Record number of children’s programs submitted to ABU’s TV program exchange

A record 139 children’s programs, segments and clips have been submitted to this year’s ABU Children’s TV Item Exchange.

Some 60 participants from 26 organisations attended the 2014 meeting at the Royale Bintang Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, the highest number in the scheme’s 12-year history.

Organisers said the number of participants had doubled over the years, the number of programs submitted had increased and their quality had improved tremendously, partly due to the continuing efforts of the ABU as well as regular participants from member organisations.

Ms Hyunsook Chung, Senior Manager of Educational Broadcasting System, Korea, who has been Chairperson of ABU Children’s Programme Working Party since 2004, said: “We, Asian children’s programs producers, face a daunting challenge of finding ways to make content that both educates and delights our children, within tight human resource and budget constraints.

“The annual ABU Children’s Programme Item Exchange helps us to meet this challenge, through discussion, training and mutual support. Regardless of any political, social or cultural differences, we have a shared consensus on the importance of children’s content, which we all believe should not only touch the hearts and souls of our children, but also help to guide them as responsible global citizens who believe in themselves, and are proud of their own roots, regions and communities.”

During the meeting, Ms Sakura Ono, Senior Producer of NHK, was appointed as the new Vice-Chairperson replacing Mr Hitoshi Furukawa.

As well as the screening of programs and discussions, all the participants enjoyed three mini-workshops. The first highlighted good examples from five decades of the Prix Jeunesse International presented by Mr David Kleeman, Prix Jeunesse International Board Chairperson. The second was on ‘African Experience’ by Firdoze Bulbulia, Chairperson of the Children and Broadcasting Foundation for Africa (CBFA), while the third answered the question “What constitutes a good children’s program?’ by Dr Maya Goetz, Secretary General of Prix Jeunesse International.

Ms Chung said the benefit of the ABU Children’s Item Exchange was that by submitting a minimum of just four items, participants could take all the other items rights-free. She hoped the scheme would continue for many years to come.