KidScreen conducted a poll of leading programmers and distributors of children’s television programming around the world. We asked them to identify their ‘The Dream Two-Hour Children’s Block.’ They had the pick of programming from around the world.

The dream block

1. Animaniacs, Warner Bros. Television Animation/ Amblin Entertainment

2. Goosebumps, Scholastic Productions/ Protocol Entertainment

3. Rugrats, Klasky Csupo/Nickelodeon

4. X-Men, Saban Entertainment

Other shows that scored high

Batman, Warner Bros. Television Animation

Dexter’s Laboratory, Cartoon Network Studios

Superman, Warner Bros. Television Animation

ReBoot, Alliance Entertainment/ Mainframe Entertainment

The Magic School, Bus Nelvana/ Scholastic Productions

The Simpsons, Gracie Films/20th Century Fox Television/Film Roman

Process

The ‘dream block’ was determined by a simple consensus. We specified that the target audience was children aged six to 11 years, and that the block would appear on whatever day of the week attracts the largest children’s audience. Once the results were in, the shows that were mentioned most often-

Our poll representatives

Animaniacs, Goosebumps, Rugrats and X-Men-made it to the top.

Tina McCann, vice president, programming for Turner Entertainment Networks International, U.K.

Rick Mischell, senior vice president, family entertainment for Live Entertainment, U.S.

Adrian Mills, creative head, children’s and youth programming for TVOntario, Canada

Danica Katz, director of programming for Fox Children’s Network, U.S.

David Patterson, president of Mediatoon, Canada

Roland Poindexter, director of programming and development for Fox Children’s Network, U.S.

Mark Lieber, senior vice president of domestic distribution for Saban Entertainment, U.S.

William Alexander, director of television sales for Alliance Releasing, Canada

Linda Simensky, director of programming for Cartoon Network, U.S.

Sander Schwartz, senior vice president, children’s programming for Columbia TriStar, U.S.

Emmanuelle Petry, sales director for Nelvana, France