KEY POINTS:
Media giant Walt Disney is developing local programming as it shores up Australasian operations against global rivals - Nickelodeon owned by Viacom and The Cartoon Network by Time Warner.
Disney channel worldwide president Rich Ross was in Auckland this week to talk to Sky Television, which runs two
Disney children's channels and is Disney's biggest local customer.
Ross is trying to get Sky to run two more Disney channels. He has also been in Australia, where he has dealt with dominant pay operator Foxtel and looked at development of programming streams such as Camp Rock The Tasman.
The show is a reality series adaptation of a Disney format that will see Australia and New Zealand compete to make a music video with the non-antipodean title Hasta La Vista.
The series is filmed in New Zealand and will screen early next year on the Disney channel in both countries.
Across the Tasman, Disney channels have also developed programming built around the successful High School Musical franchise, which releases its third feature next month.
And Ross - whose children's operation is a part of the television arm of Disney - says that, as well as localising global content, Disney aims to globalise local content and create new franchises.
Australia and New Zealand are small markets by global standards but they are English language territories, he says.
Children's television is expanding online and is being globalised.
Nickelodeon, which recently revealed it would be seeking local advertising for its children's games websites, has made overtures for more local content on its pay television shows.
Like Disney, Nickelodeon is trying to build local profile with material it can show in other territories.
Children's television markets on pay television are growing despite an increasing number of media outlets to take children away from television screens.
Parents routinely battle children to ensure they do homework rather than gaze at screens - television, computer, game consoles and now mobile phones with games content.
Ross says there is nothing new in that. When he was a child his mother drew criticism for allowing him to do his homework in front of the television.
"Doing that didn't turn out so bad for me," said Ross who oversees67 Disney channels around theworld.
Ross said about 600 million viewers in 100 countries were watching Disney children's channels.
Growth has been helped by Disney's decision to end its focus on premium channels to be included in basic packages that have much bigger audiences.
One of the world's strongest brands, Disney is fighting to maintain its lead over Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network with more aggressive content.
Sky Television chief executive John Fellet says Disney has a strong brand that appeals to parents as well as children.
Ross said Disney's gentler family oriented style was a part of the company's legacy which it sought to maintain. It was not interested in the nihilist themes of some children's entertainment.
Disney channels on pay television make up a big part of the division's revenue.
But Disney children's programming is part of an output deal that Television New Zealand secured last year.
There appear to be no signs that Disney may expand its footprint with TVNZ - which it secured recently for a big premium with a greater role on the free-to-air digital platform Freeview.
Freeview channel TVNZ 6 runs children's programming through much of the daytime schedule, but much of that is New Zealand or British-sourced.
Taxpayer-funded TVNZ 6 has no advertisements.
New Zealand On Air, which underpins most local children's programming, says it is far from certain TV3 will maintain its children's programming. That would leave TV2 and Freeview to dominate the free-to-air space.
What is not clear is whether that local content will be financed by big multinationals seeking to secure a local share.
Or, as children migrate to the racier content on pay television, whether taxpayers will be asked to stump up for programming on pay television the way they do for free-to-air.
