AA new specialty channel, magazine and website targeting preschoolers and their parents is on the way from TVA.

The Montreal-based subsidiary of Quebecor Media said Thursday that its French-language Yoopa brand will debut this spring. The channel and magazine are set to launch on April 1. The website will go live on May 28, merging and rebranding existing online publications petitmonde.ca and espaceparents.ca.

TVA says Yoopa will fill what it sees as a gap in French-language preschool programming. The channel will launch with programming from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. with as many first-time French broadcasts in Canada as possible. Acquired series include Angelina Ballerina from HIT Entertainment, Waybuloo (RDF/Decode Enterprises), Blue’s Clues (Nickelodeon), LazyTown (LazyTown) and Pororo (Iconix/Moonscoop).

The channel will expand to a 24-hour schedule in the future and will work with independent producers on original productions, says TVA. In the meantime, its first original show — a live-action production with puppets, made in-house — will begin airing on June 1. A second in-house production is slated to debut in the fall which, together, will total 65 half-hours of original programming in the first year. Details on both shows are still under wraps.

From Kidscreen Online