The kids TV entertainment landscape in Canada underwent a seismic shift in 2014 following Halifax-based DHX Media’s $170 million acquisition of Family Channel, Disney XD and the French and English Disney Junior channels from Bell Media. Helming the channels’ content strategy throughout the change has been Michael Goldsmith, now DHX Television’s director of original programming. In a 13-year career in TV production that has included stints at Teletoon and Nelvana, Goldsmith has witnessed the biz’s ongoing transformation. But now that the way kids watch TV is evolving as fast as what they watch – and with pick-and-pay potentially ahead – he and his team are rethinking what it means to entertain kids today.

What is your programming strategy for Family and the Disney channels?

The paradigm shift for us is to not always be thinking about “kids” programming – we’re just trying to make great shows that are appropriate for children. There’s a sameness that comes into play with kids programming – similar leads, treatment of parents and similar situations. We need to create safe programming, but we’re now asking producers, how can we create a different experience for that nine- or 10-year-old watching Family Channel? We’re also gearing up to license more shows for XD, because that’s an ad-based channel. We’re starting to create more Canadian content for that. We’re also still looking for [what] The Next Step did for Family Channel: what’s that event show for XD?

What are you looking for in those shows?

We need to think differently about how we make kids laugh and how we entertain kids. The Gaming Show (In My Parents’ Garage) is a really good example of us trying something new for XD. We found that gaming was a huge interest for the XD audience [so] we approached the producer [B-Minors, prodco Banger Films’ kids divison] and said, how do we make a show about gaming? What does that show look like, and how do we combine field segments with comedy and YouTube celebrities? I think we’ve ended up with something that’s really interesting and fun and new.

Which DHX channels have the most opportunity for new original programming?

XD is number one, Family is a close second, and Junior – we have a lot in that pipeline. It’s not that we don’t want to make shows for Junior, but XD is an ad-supported channel, it’s growing and so are the ratings. People think it’s a boy’s channel, but we have both boys and girls watching. There’s an opportunity to make new shows that complement the great animation and live action that Disney is giving us, but separate us from YTV and Teletoon.

How so?

Disney’s done a really good job with live-action and animated character-based comedy. Shows like Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls set the bar really high for animation, and we’re looking to build shows that would sit nicely beside those two shows. One way to look at it is [shows that are] inspired by Gravity Falls and The Simpsons – not all farts and burps. While that can work really well with kids, we can do things differently.

What do you like to hear in a pitch?

We look for a very basic story idea – how the show would play out over first season and second season. The most important thing is the character development. We have a very impressionable audience, so we want to make sure we’re entertaining them and helping them to dream. Good role models and interesting characters are really important to us, and so are good production partners. How do we make a show look as great as the shows being acquired?

What do you not want to be pitched any more of?

We’re not doing animation for Family Channel. On the XD side, the fantasy/boys action is a little lower on our list right now. We’re really focusing on comedy or serialized live action. We’re very happy to see more live action pitches for tweens. We’re not getting as many as I think we need and we’re trying to develop some ideas to bring them out into the production community.

This article originally appeared in Playback’s Winter 2014 issue