Al Jazeera Children's Channel (JCC)

JCC uses an edutainment strategy to entertain youth while building knowledge and skills through information and encouraging respect for diversity.

JCC is a free-to-air channel that broadcasts on Arabsat and Nilesat satellites to cover the Arab World, and HotBird to cover Europe. Dedicated to all Arabic-speaking communities, Al Jazeera Children's Channel aims to be an open window on different cultures of the world, promoting mutual understanding and sharing information between the children living inside the Arab World and outside. The Channel broadcasts in Arabic, using a level of language accessible for all its Arabic-speaking viewers, and adapted to a young audience. In January 2009, JCC launched a pre-school channel called "Baraem" (translated as "buds") to reach the age group of 3 to 6 years; click here to access the Baraem website. Since then, JCC's intended audience became 7 to 15 years old instead of 3 to 15 years old.

JCC works to produce: debate shows (allowing Arab tweens to express their opinion and communicate their thoughts); televised thematic magazines covering educational subjects such as science, technology, and sports; game shows; and animation and cartoon TV series. In addition, JCC contributes to co-productions along with other public mission children's channels around the world. As for the remaining 40% of its grid, JCC selects programmes from the international market. A sampling of JCC's televised offerings:

• Weekly debate shows:
  
  • Nadhra Ala... (A Look Onto) - a platform for young children to share and voice their interests, opinions, problems. and challenges. In each episode, together with a panel of experts, participants tackle a specific topic from various angles and levels.
  • Kallemni (Your Say) - Kallemni hosts one Arab child in each episode to share thoughts, personal insights, emotions, and feelings, in a two-way communication with the presenter.
• A 1-hour-long live interactive and informative offering is designed for young Arab children to highlight the latest events and happenings related directly to them. Organisers say: "In an informative and entertaining format, a group of vibrant presenters fully equipped with listening skills and a light sense of humour, enjoy a two-way communication with dedicated JCC viewers on topics that matter to them."




• Informative televised magazines - daily and weekly:
  
  • Duniamedia (Multimedia Magazine): A weekly interactive magazine introducing children to the latest in internet and information and communication technology (ICT). Duniamedia attends to Arab children's queries via the slot "Techno Service".
  • Tariq An-Najah (Dream Job): A weekly magazine designed to help children discover their career dreams and potential. In every episode, a participant spends 3 business days with an expert as a career test. Participants practically explore the essential ingredients and face the challenges of their dream profession.
  • Atfal Al Mahjar (Children of the Diaspora): A weekly magazine that sheds light on the circumstances and conditions of Arab children and families living in non-Arab countries. The magazine unveils the living conditions and challenges - both social and cultural - with discussions on community relations. The aim is to highlight the Arab family's role in safeguarding their children's native language and, in particular, their practiced faith and traditions.
  • Al Abtal (The Champions): Travels with 7 groups of student athletes, covering their cultural life and education.
  • Min Al Malaab (Sports Corner): A sports magazine.
• Informative and competitive game shows:
  
  • Ad-Darb (The Trail): an educational game show.
  • Sahat Al Founoun (You Can Do It): a game show that takes participants into many phases of creatively and artistically challenging competition.

In the light of its aim of providing supplementary source of learning, discovery, and creativity, JCC offers a range of multimedia and digital content through its interactive website. The bilingual website offers more than 200 hours of educational and entertaining broadcast material, as well as multimedia tools that enable members to upload their own content of images and videos and share them with children around the world.

Children, Youth.