The Belgian commercial broadcaster VMMa (Vlaamse Media Maatschappij) will launch its own kids channel to better compete with Ketnet from the public broadcaster VRT and with the Dutch version of Nickelodeon from MTV Networks.
The plan is to join forces with Jetix, the kids channel from The Walt Disney Company. Jetix has already been active in a number of European countries, including The Netherlands. The Dutch Jetix is available on some digital tiers in Belgium.
The new kids channel is slated for a launch sometime next year, probably around Easter, and will be part of the basic analogue and digital offer of Flemish cable operators. The VMMa already operates three channels, VTM, Kanaaltwee and youth & clips channel JIMtv.