PBS Kids Sprout to Launch Interactive Morning Show, "Sprout's Wiggly Waffle"

PBS Kids Sprout--a linear-TV, VOD and online children's programming service that is a joint venture between the eponymous pubcaster, Comcast, HIT Entertainment and Sesame Workshop (it claims that its VOD service has generated over half a billion views since its April, 2005 launch, and is the most popular service of its kind)--has announced plans to launch a three-hour interactive TV morning show called "Sprout's Wiggly Waffle," August 24th. The show, which will be hosted by Australian children's musical group, The Wiggles, will feature 10 new original Wiggles songs, the company says, alongside various interactive activities, and is designed to "celebrate mornings and get preschoolers up and moving for the day ahead." It will air weekdays from 6:00-9:00AM Eastern.

According to PBS Kids Sprout, "Sprout's Wiggly Waffle" will take place on "an oversized, fruit-covered waffle set where nooks and crannies are windows that open to songs, dances, skits and more," and will intersperse interactive and musical segments with such shows as "Play With Me Sesame," "Bob the Builder," and "Barney & Friends." The company says that the show's interactive segments will include:

• Wake Up Jeff: viewers will be invited to send in their ideas on how to wake up Jeff, the purple Wiggle who is famous for napping.
• Juice Box Pick: viewers will be invited to select their favorite music videos from Sprout shows on sproutonline.com and upload them into JB, a juice box character that operates as a jukebox. A new viewer pick will be featured on-air every day.
• The 5th Wiggle Game: parents will be invited to upload a photo of their preschooler at sproutonline.com to be animated in a dance video with the other four Wiggles. Viewer submissions will be chosen at random and shown on the air during a segment called "Today's Wiggle."
• Today's Topping: viewers' picks of "real and wacky" waffle toppings submitted via sproutonline.com will be chosen at random to rain down on the show's set while The Wiggles attempt to catch them.

The show's non-interactive elements include Dorothy's Daily Digest (in which Dorothy the Dinosaur will interview one of The Wiggles who is dressed up as a healthy breakfast food and who will provide viewers with "lots of healthy, nutritious facts"), Today's Giggle (in which The Wiggles will tell jokes and perform skits) and Captain Feathersword's Pirate Word of the Day (which will feature a "new pirate word every day from The Wiggles' favorite pirate friend"). "The Wiggles are legendary in the preschool world, and we're thrilled to be able to offer fans a chance to join their favorite entertainers every weekday morning by actually becoming a part of the show," Andrew Beecham, PBS Kids Sprout's SVP of programming, said in a prepared statement. "The Wiggles will be fully integrated into all three of Sprout's viewing platforms--on-air, online and on demand--and we can't wait to get started on introducing them to new audiences and continuing to build upon their already amazing presence in the preschool market." Added Paul Field, managing director of The Wiggles Pty Ltd: "The Wiggles are known throughout the world as fantastic preschool entertainers, but behind that is an early-childhood background. We know that children learn through play, and there's a really sound educational base to this fun, interactive new show. This is the first time that The Wiggles have done anything like this on television and we are all so excited to be joining Sprout exclusively in the US."