Culture & Education | Monday 10 December, 2018 11:16 am |

National Geographic Kids Abu Dhabi, the first Arabic-language channel providing factual entertainment for children 7-13 years in the Middle East and the Arab world, celebrated its first-year anniversary today, following its hugely successful launch, which took place in 2017, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

On this occasion, in line with its mission to ignite curiosity and inspire exploration, science and adventure in the region’s future generations, and its commitment to support the UAE fulfill its space ambitions, National Geographic Kids Abu Dhabi has launched a unique competition enabling five students the opportunity to win a trip place at the Space Camp at the Kennedy Space Center.  The competition runs until Dec 23, 2018.

National Geographic Kids Abu Dhabi will offer students a unique education focused learning specializing in STEM and space exploration.  At the camp, future space explorers will learn what it is like to live and work in space. They will dive into missions such as Mars surface exploration, habitation operations and rover robotics. They will also visit the space shuttle Atlantis, tour areas of the Kennedy Space Center, and meet veteran astronauts.

In one short year, NGKAD, the latest initiative in the long-standing strategic partnership between Abu Dhabi Media and National Geographic, has proven its appeal and fulfilling a content gap in factual content. In less than 12 months, it shot to first place in factual content for 7-10 years old, ahead of long-established channels (Source: IPSOS TLM, 2018.) It also ranked 5th in factual genre amongst adults, reflecting the channel’s appeal to parents as well.  The channel’s YouTube reach and engagement has also surpassed all expectations, with rates tripling those of MENA benchmarks.

Under the motto of ‘Dare to Explore,” the channel brings a variety of factual entertainment to children in the region, providing educational and scientific programs within an entertainment format. These include a mixture of global shows such as ‘Super Genius’ which are fully dubbed in Arabic, and carefully selected for their ability to deliver stimulating and relevant content to children and empowering them to make it a better place.

The channel is also creating a number of original local productions. These kicked off with ‘Weird but True’, which was produced locally with young Arab presenters in 2018.

It will be followed by other local productions, including ‘Fil Sora,’ and ‘Young Survivors’ in 2019 and beyond.

National Geographic Kids is the first and only children's brand supported by a world-class scientific organization to inspire young adventurers to explore the world through award-winning content. The channel will provide children in the region with a reliable source of content and experiences to inspire and engage them in the world around them.