This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RandomMe98 (talk | contribs) at 16:00, 14 January 2025 (←Created page with '{{Infobox television channel | name = Akili Kids! | logo = | logo_size = | branding = | country = Kenya | language = Swahili and English | founded = | founder = | motto = | market_share = | license_area = | area = Kenya | headquarters = Nairobi | former_names = | erp = | owner = Akili Network Ltd. | foundation = September 2019 |...'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 16:00, 14 January 2025 by RandomMe98 (talk | contribs) (←Created page with '{{Infobox television channel | name = Akili Kids! | logo = | logo_size = | branding = | country = Kenya | language = Swahili and English | founded = | founder = | motto = | market_share = | license_area = | area = Kenya | headquarters = Nairobi | former_names = | erp = | owner = Akili Network Ltd. | foundation = September 2019 |...')(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Television channel| Country | Kenya |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Kenya |
| Headquarters | Nairobi |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Swahili and English |
| Picture format | 576i SDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Akili Network Ltd. |
| History | |
| Launched | 31 March 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03-31) |
| Links | |
| Website | akilikids |
Akili Kids! is a Kenyan free-to-air children's television network owned by Akili Network. The channel is available for free on the basic subscriptions of every television operator in Kenya and broadcasts a variety of pre-school educational series aimed at children, the bulk of it coming from foreign sources, mainly British and American. The network is built on the model of PBS Kids, adjusted for the Kenyan reality.
History
At the time of launching, Kenya had a strong underage population of 20 million, yet local television was lacking in children's content. Only eight of the 137 channels broadcasting from within Kenya carry five hours of children's programming per week. This justified the creation of the Akili Kids! channel on 31 March 2020, led by Jesse Soleil, CEO of Akili Network.
Akili Kids launched in May 2020 with 500 half-hours of acquired content from the catalogues of Wildbrain, 9Story Entertainment, Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon (Nick Jr.) and others. The content seen on the channel has to be educational in nature out of concerns that cartoons are touted as "frivolous" by Kenyan parents. In addition to foreign content, African content such as the Tanzanian series Akili and Me is aired.
In June 2020, the channel made it to GOtv's service.
In December 2021, Akili Kids started airing Akili Fam!, a primetime block aimed at family audiences, on Fridays and Saturdays. The strand started airing Flash Squad in 2022, teaching concepts such as internet safety to teenage audiences.
For the playout, it employs the Playbox Neo Cloud2TV system, installed in both Nairobi and New York. The system had played more than one million video files as of June 2024, four years after launching. New York only gets larger content files, command and control and quality control.
In December 2022, the channel's parent company received an investment from the Rwanda Innovation Fund As of year-end 2022, Akili Kids! was the most-watched channel among households with children, ahead of leading commercial network Citizen TV.
References
- Finding the Right Channel
- La televisión como herramienta de desarrollo en África subsahariana
- Kenya's First Children's TV Channel - Akili Kids! Launches
- ^ Inside Kenya’s first free-to-air kids channel launch
- Akili Kids! TV Premieres New TV Show
- Akili Kids enjoys successful launch with Playbox
- Akili Kids! Handles Fast-Paced Schedule With PlayBox Neo
- The Rwanda Innovation Fund invests in Akili Network, disrupting Africa’s education sector through smart technology
- Akili Network Impact Study Report 2023
External links
- No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
 Media in Kenya | |
|---|---|
| Broadcast news divisions: | |
| National and International satellite channels | |
| Radio: |
|
| Newspapers and magazines: | |
| Media groups: |
|
| Government agencies: | |