KT (TV channel)

KT (short for Kids' Television) was a free-to-air children's television channel owned by TVVC. It was launched on 19th April, 1999 replacing the pre-school programming block Tiny Vision, and aired everyday from 6:00a.m. to 8:00p.m. The channel aired a variety of programming aimed mostly at younger children, including original programming and acquired programming mostly from European sources.

The channel closed on 22nd June, 2008 following budget cuts TVVC was facing at the time.

Pre-launch
Before KT, TVVC had ran several programming strands on Vision 1. Including Saturday evening programming strand Bumper's Block from 1991 to 1997 and Tiny Vision from 1997 to 1999. In early 1999, it was announced that Tiny Vision would be discontinued in April that year in favour of a children's television channel that would replace it.

In 1998, Dominic Halls stepped down as executive for TVVC's Children's Department. He was replaced by Arnoud Teuling.

Early history: 1999-2004
KT officially launched at 6:00a.m. on 19th April, 1999. A majority of the channel's lineup at launch included both newer programming as well as reruns of programmes from Bumper's Block and Tiny Vision.

Later years: 2004-2008
On 9th August, 2004, KT changed its logo and branding.

Programming
According to KT's website, the channel targeted children between the ages of two and ten years old. Weekdays were generally focused on newer programming, whilst weekends mostly aired reruns of older programming from Bumper's Block and Tiny Vision.

Presentation
Presentation on KT was often achieved through in-vision continuity links. These were usually broadcast live with a few rare exceptions. These were filmed at the TVVC Media Centre in Reichetto, East Kuboia.

Presenters
In-vision continuity links were always hoated by at least one presenter, who would do things such as state what programme would be coming up next and read messages sent in from viewers. Presenters came and went frequently during the channel's run, with only Blade Holter remaining as a present for the entire nine year period.

Final presenters

 * Amy-Elizabeth (2006-2008)
 * Blade Holter (1999-2008)
 * Ericka Streets (2002-2008)
 * Mina van Trease (2000-2008)
 * Spy Fandel (2002-2008)

Former presenters

 * Dan Guseo (2004-2006)
 * Felix Olajide (1999-2004)
 * Helen Duplooy (2001-2005)
 * Lottie Whilton (1999-2001)
 * Naomi Karma (1999-2004)

Stand-in presenters
A few others acted as stand-in presenters in situations where a majority of the main presenters were unavailable.
 * Cassie Polister (March 2005)
 * Jimmy Berg (January 2008)

Puppet characters
KT had several puppet characters throughout its entire run. At launch, several stuffed toys of animals were seen in continuity links, and would occasionally make sound effects whilst the presenters were interacting with them.

In later years, puppet characters with more unique looking designs began to be used following the introduction of Blocky the Rock in 2002, Orange the Owl in 2003 and Ms. Tulip in 2004. Unlike the other puppets, Ms. Tulip and Orange had the ability to speak, and often had about three or four different voice actors playing them on a rotation basis. They were also operated through machinery in contrast to the previous generic animal characters.

Schedules

 * KT (TV channel)/March 2003