Sprout goes Kapow with Zodiak Kids Studios

US kids cable channel Sprout has commissioned Kody Kapow, an animated superhero original from Zodiak Kids Studios.

The show is billed to launch on the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment channel in 2017, and will follow an aspiring martials arts superhero who spends the summer with his extended family in a small Chinese village.

Zodiak Kids, the children’s arm of Banijay Group, is coproducing the series with Sprout and Arc Productions, and will have international sales rights outside of the UK.

Robin Stein and Dan Franklin adapted Alexander Bar’s original creation for television. Zodiak Kids Studios’ Eryk Casemiro is executive producing, with Canada’s Arc providing the animation.

The news comes soon after Sprout founder and long-time president Sandy Wax left the channel, as it was grouped in with older-skewing cable channels such as E!, Oxygen and Bravo in the NBCUniversal Lifestyle Networks arm.

It also comes soon after Sprout debuted Floogals, which is another Zodiak Kids Studios-produced show.

“Over the past year, Sprout has doubled the amount of original series on our air, and that number steadily increases with the upcoming launch of Kody Kapow,” said Frances Berwick, president of lifestyle networks at NBCU Cable Entertainment.

“We know our new content is resonating with our audience – our recent launch of Floogals attracted new viewers to the network at a 30% increase in its first six weeks.”