For Broadcast July 09, 2008

The big profits in kids TV come from licensing toys, games, books and anything else that will capture kids' attention and parents' wallets.

In 2007, it was a £2.1bn market in the UK alone for the 14-year-olds and under.

Traditionally, you could only get a big toymaker like Hasbro or Mattel on board if your show was broadcast on a terrestrial such as the BBC or ITV. For the most part, this is still the case, but Turner Networks' kids channel Boomerang has taken a step toward breaking the mould.

In a first for the broadcaster, it spent its own money - likely to be some thousands of pounds - to design and manufacture a range of products for live action comedy My Spy Family.

The show was developed for Granada Kids, but when ITV suspended kids shows, former Granada Kids boss Anne Brogan set up her own indie and developed it for Turner.

Building on the success of Turner's UK marketing and merchandising of its hit US show Ben 10 - a £7.7m toy brand which was the fastest growing property in the UK toy market last year - Turner created a spy gift set.

Normally, a show needs to prove itself on a big terrestrial channel before launching such products, such is the risk-adverse nature of licensees, but Turner short-circuited the process: the spy kits were on sale on a Turner website just three months after broadcast.

Turner's Alan Fenwick, vice-president of Cartoon Network Enterprises, told the Showcomotion Children's Media Conference that it produced 50,000 Spy Gift Sets. Now they're flying off online shelves, Turner has a powerful negotiating position with retailers and licensees for a larger "phase 2".

Given the difficulties facing children's TV, the My Spy Family model looks a good one. A bit risky upfront, but a bigger reward at the end.