Hallmark Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company started a partnership in May 1998 to launch the Kermit Channel in Asia and Latin America expected to launch in September 1998 with distribution handled by Hallmark Entertainment Network. This partnership had grown out of their co-production of
Gulliver’s Travels. In 1998, Kermit had extended a license for the Muppet to Wave, a Singapore-based licensing agent, for apparel, toys and games categories in Taiwan and the Philippines. On August 31, 1998, the channel had a soft launch in
Latin America and
Asia with a revolving three-hour schedule. The next day, the channel's first general manager, Betsy Bruce, was announced. The Henson Co. and Hallmark considered renaming the
Odyssey Channel to Kermit Channel. A full schedule was put into place on October 1, 1998. The channel was launched first in Taiwan in January 1999, followed by India, The channel was next rolled out in Indonesia. By December 1, 1999, the channel had six million subscribers earlier than projected by its business plan. The next markets the channel was planned to be launched in were
Singapore and
Malaysia, As part of the reorganization of the Hallmark Entertainment, programming on The Kermit Channel in Asia was transferred in November 2000 to the Hallmark Network. On Hallmark it would initially air as a six-hour-a-day block, but was later shortened to three hours a day. In November 2002, the Asian channel was shut down except in India. The Kermit Channel aired in
India, until December 2002. Kermit was shut down due to the decision of the Henson Company's owner, EM.TV. Hallmark Entertainment Network and Modi were in discussion to replace the channel with a joint venture family channel. ==Programming==