The Kermit Channel was an Asian television channel that was owned by the
Jim Henson Company and
Hallmark Entertainment until 2001, when Hallmark assumed full ownership and renamed the channel. It was a 24-hour cable channel that broadcast reruns of various
Muppet productions.
History
Hallmark Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company started a partnership in May 1998 to launch the Kermit Channel in Asia and Latin America expect to start in September 1998 with distribution handled by Hallmark Entertainment Network.
This partnership had grown out of their co-production of ''
Gulliver’s Travels
''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan S ...
''.
In 1998, Kermit had extended a license for the Muppet to Wave, a Singapore-based licensing agent, for apparel, toys and games categories in Taiwan and the Philippines.
On August 31, 1998, the channel had a soft launch in
Latin America and
Asia with a revolving three-hour schedule. The next day, the channel's first general manager, Betsy Bruce, was announced. The Henson Co. and Hallmark were considering renaming the
Odyssey Channel
The Odyssey Channel was a documentary channel that was previously available on Optus Vision in Australia. It was one of the few channels on pay TV in Australia that had a large amount of Australian content available.
Due to the CSA (Content Sh ...
to Kermit Channel. A full schedule was put into place on October 1, 1998.
The channel was launched first in Taiwan in January 1999, followed by India,
which debuted in the first week in January 1999 with distribution and marketing handled by
Modi Entertainment Network.
The channel was next rolled out in Indonesia.
With uncertain over the market downturn, the Kermit Channel decided to focus on the Asia market. Kermit's launched was delayed until August 1999 in the Philippines.
By December 1, 1999, the channel had six million subscribers earlier than projected by its business plan. The next markets the channel was planned to be launched in were
Singapore and
Malaysia,
while considering
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
However by January 2000, Hallmark Entertainment Networks decided to instead to focus on existing markets, India, Malaysia and the Philippines, to build up capacity in distribution and brand awareness.
As part of the reorganization of the Hallmark Entertainment, programming on The Kermit Channel in Asia was transferred in November 2000 to the Hallmark Network. On Hallmark it would initially air as a six-hour-a-day block, but was later shortened to three hours a day. In November 2002, the Asian channel was shut down except in India. The Kermit Channel aired in
India, until December 2002. Kermit was shut down due to the decision of Henson owner, EM.TV. Hallmark Entertainment Network and Modi were in discussion to replace the channel with a joint venture family channel.
Programming
Hallmark Entertainment and the Jim Henson Company were contributing their film libraries towards the channel. Additional programming were acquired from
Children's Television Workshop
Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...
(CTW).
:Programming blocks
* Children's educational block
* Preschool block, is four hours long and home to the CTW programming
:Shows
*
The Ghost of Faffner Hall''
*''
Muppet Babies''
*''
Fraggle Rock''
*''
Pappyland''
*''
Aliens in the Family
''Aliens in the Family'' is an American science fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC from March 15 to August 31, 1996, conceived as part of its '' TGIF'' lineup.
Premise
The show was about single dad Doug Brody (John Bedford Lloyd), who is abducted ...
''
[
*'' Blackstar''][
*'']The Animal Show
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
''[
*'' Muppets Tonight''][
*''Adventures''][
*'']Mopatop's Shop
''Mopatop's Shop'' is a children's television series that which premiered on CITV in the UK on 4 January 1999. 260 ten-minute episodes were made and aired daily. It was a co-production between Jim Henson Television and Carlton Television. After ...
''
References
{{Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards
The Jim Henson Company
Defunct television channels
Television channels and stations established in 1998
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2002
Defunct television networks in the Philippines
Defunct television channels in India