from “Fridays For Future”, Luisa Neubauer, and Maria Furtwängler, actress and co-founder of the MaLisa Foundation, which advocates equality in society.
And even if the KiKaninchen is to become three-dimensional and the mouse and elephant are planning an anniversary broadcast on the occasion of the KiKa birthday – there will be no celebration live and in color for the time being. With a view to Corona, they hope to be able to celebrate and dance to live music together with the KiKaninchen, Bernd dem Brot, der Maus and all the others, at least in the summer, across Germany, said Plenk.