Los Angeles - Some people - actually a whole lot of people - thought the idea just too bizarre to ever get off the ground: a TV service for babies. Not toddlers or tweens, babies up to three years old.
Now, as BabyFirstTV goes from crawl to run in the United States after less than a year on air, the service is hurtling into the global marketplace in a push that includes a clearance for the entire Middle East.
Following its launch last spring in the US on Dish Network and DirecTV, the baby channel went up last month in the United Kingdom on BSkyB's satellite platform as well as in Mexico with Sky Mexico and Cablevision Mexico and in Puerto Rico via Onelink.
In addition, BabyFirstTV has closed a distribution agreement with Showtime Arabia that will place the channel throughout "the entire Arab world", according to Sharon Rechter, BabyFirstTV's vice-president of business development and marketing.
Rechter says the hardest sell of all was the first - the US. "It was the toughest time because we were coming out with such a new concept in a leading world market. But we were able to finally convince the (cable/satellite) operators that we really do have a unique concept," she says.
So what is it about this new 0-3 demographic that has pay subscribers and advertisers sitting up and taking notice?
Rechter says it's mostly about the content, which has been very cleverly figured out by experts around the world.
Programming features original content including the upcoming Shushybye Baby and other programmes like Rainbow Horse, Sandman and I Can Sign that help parents better understand the developmental benefits for their baby.
"We are making early education fun and teaching babies about words and colour and music in an intriguing way," Rechter says. "And that's something that parents around the world are responding to."
The idea that TV is just plain bad for babies is still out there, admits Rechter, a recent first-time mom herself.
"Parents are embracing it in an amazing manner, and I receive hundreds of emails daily about how much they love it.
"But with the medical community - I think the more they are exposed to the uniqueness of BabyFirst, the more they and the child educators actually believe that watching TV with your child can be a beneficial experience." - Reuters