Chello and Zon team up for new kids channel Panda Biggs

Liberty Global’s Iberian content subsidiary Chello Multicanal and Portuguese pay TV provider Zon Multimédia have teamed up to establish a new channels joint venture, Dreamia, for Portugal and Portuguese speaking Africa.

The first channel to be created by Dreamia, which is owned 50/50 by Multicanal and Zon, will be a new kids channel called Panda Biggs, targeted at 8-to-14 year-olds.

The new channel will build on the legacy of Multicanal’s existing Panda channel (which will be included in the joint venture) and will feature animation, drama series and in-house productions with reports on music, sports and fashion, along with international acquisitions including Blue Dragon and Digimon Tamers.

The companies said that the channel’s output would include a significant percentage of local and in-house programming.

In addition to Panda Biggs, the new joint venture will include Panda, film channel Hollywood and Zon’s own general entertainment channel MOV, which will be available in SD and HD. Chello Multicanal will resell the channels in Portugal, while Zon will take on this role in Portuguese-speaking Africa.

The channels will be made available on a non-exclusive basis to all platforms.

Dreamia, based in Lisbon, will be headed by Zon Lusomundo Audiovisuais CEO Antunes João as chief executive, with Chello Multicanal managing director Eduardo Zulueta serving as chairman.