Studio 100



Studio 100 is a Belgian company that produces popular children's television series and owns 7 amusement parks and four musical ensembles.

History
Studio 100 was founded in 1996 by Gert Verhulst, Danny Verbiest, and Hans Bourlon. They came together in 1989, when the programme "Samson en Gert" (translated "Samson and Gert") was first produced.

Studio 100 started in 1996 with one programme, Samson en Gert. They immediately decided to create a new programme to be able to advertise themselves more. They chose Kabouter Plop (translated Gnome Plop). It has been broadcast on VTM since 1997.

In 1999, Studio 100 expanded significantly with four new projects, all launched in Flanders: a musical, a film, and two new television programmes. For both the musical and the film, Vtm was asked to provide financial support. In October of '99, Studio 100 and the Medialaan (formerly known as Vlaamse Media Maatschappij at the time, founded in 1987 as Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij by nine publishers each with an 11.1% share), announced that they would incorporate Meli-Park.

In 2000, Studio 100 took over the popular girl group K3 from Niels William. They had already been cooperating in merchandising sales before that.

Danny Verbiest announced in 2005 that he would no longer play the role of Samson in Samson en Gert and, shortly after, announced his departure from Studio 100. In the subsequent years, many new programmes were created, such as Piet Piraat (Piet Pirate), Mega Mindy, Spring and Het Huis Anubis (House of Anubis), and several others.

In 2007, Studio 100 started exporting some of its productions. Wir 3, (a carbon copy version of K3), was introduced in Germany and they charted there, although they have yet to achieve the same level of success as the originals. Fred & Samson, the French-language equivalent to Samson en Gert, was introduced on the French-speaking television network Club RTL in Wallonia and Brussels. Bumba, a programme about a clown intended for very young children, was sold to several other countries, including Canada and Israel.

In the same year, Studio 100 bought Flying Bark Productions, so they could create Master Raindrop.

In 2008, Studio 100 bought the rights of foreign 1970s TV-hits such as Germany's Die Biene Maja (German dub of Japanese anime series) and Sweden's Pippi Longstocking (still shown in the Netherlands). The next project is a digital radio-station devoted to its own acts. As quoted "Dutch-language children's songs only get so much airplay on regular stations".

Also in 2008, Studio 100 co-produced the educational game show Kerwhizz together with the CBeebies branch of the BBC. They also purchased EM.TV and the children's TV network Junior.

In 2016, Studio 100 established a partnership with Qatari-based beIN Media Group to launch an exclusive children's channel via the latter's beIN Channels Network service in the Middle East and North Africa, and provide the content. beIN's channel, beJunior, features the similar aesthetics and programming to Studio 100's own Junior channel.

In 2017, Studio 100 took a majority stake in German-based M4e.

Headquarters
The headquarters of Studio 100 are located in Schelle and Londerzeel. Studio 100 has access to the largest recording studios in all of Belgium. Frequently, big events are hosted there, such as the preselections for the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Dutch department of Studio 100 resides in the Mediapark in Hilversum.

Musical ensembles and artists

 * Samson en Gert (1989–present)
 * Kabouter Plop (1997–present)
 * K3 (1998–present)
 * The 6-teens (2001 - 2004)
 * Bo en Monica (2006 - 2007)
 * Pim Symoens (2007 - 2009)
 * Wir 3 (2007–present)
 * Dalton Sisters (2008 - 2010)
 * Free Souffriau (2009–present)
 * Niels Destadsbader (2009 - 2010)

Amusement parks

 * Holiday Park
 * Plopsa Coo
 * Plopsa Indoor Coevorden
 * Plopsa Indoor Hasselt
 * Plopsaland De Panne (aka: Meli-Park)
 * Mayaland Indoor
 * Plopsaqua

Websites

 * Official website of Studio 100 TV
 * Official website of The Netherlands
 * Official website in English
 * Official website in English