A recap of the kids’ media headlines from the last month, from pubcaster alliances to AI opportunities and the game-changing shifts at YouTube.
What’s Inside the August edition of ScreenMDM Kids/YA Digest:
- Commitment to Kids
- AI Engagement
- YouTube-First (Gets More Complicated)
- Who’s Buying What
- Summer Commissioning Update
- The Full 360
- ScreenMDM Kids/YA at MIPCOM & MIPJunior
Sign up for ScreenMDM Kids/YA here.
Commitment to Kids
BBC Children’s & Education and Australia’s ABC have formed an alliance to co-develop and co-produce high-quality children’s content. The pact for the Shared Horizons initiative builds upon a long-running partnership between the two public-service broadcasters. It establishes a framework to identify and develop high-quality projects, tapping into the strengths of the production infrastructure and creativity in each market. The partnership will focus on premium concepts and creator-driven projects that will resonate in the U.K. and Australia. It is open to scripted live-action drama and animation ideas for preschool audiences, 5 to 8, and 10-plus, with projects destined for both linear broadcast and streaming platforms.
BBC Children’s is also a partner in the Northern Star Project, with DR, NPO, NRK, and VRT, for live-action scripted projects for kids 7-plus.
Commenting on the alliance, Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC Children’s and Education, stated, “At its best, public service children’s content helps young audiences make sense of the world around them. Through Shared Horizons, the BBC and ABC will combine the creative talent of the U.K. and Australia to develop distinctive stories with global reach and discover the next generation of children’s characters and ideas.”
AI Engagement
Two prominent kids’ and family companies made major moves in the fast-developing AI ecosystem as everyone looks to engage with young audiences in new ways.
WildBrain has acquired Personality AI, an AI platform that creates kid-safe experiences where audiences can interact with their favorite characters. Last year, Amazon selected Personality AI to develop a generative AI platform for Amazon Kids+, resulting in Hey Peppa Pig, an interactive voice experience developed with Hasbro that lets kids talk with Peppa Pig through games and activities. Josh Scherba, president and CEO of WildBrain, said in announcing the cash and stock deal, “Our strategy at WildBrain is centered on building long-term value by activating IP on a global scale. As fan engagement continues to evolve, we believe interactive AI experiences represent an important new opportunity for brands to connect with audiences in meaningful ways. Personality AI enables more continuous interaction between fans and brands, strengthening our ability to deliver end-to-end franchise solutions to partners.”
Meanwhile, Brooklyn-based Hapiko, creator of Stickerbox, which allows kids to create their own stickers, is being acquired by Spin Master. Stickerbox uses Hapiko’s child-safe, AI-powered operating system that enables voice-to-image generation, allowing kids to print their own stickers to color and share. “We want to empower kids to bring their biggest ideas into the real world,” said Christina Miller, Spin Master’s CEO. “By pairing Hapiko’s platform with our track record of innovation, we can accelerate our vision for the future of play, giving kids access to fun, creative tools to design and bring their imaginations to life in new ways.”
YouTube-First (Gets More Complicated)
Creators worldwide are coming to grips with YouTube’s new monetization thresholds, a move that is unsettling an already unsettled kids’ media ecosystem. Monetizing on YouTube has been a challenge for years, and the new benchmarks make it that much harder to build a business there. With social media bans either in place already or coming soon—well, that’s another wrinkle for children’s media producers and distributors to have to contend with. We’ll be exploring this latest change in the obstacle course that is the children’s media business in our MIPCOM edition (more on that below).
Among this month’s digital-shift moves, Hasbro revealed it is launching a brand-new digital-first My Little Pony series exclusively on YouTube in early 2027, building on the legacy of the 40-plus-year-old brand.
The Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood YouTube channel, which launched earlier this year through a partnership between Fred Rogers Productions and Little Dot Studios, has added three new original videos as part of YouTube Kids’ new arts and culture content Takeover experience. Running through September 7, the Takeover experience brings museum experiences, space exploration, dinosaur studies, and history to young audiences with a range of exclusive videos.
Who’s Buying What
CosmoBlue Media licensed the TV and VOD rights to Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds slate of series for launch on its CosmoGO and Da Vinci platforms in Q4. Magic Light Pictures‘ brand-new Zog series, based on the books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler and distributed by BBC Studios, launched on ABC in Australia. The deal with BBC Studios covers a raft of other series, including Rafi the Wishing Wizard and Crookhaven. Once Upon a Time…, Stan & Gran, and Totally Spies!, among several other brands, have notched up deals for Banijay Kids & Family. The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) struck a worldwide distribution deal with Netflix for the action-adventure series Caper Crew.
Summer Commissioning Update
Much of the new commissioning news in this digest comes from Disney, which held its annual D23 fan event this month. Disney Jr. greenlit Megan and Cupcake Ready for Preschool, an extension of its popular Ready for Preschool shorts, from Riverstreet Productions, and renewed Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends for a seventh season from Marvel Studios in association with Atomic Cartoons. Making a move into anime, Disney Channel commissioned an adaptation based on the iconic Square Enix video game franchise Kingdom Hearts. Released in March 2002, the Kingdom Hearts video game series has shipped over 39 million units worldwide. Disney Channel is also partnering with creator-economy giant Dhar Mann Studios, ordering a 20-episode series. It also greenlit a further expansion of its hit Descendants franchise with Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story. Also in the live-action family space, CBBC and BBC iPlayer renewed Boat Rocker Studios’ The Next Step: Cheer for a second season.
The Full 360
Continuing to drive engagement on the Strawberry Shortcake IP, WildBrain kicked off a new year-long brand campaign during San Diego Comic-Con weekend. The year-long event includes new content, activities, and pet-inspired products, including an expansion of the Strawberry Shortcake pet accessories and clothing line in spring 2027. There’s also a new Instagram account delivering pet-themed content. Another classic brand marking a milestone anniversary, Maya the Bee scored a new collection of brooches, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets from the Polish jewelry brand By Dziubeka in a deal secured by DeAPlaneta Entertainment. Omens Studios is bolstering its stable of animated brands with new seasons, franchise extensions, and digital experiences, including an e-commerce storefront for Leo the Wildlife Ranger. The animated series The Fixies from Animotion Media Group is expanding its footprint in Asia with a brand-new live immersive stage show in China. And Mattel unveiled the UNO Championship Series, a live event for its classic card game UNO, with the final set to stream live on Twitch. Also in gaming, WEBTOON Entertainment, with a slate of YA-skewing IPs, made a strategic investment in South Korea’s RI Games, taking a 60% stake for $100 million.
ScreenMDM Kids/YA at MIPCOM & MIPJunior
- Print with Tier 1 Distribution (Palais, Croisette, Hotels) at MIPJunior & MIPCOM: YouTube Strategies / Meeting Pubcaster Needs / Tween Drama
- Digital Thought-Leadership Strand: We’ll be doing a series of MIPCOM-pegged interviews for our Gen A to Z strand.
- Plus, ScreenMDM Selects, ScreenMDM Hit List, pre-market dailies, and a hub for all of our MIPCOM and MIPJunior news.
Contact Mansha Daswani (editorial) or Kate Roach (advertising) for more information.
