The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that WDR mediagroup GmbH, a subsidiary of German broadcaster WDR, has signed on as a Presenting Partner for the International Emmy® Kids Awards, the stand-alone ceremony solely dedicated to recognizing excellence in children’s television programming produced and initially aired outside of the United States.

Over 300 international industry executives attended the inaugural ceremony which took place February 8th, 2013. The 2nd edition of The International Emmy Kids Awards is scheduled for February X, 2014 at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, in New York City. “Michael Loeb has been an active member of our organization and we are delighted that WDR mediagroup has chosen this premiere global platform to promote its kids line-up and notably WDR’s flagship educational show “The Show with the Mouse”, which has been on the air for over 40 years.” said Academy President & CEO Bruce L. Paisner.

„With its dedication to high quality children‘s television programming, The International Emmy Kids Awards are a premium brand, which we are happy to support for the years to come. We are looking forward to introduce international partners to our star and its show, which has been a success story on and off air in Germany for what are now several generations of fans.“ said WDR mediagroup CEO Michael Loeb.

The six kids Emmy categories presented at this event are: Kids: Preschool; Kids: Animation; Kids: Factual; Kids: Non-Scripted Entertainment; Kids: Series, and Kids: TV Movie/Mini-Series. Entries into the kids competition run concurrent with The International Emmy Awards competition which opens in December and closes in February. Rules and regulations can be found on the Academy’s website at http://www.iemmys.tv/awards_entry.aspx.

WDR mediagroup joins International Emmy® Kids Awards Presenting Partners: Shaw Rocket Fund, Hasbro Studios, SVT/DRTV, TV Kids and Ernst & Young.

Based in Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), WDR mediagroup is the first German Presenting Partner for The International Emmy® Kids Awards. NRW’s media authorities are longstanding partners of the Academy with a strong annual presence at the Academy’s November events.