Nickelodeon launching in Poland

Kids channel Nickelodeon is launching in Poland. The channel, which is operated by Viacom’s MTV Networks International, will roll out at start-June.

The channel will target 2-to-12-year-olds with a mix of local content and existing Nick programming. It will be wholly owned by MTV.

Full details of the launch schedule are not available but hit shows including SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron, Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer and Drake and Josh will all feature. It will also air the Nick Kids’ Choice Awards. Nick also wants to buy local programming for the channel.

"We will produce and acquire some content locally and as we go along that mix and percentage changes and evolves," Bhavneet Singh, managing director and senior VP, Emerging Markets at MTVNI told TBIVision.

Nick will also launch a Polish-language website, which will have a video player that allows local kids to watch full episodes of shows that are on the channel. The channel will be run by existing MTV Networks Poland boss Izabella Wiley.

The company’s emerging markets unit is seen as a real growth engine as pay TV and advertising markets boom in these territories.

In the Middle East it rolled out MTV Arabia last November through a licensing deal with Tecom Investments, owner of the Arab Media Group. MTVNI and Tecom will rollout Nick Arabia later this year.