Kinderling kids’ radio

Fed up with endless repeats of the Frozen soundtrack? We’ve got good news: there’s a cool kids’ radio station that maps its program to your child’s day. By Emma Joyce

Evan Kaldor is the founder of a new kids’ and parenting radio station that launches this month. Like all good ideas, this one came from a conversation in the kitchen. “Our babysitter mentioned to me that there were no radio stations for kids,” he says. “At that time I was the general manager of FBi Radio, and I had a light-bulb moment.”

Around six months later, the father of two left his job at FBi and went to work on Kinderling, the first national radio station aimed at ages 0-6. The first move was to speak with midwives, focus groups and parents to find out what a typical family routine looked like, in order to frame their programming around that schedule. “What’s so powerful about radio is that it can be left on all day and it can be a companion, particularly for a parent who spends a lot of time by themselves with their children. We know how chaotic it is to get a family out of bed, fed and out of the door, so our early-morning programming is very active.”

Leaning on the work of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, who conducted a study in 2009 that time-mapped an infant’s day, Kinderling’s shows will complement the varying moods of a busy family home – from energetic music for the morning rush to the dulcet tones of the BBC show Sarah and Duck, slated for 6pm every evening. They’ve even got plans for wriggly little ones: “We’re excited about using radio as a way of sparking imagination so we’re doing pop quizzes, soundscapes, stories. We’ll play sounds and ask them to draw it.”

The new station is run by music nerds with experience from FBi to 2SER and 702, so expect the ambient sounds of Brian Eno to lull bubs to sleep, as well as the trusted rainbow coloured quartet. “Our playlist goes from the Wiggles to the White Stripes, Justine Clarke to Johnny Cash and Danny K to Daft Punk.” They promise to vet songs for bad words and never sell advertising that speaks directly to children. The station is in partnership with Southern Cross Austereo, which means that it’ll be possible to listen in all capital cities. Some content will be available to download and re-stream.

Music journo Barry Divola will be hosting a program called the Regression Sessions, talking about music from people’s childhoods, and chef-DJ-writer Andrew Levins will be presenting a weekend Kids in the Kitchen show. Mothercraft Nurse Christine Minogue will take calls from mums and dads during her 60-minute show called Baby Helpline. Kaldor tells us they’ll be incorporating kids’ voices too at Kinderling’s purpose-built studio in Stanmore. “Kids are a big part of our station, so you’ll hear kids telling jokes… We’re excited about having slightly older kids talking to a younger audience, too.”

Kinderling www.kinderling.com.au.