Magic Kids (TV channel)

Magic Kids
Magic Kids's last logo, used as of 2006
Launched	January 12, 1995
Closed	May 26, 2006
Network	Pramer
Owned by	Liberty Media
Slogan	"Algo grande para los chicos" (Something bigger for the kids)
Country	Argentina
Broadcast area	National
Headquarters	Ángel Carranza Nº 1700 (Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Sister channel(s)	Locomotion (2004-2005), The Big Channel

Magic Kids was a well known Argentine cable channel which aired cartoons, television series and anime series programs aimed at children and teenagers. The channel was founded on January 12, 1995 and defunct on May 24, 2006, because of financial issues and low ratings.

Widely regarded as one of the harbingers of a renewed interest for Japanese animation during the late 90s, at its height the network launched a variety of merchandise including, the Magic yo-yo, a brand of soft drinks, the Magic Cube and the monthly Magic Kids Magazine.

Its story begins in 1995, with an opening ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel that served as the presentation of what would become its 11 years on screen. The executive head was producer Jorge Contreras, a man whose extensive experience laid in television documentary and journalism, not in children's entertainment.

However, this inexperience could be overcome, because in those days, thanks to programs such as Power Rangers, X-Men and Spider-Man, the network became one of the highest-rated of all of Argentina's cable TV system. The idea was to rely on so-called "canned content" (term used in the television industry to refer to pre-produced content purchased as opposed to originally produced content, because it used to come in tins similar to motion pictures).

Moreover, the fact that it was targeted to a local market enabled it to quickly adapt to the tastes of its viewers, something that pan-regional signals could not keep up with.

Eventually Magic Kids began to produce original content, starting with the interactive game show A Jugar con Hugo, which premiered the year after the debut of the channel and stayed on practically until its closing,. Afterwards cameNivel X,a weekly show base around video-game culture, hosted by Lionel Campoy and Natalia Dim and El Club del Ánime, hosted at first by Leandro Oberto and later on by Mariela Carril.

In September 2001, the outbreak of a terrible economic crisis in Argentina greatly hurt the network. However, in the same month, it started to broadcast to all of Latin America, becoming a pan-regional channel. This brought about a problem, because Magic Kids held only local broadcasting rights to many of its most successful material. It was decided then to replace many of them with older programs that were more affordable, which alienated many long time viewers. In addition, it all but stopped broadcasting Japanese anime series and lost with that any trace of advantage over other channels. Magic Kids began to lose steam slowly. In early 2006, it ceased to produce its own series, and in May, the signal finally went off the air due to low ratings.