Kids Media Club Podcast: Recent Episodes

Jo Redfern & Andrew Williams

Kids Media Club Podcast is hosted by Jo Redfern and Andy Williams. Each episode they chat with a different guest about the world of Kids Media.

Jo and Emily are both away, so we’re revisiting two recent conversations that sit neatly together: one about the challenge of making original animated IP outside the Hollywood system, and one about the new frontier of creator-led cinema distribution.

First up is Matthieu Zeller, president and CEO of Belgium's nWave Studios and the team behind the Chicken Hare franchise — a case study in how a European studio can build original animated IP on a fraction of a US studio budget, through loyal distribution partners and a fully integrated model that keeps creative and commercial control under one roof. Then Caspar Nadaud of Piece of Magic Entertainment on what the Amazing Digital Circus and Iron Lung have revealed about cinema's new relationship with creator fandoms — and why the old gatekeeper model has given way to something far more collaborative and equal.

Both conversations are worth hearing in full — links to the original episodes are in the show notes.

Chickenhare

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/kids-media-club-podcast/id1573404550?i=1000777023112

Creator Cinema

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/kids-media-club-podcast/id1573404550?i=1000775115916

Andy and Jo are joined by Jason Tammemagi, Chief Creative Officer of Cartoon Saloon — the Oscar-nominated Irish studio behind The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and Wolfwalkers — for a conversation that is as much about the philosophy of making things as it is about the business of animation.

Jason traces a career that moved from animator to director to studio founder before landing at Cartoon Saloon, where his brief is essentially to support the creative vision of founders Tom Moore, Paul Young, and Nora Twomey while keeping one eye on strategy and market. The core of the conversation is about what it actually takes to protect brave storytelling inside a risk-averse industry — and Jason is clear that the danger doesn't only come from outside the studio. Fear, he argues, is the story killer, and it operates as much in internal notes as it does in broadcaster development meetings. The instinct to sand off anything uncomfortable or gray-area is precisely what makes safe stories unsafe.

There's also a genuinely interesting thread on Cartoon Saloon's identity as a Kilkenny studio — why its Irish cultural specificity turned out to be a strength rather than a limitation, how the Secret of Kells was an act of creative bravery at a time when the entire industry was pivoting hard to CGI, and why Kilkenny being small enough that everyone walks to work turns out to matter more than it might seem. Jason's closing observation — that the industry has always been good at learning the wrong lessons — is one worth sitting with.

We're revisiting one of our favourite conversations — Emily cornered Sydney Bright at Kids Screen after she got mobbed following her panel — dropped a card in the middle of the crowd, said "come on the podcast," and here we are. Sydney is Head of Global Animation at Webtoon, the world's leading digital comics platform with 145 million monthly active users, and her job is to identify titles from the platform ripe for adaptation and take them through to screen.

It's a genuinely different development model — one where audience investment is baked in before a single frame of animation is made. Sydney explains how Webtoon tracks not just read counts but comment engagement, retention, and emotional intensity of fan response as signals for adaptation potential. The conversation gets into what it actually takes to translate a webcomic into animation, how to honour a fanbase that feels genuine ownership of a property, and why that kind of proven, community-built IP is increasingly what streamers want to see walk through the door.

There's a lot of ground covered — Wattpad's role within the same parent company, the upcoming Lore Olympus series with Amazon Prime, the titles on Sydney's radar for the 6 to 16 demographic, and what her animation students at Loyola Marymount are watching right now, which turns out to be a surprisingly useful window into where the industry is heading next.

Emily has been banging on about Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness for years, so she's delighted to have a professional reason to do it again. Matthieu Zeller, president and CEO of Belgium's nWave Studios, joins Andy, Jo, and Emily to talk about the Chickenhare franchise, whose second instalment — Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog — is hitting cinemas now.

nWave is a 31-year-old studio with origins in stereoscopic 3D for IMAX and theme parks, and a track record of original animated features built on character-first storytelling, European financing, and budgets that are a fraction of what US studios spend. Matthieu is refreshingly direct about what that means: no massive battles or thousands-of-character set pieces, but a clarity of emotional storytelling that he argues can out-move the big studios when the script is right. The conversation gets into how nWave structures its financing through loyal European distribution partners, why constraints produce better creative work rather than worse, and why the mid-budget family animation that once anchored theatrical and DVD has been almost entirely forgotten by an industry fixated on franchises and streaming.

There's also a pointed argument running through the episode about who is actually underestimated in the room — and it's kids. Matthieu's view, backed up by test screenings, is that children handle sophisticated, layered storytelling far better than most adults in the industry give them credit for, and that the industry's tendency to dumb things down is both an insult and a missed opportunity. If you've ever wondered whether a good original family film can still get made outside the studio system, this episode is the answer.

A bonus episode timed ahead of Netflix's earnings call, with Andy and Jo putting questions to Emily as she and her team prep the next Netflix Kids Content Performance Report. The conversation starts with the Warner deal Netflix walked away from, and what that decision — clinical, unmathematical, uncharacteristically restrained — reveals about where Netflix thinks its gaps actually are.

From there it's into the data: second seasons not landing as hard, the hit-making machine feeling slightly less reliable, and the structural tension between binge-model engagement and the habit-forming retention Netflix is now chasing. Kids content, Emily argues, is central to solving that problem — it's the most habitually consumed content on any platform — which makes Netflix's growing investment in the space (YouTube creator acquisitions, the Playground gaming app, no ads on kids profiles even on the ad tier) start to look less opportunistic and more strategic.

The harder question the episode lands on is whether Netflix is actually in the business of building IP, or just exceptionally good at acquiring other people's. K-Pop Demon Hunters was lightning in a bottle — brilliant, defining, not a strategy. Emily's view is that Netflix's note is aggregation, not origination, and the Warner pursuit was less about content ambition and more about filling a catalogue gap they can't otherwise close.

Takeaways:

In this episode, we discussed the implications of Netflix's recent data drop on children's content and engagement metrics.
We examined how Netflix's shift from subscriber growth to engagement metrics reflects a significant corporate strategy adjustment.
The discussion highlighted the challenges Netflix faces with second seasons not performing as strongly as expected, raising concerns about content sustainability.
We noted the increasing competition among children's programming, particularly how established properties like Ms. Rachel are reshaping engagement on the platform.
The podcast emphasized Netflix's strategic positioning as a safe alternative to YouTube for children's content, focusing on curated and ad-free viewing experiences.
We explored the significance of Netflix's kids app and gaming offerings in enhancing viewer retention and engagement for younger audiences.

Links referenced in this episode:

kidsmediaclub.substack.com
youtube.com

Three guests on one episode — Oliver and Alvaro, co-founders of Telos Media and the team behind Solar Balls (half a billion views on the English channel alone, 2 billion across all languages), and Mary James, the Hollywood-experienced executive producer who bridges their digital-first world and the mainstream. Together they've just launched Run Monster Run, a new animated IP that hit 20 million views within two weeks of its pilot dropping on YouTube — and they're already fielding inbound interest from platforms.

The conversation covers the full playbook: how Solar Balls went from zero to 100,000 subscribers in 10 days and turned profitable within a month; why YouTube was chosen as the launch platform for Run Monster Run over a traditional pitch route; how Discord functions as a fandom hub that sits outside the algorithm; and how Alvaro manages fan engagement with a deliberately mysterious, Easter-egg-heavy approach that keeps communities theorising and proactive without burning through the IP's future potential. The team is refreshingly candid about what they're looking for in a platform partner — and equally clear that they don't need one to proceed.

The episode also gets into what makes Run Monster Run different from the current wave of independent animation: a deliberately broad, multigenerational emotional premise, complex lore built for long-term storytelling, and the creative discipline not to show everything at once. A team of 122 people, a theme song co-written by the creators of the Paw Patrol theme, and a shorts strategy designed to deepen character rather than just fill a feed. This one is worth watching closely.

Caspar Nadaud, founder of theatrical distribution company Piece of Magic Entertainment, joins Andy, Emily, and Jo to unpack exactly how The Amazing Digital Circus went from a YouTube finale to a global cinema event — and what it reveals about the new relationship between creators, fandoms, and the big screen. Piece of Magic handled European distribution and helped take the Glitch-produced finale to roughly $14 million across 38 markets, with the film's combined US, Canada, and European box office likely exceeding $50 million once Latin America and Asia are factored in.

Caspar walks through the mechanics in detail: why engagement, not follower count, is the real predictor of cinema success; why scarcity (limited cinemas, a tight release window) actually amplifies fandom rather than suppressing it; and why The Amazing Digital Circus's event-model release strategy — concentrating nearly all box office into one mobilised weekend — differed sharply from the slower, word-of-mouth build of Markiplier's Iron Lung. He's candid about the projects that didn't work, where huge YouTube numbers didn't translate to engaged, mobilisable audiences, and about how Piece of Magic is still learning to read which fandoms will actually show up.

The conversation also covers the changing power dynamic between distributors and creators — a genuine partnership model rather than the old gatekeeper relationship — and closes with a tease of Piece of Magic's next major announcement, plus a broader reflection on cinema's surprising post-pandemic resurgence, driven in large part by Gen Z's appetite for communal, dressed-up, FOMO-driven theatrical moments.

A crossover episode with Eric Calderon of Surviving Animation, recorded with Andy and Eric fresh off the ground in Annecy while Jo and Emily nurse their FOMO from home. It's the second collaboration between the two podcasts, and the energy carries that — equal parts industry analysis and genuine enthusiasm for the world's oldest animation festival, which Eric was attending for the first time in 14 years.

Eric's framing of Annecy as "the perfect picnic" runs through the whole conversation: a rare alignment of factors — a beautiful lake town, a film festival with genuinely pure independent roots, a market (MIFA) that hasn't been allowed to swallow the festival whole, and a decentralised structure that means choosing one screening means missing five others. The AI conversation gets a sharper edge than in other episodes: Eric describes a genuinely tribal atmosphere, where it's socially acceptable to be loudly anti-AI but considered "punching down" to push back the other way. Both Eric and Andy note the split between students nervous about junior roles disappearing and senior executives trying to figure out workflow integration, with a quieter middle ground that exists but speaks less loudly.

Anime emerges as the other dominant theme — not as a trend but as something Eric compares to hip-hop: permanently embedded in the culture, with everyone from the Tokyo government to a hitchhiking Czech animation collective to Warner Bros trying to find their way in. Eric's term for non-Japanese anime-influenced work, "cowboy anime," gets a real airing, alongside the Toei Animation producer's prediction that the future of anime won't be exclusively Japanese-made. There's also a sharp, important critique buried in the conversation: Eric's worry that Annecy is drifting toward becoming a B2C event dominated by corporate slate announcements, and his observation that the real energy and the real audience — the students lining up in the banlieue — are being overlooked by an industry fixated on the Imperial hotel crowd. The episode closes, fittingly, with Eric plugging his Flow-licensed merchandise line and everyone agreeing to make it to Annecy together in person next year.

Andy is calling in from Annecy — sunglasses on, rosé imminent, 45 minutes from his accommodation in 38-degree heat — while Jo and Emily hold the fort from home. It's a short, lively check-in from the world's oldest animation festival, and the main topic writing itself on every wall in town is AI.

Andy reports that the conversation around AI at Annecy has meaningfully shifted from previous years. The theoretical debate about what AI might mean for animation has largely given way to the practical reality of studios working out how to use it. Students remain understandably anxious about junior roles being squeezed — the very rung of the ladder they need to get started — while producers and execs are focused on workflow integration. Andy's prediction is that a distinct "AI animation" category will eventually become as meaningless as "CGI animation" did after Toy Story: it'll be everywhere, and it'll stop being a label.

There's also a quick and genuinely useful primer on how Annecy actually works — the Imperial, MIFA, the old town, the meetings by the lake, the producers dashing between venues who've badly underestimated the distances — for anyone who hasn't been and is thinking about going. Jo and Emily are already planning next year.

It's been a year since K-Pop Demon Hunters dropped on Netflix — quietly, in June 2025, without much fanfare, to a modest first week. The trio mark the anniversary with a look back at how the phenomenon actually unfolded, and a frank assessment of where the franchise goes from here.

Emily, Andy, and Jo piece together the real story of the IP's growth: the music videos Netflix pushed to YouTube that first weekend, the summer rewatches that let kids learn the dances, the back-to-school moment that supercharged playground currency, and the 300-plus fan-made Roblox experiences that confirmed something genuinely generational was happening. The consensus is that the slow-burn launch wasn't a failure of marketing — it may have been the making of it.

The harder conversation is about what comes next, with a sequel not arriving until 2029. Netflix has done impressive franchise work — Hasbro and Mattel deals, late night appearances, NFL halftime shows, an Oscar — but a year in, there's still no new story content. The trio have thoughts on what that gap needs, and aren't shy about sharing them.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

Netflix
Hasbro
Mattel

The band is back together — and Jo has news. She's joined Coolabi as SVP of Digital, with a brief that includes Warrior Cats: a book IP 74 volumes deep, a Roblox game at 730 million visits, a Tencent animation in production, and one of the most voracious fandoms in kids media. It's a good segue into the episode's main subject.

Amazing Digital Circus was supposed to have a four-day cinema run. It's now been extended to eight weeks, has outgrossed every independent animated movie in its window, and is cosplay screenings are selling out. The trio use it to pick up the thread from last week's creator movie conversation — but this time with a focus on what it means structurally. Creators who own their IP are coming into rooms with broadcasters and studios from a position of security rather than permission, and the entertainment industry is only beginning to reckon with what that shift means for how rights deals get structured.

The conversation also takes a sharp turn into social media regulation and what an under-16 ban would actually mean for the kind of co-created fandom that put Amazing Digital Circus in cinemas in the first place — Kane Parsons, after all, taught himself Blender on Discord at 14. It's the episode's most unresolved and most important thread, and one the podcast will clearly be returning to.

A hosts' hangout with Andy and Jo, prompted by a conversation that has been running hot across LinkedIn all week: creator-made films are pulling audiences into cinemas in a way that Hollywood studios haven't managed for years. Backrooms — made by 20-year-old Kane Parsons who taught himself Blender during Covid — and Obsession, made by Cory Barker for under a million dollars, are both seeing successive weeks of audience growth in theatres. The last film to do that was E.T.

The conversation goes beyond the hot takes to ask what's actually driving it. Andy and Jo's argument is that this isn't really about filmmaking — it's about trust, built slowly, over years of showing up for an audience before it ever made commercial sense to do so. The parasocial relationships these creators have with their fans are something no studio can manufacture, and the co-created lore around something like Backrooms means audiences don't just watch the film — they feel they made it. Mr. Beast is the useful counterexample: so big he's effectively become the kind of corporate entity his audience was rooting against.

The episode then pivots to what all of this might mean for kids and teens media specifically — from the structural problem of COPPA preventing younger audiences from participating in the kind of creative sandpits that made Backrooms possible, to whether Roblox game adaptations like 99 Nights in the Forest could replicate the Minecraft movie moment, to the genuinely exciting question of what happens when this generation of creators starts having kids of their own.

A hosts' deep dive with Andy and Jo, recorded in the middle of a British heatwave with Emily absent. Jo has spent the last six months tracking the top 50 sports games on Roblox daily, and this episode is her five-takeaway breakdown of what that data reveals about how teenage sports fandom actually works — and how far behind most sports organisations are in understanding it.

The headline finding is counterintuitive: official, licensed sport consistently underperforms unofficial, developer-originated games on Roblox. The NFL, Premier League, and FIFA all have a presence on the platform; none of them come close to games built from scratch by teenage developers who simply love their sport. Jo's argument is that this isn't just a platform quirk — it's a window into how this generation relates to fandom itself. Volleyball, driven by the anime series Haikyuu, is currently one of the biggest sports categories on Roblox despite being nowhere near football in real-world popularity. Almost every top-performing sports game, across every sport, has an anime aesthetic. And the primary game loop isn't playing the sport — it's hanging out, looking good, and being social with friends. The tribal rituals of going to a match are being replicated in digital space, just dressed differently.

The episode is essential listening for anyone in sports media, rights ownership, or brand strategy who is trying to understand where the next generation of fans is actually spending their time — and why turning up on Roblox with broadcast-mode thinking and a calendar of big events is precisely the wrong approach.

Halle Stanford has spent almost 30 years at the Jim Henson Company — executive producing Fraggle Rock, creating Sid the Science Kid — and has just launched Wowsabout, a new puppet preschool special on PBS Kids about a guitar-playing hedgehog and a tree-loving pig out to see the wows of the world. It's the first preschool show built around the emotion of awe, and it's already outperforming existing PBS Kids IP on YouTube within two weeks of release.

The conversation covers how Wowsabout got made — and it wasn't through a conventional commissioning deal. Halle built a coalition of mission-aligned partners, leaned into the science behind awe in a way that opened unexpected doors, and had to be, as the Jim Henson Company calls her, the queen of pivot at every turn. There's also a robust defence of puppetry as a medium — Halle has thoughts on the "puppets don't travel" orthodoxy, and they're worth hearing.

Emily cornered Sydney Bright at Kids Screen after she got mobbed following her panel — dropped a card in the middle of the crowd, said "come on the podcast," and here we are. Sydney is Head of Global Animation at WEBTOON, the world's leading digital comics platform with 145 million monthly active users, and her job is to identify titles from the platform ripe for adaptation and take them through to screen.

It's a genuinely different development model — one where audience investment is baked in before a single frame of animation is made. Sydney explains how WEBTOON tracks not just read counts but comment engagement, retention, and emotional intensity of fan response as signals for adaptation potential. The conversation gets into what it actually takes to translate a webcomic into animation, how to honour a fanbase that feels genuine ownership of a property, and why that kind of proven, community-built IP is increasingly what streamers want to see walk through the door.

There's a lot of ground covered — Wattpad's role within the same parent company, the upcoming Lore Olympus series with Amazon Prime, the titles on Sydney's radar for the 6 to 16 demographic, and what her animation students at Loyola Marymount are watching right now, which turns out to be a surprisingly useful window into where the industry is heading next.

A viral YouTube video calling Bluey's deal with the ABC "the shittest deal ever" has set Australian media alight — and sent Andy, Emily, and Jo straight to the recording button. The claim: zero dollars from Bluey's global success ever made it back to Australia. The reality, as the trio unpick it, is considerably more complicated.

This is a bonus episode that uses the viral moment as a jumping-off point for a much more interesting conversation: about what the ABC could realistically have done differently, why BBC Studios was able to turn Bluey into a global phenomenon when a public service broadcaster structurally couldn't, and what the whole debate exposes about the impossible tension at the heart of PSB commissioning everywhere.

The "zero dollars back to Australia" claim doesn't hold up — Moose Toys' Bluey toy deal alone drove an estimated $800 million into the Australian economy, and is itself a strong example of the entrepreneurial Aussie spirit the video claims is absent.
Hindsight makes Bluey look like an obvious bet — it wasn't — the deal was struck during a period of internal ABC disarray, at a moment when Disney+ was an enormous and unproven gamble. Nobody knew this would work.
The ABC keeping the rights wouldn't automatically have produced the same outcome — BBC Studios had a specific YouTube-first, global distribution strategy and the infrastructure to execute it. The ABC still geoblocks Bluey and doesn't have a meaningful franchise team.
Public service broadcasters are structurally constrained from thinking globally — their local taxpayer remit is both their purpose and their commercial ceiling, and that tension isn't going away.
You can't engineer a Bluey by trying to make a Bluey — the shelf space for behemoth kids IP is finite, cycles slowly, and the creators who break through are focused on making something good, not replicating something that already exists.

The second episode in the Kids Media Club's sponsored series with WildBrain Media Solutions brings in Emma Witkowski, WildBrain's VP of Media Solutions. The topic is one the podcast has been circling for a while: kids and family audiences have migrated to YouTube and FAST, but the advertising money largely hasn't followed — and the reasons are more structural than most people in the industry realise.

Emma unpacks why the standard programmatic buying infrastructure effectively locks advertisers out of Made for Kids environments, why COPPA compliance is being misread as a liability when it should be a selling point, and why Gen Alpha's influence on household purchasing decisions makes this audience far more commercially valuable than the ad market currently prices in.

It's a practical, clear-eyed conversation about how kids media gets funded, why that funding model is under pressure, and what a better approach looks like — essential listening for anyone working in or around kids content who needs to get their head around the ad landscape in 2026.

Key Takeaways:

Ad dollars haven't followed the audience because the buying infrastructure is broken for kids — major DSPs either block Made for Kids inventory or have it turned off by default, and most brands don't know why.
COPPA compliance is being misread as a barrier when it should be a selling point — Made for Kids environments are among the most brand-safe digital spaces available, but they're invisible to data-driven programmatic platforms.
Gen Alpha are the household CMO — 89% of parents say their kids influence travel decisions, 80% say kids influence where the family eats, and the influence extends to cars and subscriptions too.
Trust is the new currency in kids advertising — parents who grew up with the internet are becoming more intentional about ad environments, and structural compliance is winning over reactive compliance.

Episode Title:

This is a special compilation episode revisiting two of the Kids Media Club's most popular conversations on kids online safety — with Ashley Mady from Zigazoo and Chris Heatherly, former General Manager of Club Penguin at Disney. With regulation around kids social media still very much in flux, it felt like the right moment to bring these two perspectives together.

Ashley walks through how Zigazoo works — challenge-based, fully moderated, no bots, no personally identifiable information — and makes the case that safe social media for kids isn't an oxymoron, it's a design choice. The platform's hybrid AI and human moderation model, its age-gated content tiers, and its wishlist-to-parent email feature all point to what's possible when child wellbeing is built into the product from the ground up rather than bolted on afterwards. When TikTok faced its US ban and new users flooded in, existing Zigazoo kids told them how to behave — which is probably the most compelling endorsement of a platform's culture imaginable.

Chris brings the historical weight. Club Penguin at its peak had 200 million registered avatars and was, as he puts it, the biggest playground in the world — and his job was to keep it safe and keep it fun. The corporate story is a cautionary one: Disney's MBA-led strategy teams couldn't quantify the value of community, and the platform was eventually shut down despite fierce internal opposition. But the emotional legacy Chris describes — kids who found belonging and identity on Club Penguin that they couldn't find at school — is a reminder of what's genuinely at stake when these platforms get it right.

A bonus episode with Andy and Jo, fresh off the plane from Content Europe in Lisbon, where both were on panels and Jo was moderating. Emily is absent this week, so the two debrief on the themes that dominated the conference.

The defining question that ran through almost every session was deceptively simple: what even is a hit anymore? A show can hit 200 million YouTube views and still not be financially viable. That gap between attention and money, Andy and Jo agree, is not self-correcting — and without investment flowing back in on terms that make sense for kids content, the market risks stalling further. The advertising conversation is equally candid, with Jo pointing to WildBrain Media Solutions and Lumi as two companies actively trying to solve the COPPA problem by taking kids YouTube inventory out of the programmatic black box and selling it directly to advertisers.

Jo closes with the sharpest observation of the episode: that kids media has quietly allowed tech company measurement frameworks — 28-day windows, engagement metrics, short-term return expectations — to define success in a space that has never worked that way. You can't speed run fandom. Patient capital is the only kind that works in kids media, and the industry needs to say so louder.

Key Takeaways:

"What is a hit?" is now genuinely an open question — the old definition (big linear partner, west coast origin, strong ratings) no longer holds, and the panel at Content Europe couldn't agree on a replacement, which is itself telling.
Attention and revenue have been decoupled, and the industry hasn't yet found a reliable way to bridge them. 200 million YouTube views doesn't automatically translate to financial viability for the producers who made the content.
WildBrain and Lumi are testing a direct sales model for kids YouTube inventory — selling contextually against known IP rather than through programmatic systems, which offers advertisers brand safety and producers a better commercial deal.
Connected TV co-viewing changes the advertising calculus — when a child watches YouTube on the living room TV, a parent is often in the room. That audience is more valuable and more brand-safe than mobile-first viewing, and the industry is only beginning to price that in.
Platform native, not platform everywhere — the shift observed across multiple Lisbon panels is from spray-and-pray digital distribution to intentional, platform-specific strategy: YouTube as top of funnel, FAST as destination viewing, streaming partners for deeper engagement.
Tech company measurement frameworks don't fit kids media — 28-day Netflix windows, short-term engagement metrics, and VC-style return expectations are being applied to an industry where fandom takes years to build and IP value compounds over decades.
Patient capital is the only capital that works in kids — and the industry needs to make that case more deliberately to investors, rather than trying to fit kids IP into frameworks designed for SaaS companies or adult entertainment.
The swing back to curated, intentional viewing is good news for kids content — audiences paralysed by infinite choice are gravitating back towards scheduled, lean-back experiences, which plays to the strengths of well-programmed kids IP on FAST and connected TV platforms.

This episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast is part of a sponsored series produced in partnership with WildBrain Media Solutions. We get together with Kate Smith, EVP of Audience Engagement at WildBrain to talk about what constitutes a TV Network in 2026.

Within the industry the term "distribution" has evolved. Kate opens by sharing how WildBrain has pioneered its own Network, driven by TV viewing insights. The company has quietly become one of the dominant operators in kids' FAST channels and on YouTube, holding over 50% of all kids and family channels across major FAST platforms in the US and operating 800 YouTube channels.

We explore how YouTube and FAST serve different but complementary functions — YouTube as a discovery engine, FAST as a destination for fans who already know what they want — and why legacy IP with multigenerational appeal continues to drive the strongest long-form viewing numbers.

https://bit.ly/WBMSCapabilities

Episode Title: Netflix Playground: Is Netflix Building the Answer to YouTube Kids? — A Kids Media Club Bonus Episode

Episode Summary:

A short bonus episode with Andy and Emily Horgan, recorded to react to a significant announcement from Netflix that landed while Emily was on holiday — which she notes felt like being deliberately trolled. Netflix has launched the Netflix Playground app, a dedicated gaming environment aimed at preschoolers and young children, and Emily has thoughts.

The context matters here. Emily and her team published a Netflix gaming report back in December, identifying two structural problems with how Netflix games worked: first, users had to download games as separate apps and log in via their Netflix account rather than accessing them seamlessly within the platform; and second, kids games weren't available within kids profiles, creating an awkward tension between safety and discoverability. Shortly after publishing, the Netflix gaming team reached out to acknowledge the issues — and Playground is, in effect, their response.

The app is pitched at eight and under, though Emily reads it as skewing younger still. It's ad-free with no in-app purchases, and the integration with Netflix accounts is noticeably more seamless than what came before. The content mix is interesting: alongside expected IP like Peppa Pig and Sesame Street, there are a handful of Dr. Seuss titles, StoryBots (which Netflix owns outright), and — the pick that catches Emily's attention most — Bad Dinosaurs. She reads that inclusion as a signal that Netflix is thinking about underleveraged IP: shows that proved sticky and connected with audiences but were left as one-and-done, with all that demonstrated audience value sitting idle. The same announcement also included a renewal for Trash Truck, a soft preschool show with no new content since 2021 that has nonetheless been quietly hanging around in the Netflix data — the kind of quiet buoyancy, Emily argues, that deserves attention.

The bigger question the episode circles is whether Netflix Playground could become a genuine walled-garden alternative to YouTube Kids. Emily's instinct when she first saw the announcement was that this could be exactly that — a fully curated, safe digital environment for young children. At launch it's games only, with no video streaming, and the games themselves lean gentle: jigsaws, colouring, slow-paced play. Emily is genuinely on the fence about whether combining video and games in a single environment would be a good thing for that age group, and notes that parents she's spoken to tend to want a clear distinction between screen-time modes. But the underlying observation stands: YouTube Kids, for all its reach, is algorithmically curated and carries a lot of content that isn't exactly nutritious. If Netflix were to go further with Playground, there's a real gap it could fill.

The app launched in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand — but not Ireland, which Emily takes as a personal slight.

Key Takeaways:

Netflix Playground is a dedicated kids gaming app aimed at eight and under, ad-free and with no in-app purchases — a direct response to the discovery and safety problems Emily's team had identified and published in their Netflix gaming report.
The login and access experience is significantly more seamless than Netflix's previous gaming setup, which required separate app downloads and created friction for both parents and kids.
The IP selection is telling — Bad Dinosaurs and Trash Truck both signal that Netflix is paying attention to underleveraged content with proven audience buoyancy, rather than defaulting only to its biggest franchises.
Quiet persistence in viewing data is worth watching — Trash Truck has had no new content since 2021 yet continues to hang around in Netflix engagement numbers. Emily argues that this kind of staying power without activation is a meaningful signal.
The walled-garden question is the big one — Netflix Playground has the potential to position itself as a curated, safe alternative to YouTube Kids, but at launch it's games only, and whether video content follows remains to be seen.
Netflix's gaming momentum is deliberate and sustained — this isn't a one-off launch left to find its own level. The Playground app is the latest in a series of iterative moves that suggest gaming is a genuine strategic priority, not an experiment.
YouTube Kids has a quality problem that a well-executed Netflix alternative could exploit — algorithmic curation means content of variable quality gets through, and parents of young children are an audience actively looking for something more controlled and curated.

Episode Summary:

Jo is away in Lisbon for this episode, leaving Andy and Emily Horgan to kick things off with a discussion about a timely YouTube Culture and Trends report — Animation's New Wave: How Independent Online Animators Are Reshaping the Entertainment Industry — before bringing in a guest who feels almost like the report's cover star: indie animator and creator Emily Brundige of Strawberry Vampire.

The episode opens with Andy and Emily Horgan picking apart the YouTube report, which surveyed 614 animation fans aged 14 to 24 and found that the majority prefer watching indie animated series on YouTube over major studio output, and that over half watch animation content in languages other than their own. Emily Horgan is candid about the report's limitations — the sample size is modest, and the framing is clearly designed to serve YouTube's own commercial interests — but argues that the very fact YouTube has invested in packaging and publishing this data is itself meaningful. It signals that independent animation on the platform is something YouTube is actively trying to cultivate, not just observe. The Amazing Digital Circus is cited as the headline proof of concept.

The discussion quickly turns to two creators who are living the indie animation reality right now. Tiny Chef — the beloved stop-motion show that started as an indie project, got picked up by Nickelodeon, and was then cancelled in the fallout from the Paramount/Skydance gridlock — is highlighted as an instructive case study in building an ecosystem around a show. The viral cancellation clip that made it onto Good Morning America was the moment, but what mattered as much as the moment was the infrastructure already in place: the Instagram following, the merch website, the email list, the Fwiend Club membership community. Brand partnerships with Greggs and IKEA have since followed — a smart alignment of the chef IP with food and home brands — though Emily Horgan raises the very real challenge of knowing how to value those deals when you have no background in commercial negotiations and your back is against the wall.

The second half of the episode brings in Emily Brundige directly, joining from Little Toughy Studio for a check-in on Strawberry Vampire. When the pilot animatic launched last Halloween on a channel with just 2,000 subscribers, it got 60,000 views in 48 hours and has since passed 200,000. A passionate fandom has formed around a show that, at this point, consists of an animatic and a handful of shorts. Now, with a second Kickstarter running — this time with a larger goal so she can actually pay her collaborators properly — she's at 79% funded with six days to go. She describes the campaign as a tight basketball match she's still watching closely, but the response has already validated the core question she was testing: whether fans who love the IP would put their hand in their pocket to make more of it.

Emily Brundige is refreshingly open about the reality of being a one-person studio and one-person marketing operation simultaneously. The Substack she launched after her first appearance on the podcast now has over 1,000 readers, feeding back into her YouTube channel and building genuine two-way momentum. The Kickstarter rewards are thoughtfully designed — plushie keychains, pins, stickers, custom painted resin figures by animation industry heavyweights including Penn Ward, Patrick McHale, Lauren Faust, and Jorge Gutierrez — and she's offered ten backers the chance to appear as background characters in the animatic, a clever fandom participation play. The episode ends with Andy and Emily Horgan pledging $150 to get the Kids Media Club podcast a thank you in the credits.

Running through the whole conversation is a broader point about what quality means in independent animation. Both Emilys and Andy observe that audiences — particularly the 14-to-24 demographic YouTube is courting — are perfectly happy watching animatics if the characters and story resonate. The definition of production quality is shifting, and authenticity and community are increasingly the things that build lasting audiences, not polish.

Support Emily Brundige's Strawberry Vampire Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strawberryvampire/strawberry-vampire-help-us-make-the-next-episode

Key Takeaways:

YouTube's indie animation report is as much a strategic signal as a data release — the platform is actively trying to cultivate independent animation as a category, and the report is a way of giving that ecosystem legitimacy and visibility.
The 14-to-24 demographic is driving indie animation — YouTube's data points to this age group as the primary audience, and notably the report focuses entirely on them rather than the under-13s. The kids designation remains commercially and regulatorily thorny for creators on the platform.
Tiny Chef's story shows that infrastructure matters as much as the viral moment — the cancellation clip went massively viral, but the email list, merch site, and community membership already in place meant they could convert that attention into sustainable support.
Brand partnerships are a viable revenue lever for indie creators, but knowing how to value them without commercial experience is a real challenge that the industry hasn't yet solved for independent producers.
Crowdfunding works best when the audience is built before the campaign launches — Emily Brundige's advice is to start collecting emails well in advance of a Kickstarter, giving fans notice and building a list of people who have already signalled they'll support the project.
Building in public creates authenticity and fandom — sharing the process of making a show from the animatic stage outward turns production transparency into a community-building tool, and audiences respond to that inclusion.
Quality is being redefined by independent animation — audiences who love a show's characters and story will watch animatics, shorts, and work-in-progress content. Full production polish is no longer a prerequisite for building a devoted following.
Creative freedom is one of indie animation's most underrated advantages — Emily Brundige contrasts over a decade in traditional studios, where creators have no say over merch or IP decisions, with the indie model where she can commission a comic, make merch decisions, and shape the universe entirely on her own terms.
The ecosystem around an IP matters as much as the IP itself — Substack, YouTube, email lists, Kickstarter, merch, and brand partnerships are all parts of the same machine, and indie creators who build across all of them have multiple ways to sustain their work.

Links referenced in this episode:

kidsmediaclubpodcast.com

This episode, sponsored by Innov8 Creative Academy and Deddy Bears, sees Andy and Emily joined by two guests who met through a thoroughly Irish chain of mutual acquaintances and ended up building something genuinely unusual together. Gavin Lawler is the founder of Innov8 Creative Academy — a toy inventor and entrepreneur with over 250 IPs in his portfolio and a background that includes the Irish Fairy Door Company. Chris Dicker is a kids media showrunner and creator with a long career in the industry, including time at Jam Media. They're currently collaborating on Deddy Bears: a creepy-cute collectible toy brand that has sold over 10 million units in under three years and is now moving into content, with a YouTube series in production and a feature film in development.

Gavin opens by telling the story of the Irish Fairy Door Company — half a million units sold at twenty pounds each in Ireland, a business that worked brilliantly at home but struggled to translate internationally because the Irishness was too specific and the product too niche. The lesson he took from it was the need to design for a global audience from the outset. Since then, Innov8 Creative Academy has built a reputation as a rapid trend-identification and commercialisation machine — the Six7 plush is cited as an example of a product that went from a six-hour design turnaround to hundreds of thousands of units sold in a matter of weeks. The model is built on firing small bullets: get to market fast and cheaply, test sell-through, and only scale what lands.

Deddy Bears emerged from a 36-hour design sprint for a Walmart Canada Halloween brief. The buyer initially chose a different product, but when that proved too complex to execute, Deddy Bears got the slot by default — and promptly achieved 86% sell-through in its first season, opening doors to major retailers across 50 countries. The bears come in coffins with death certificates, each character has a backstory ranging from ancient Egypt to the modern day, and the whole thing sits in that now-familiar cultural territory occupied by Wednesday Addams, Stranger Things, and Five Nights at Freddy's: once-alternative content that has been thoroughly normalised for family audiences and is, as Gavin puts it bluntly, extracting cash from people's pockets.

The conversation that forms the heart of the episode is about what happens when these two worlds — fast-cycle toy invention and long-form IP development — collide. Chris describes arriving into a brand that already had a fandom and realising his first job was simply to listen: to go to New York Toy Fair, watch the fans and influencers, understand who was actually buying the bears and why, before writing a single word. What he found surprised him — a remarkably wide demographic ranging from children collecting blind bags to 20-something women forming deep emotional attachments to the characters, caring about packaging, wanting to know the lore. The Giphy page Gavin's wife Aoife created as a half-joke hit 10 million shares within weeks of launch, including a front-page feature on April Fool's Day, and neither Gavin nor Chris fully saw it coming.

There's a genuinely interesting structural argument running through the episode about the relationship between content and IP. Chris's view — shaped by coming into a brand that already had proven market demand — is that content doesn't always have to carry all the weight; sometimes it exists to support IP rather than create it. Gavin's perspective is that the toy market has always needed to fire small bullets and test quickly, and that traditional media could learn from this rather than committing millions upfront in the hope that an audience materialises. Both agree that character, not plot, is the fundamental unit of connection — plot matters the first time, but audiences return to hang out with characters they love.

The episode ends with a look at what's next: the YouTube series launches this summer, studio conversations for the feature film are underway in LA, and Gavin makes the point that the priority now isn't a money grab — the IP is already selling — but finding the right partners who respect and bring along the fandom that already exists.

Key Takeaways:

Irish Fairy Door Company's international struggles taught Gavin a key lesson: a product built on cultural specificity needs to offer something universally resonant underneath, and Irishness alone isn't enough to drive global commercial scale.
Rapid trend identification and small-bullet commercialisation is a replicable model: Innov8 Creative Academy's approach — spot a trend early, design fast, test at retail, scale only what sells — offers a very different risk profile to traditional IP development.
Deddy Bears succeeded almost by accident, getting its Walmart listing by default when a more complex design proved undeliverable, but the 86% sell-through in season one validated the concept and opened up major global retail partnerships.
The "creepy-cute" category is now mainstream, not alternative — Stranger Things, Wednesday Addams, and Five Nights at Freddy's have normalised it for family audiences, and there is clear commercial appetite that the kids media industry hasn't fully caught up with yet.
Content doesn't always have to come first — Chris's argument is that in IP terms, content should sometimes support and amplify an existing fandom rather than being the thing that creates it. The audience for Deddy Bears existed before a single frame of animation was made.
Character is the fundamental unit of connection, not plot. Audiences return to hang out with characters they love; plot is only new once. Both Gavin and Chris build from this principle outward.
Listening to fandom before creating content is essential — Chris spent months observing the Deddy Bears audience before writing anything, recognising that those fans were there before him and that the content has to bring them along, not override them.
Existing fandom is a golden ticket and a responsibility — the Deddy Bears Giphy page hitting 10 million shares weeks after launch (including front-page on April Fool's Day) is proof of concept, and both Gavin and Chris are focused on choosing partners who understand and respect the community that's already there.
Traditional media has something to learn from the toy inventor's model — as producers take on more financial risk in a world with fewer broadcast partners willing to fund development, the ability to test cheaply, fail fast, and scale only proven concepts becomes increasingly relevant.
The consumers want to hang out with their characters — Gavin's insight, crystallised by working with Chris, is that the emotional hook of a toy and the emotional hook of a TV character are essentially the same thing, and the two industries are more aligned than either has historically recognised.

Links referenced in this episode:

InnovateCreativeAcademy
TeddyBears
DeaddyBears
IrishFairyDoorCompany

Companies mentioned in this episode:

Innovate Creative Academy
Teddy Bears
Deaddy Bears
Irish Fairy Door Company
Kardashians
Jam Media
Stranger Things
Disney
Pokémon
Five Nights at Freddy's
Wednesday Addams
Walmart
Target
Smiths
5 Below
Amazon

With Emily otherwise occupied, this episode is a hosts' hangout — just Andy and Jo, with a car pickup deadline providing a natural time limit. The conversation covers three topics: the appointment of the BBC's new Director General, the news that YouTube kids show Danny Go has been picked up by Netflix, and some cautious optimism about original IP at the box office.

The BBC discussion centres on what the hiring of Matt Britton — who comes from a background in big tech and spent a significant stretch at Google — signals about the direction of travel for the corporation. Andy and Jo read it as a confirmation of the shift from a channel-first to a platform-first BBC, a move already evidenced by the recently announced partnership with YouTube, under which BBC Children's is launching seven new channels to reach younger, social-video-first audiences. The appointment of someone steeped in data, global distribution, and commercial scale feels deliberate. The hope is that Britton brings a more aggressive commercial mindset to BBC Studios — the revenue-generating arm that has historically played second fiddle to the UK public service operation — and that the BBC uses its considerable global brand equity before it erodes further. In an era of AI-generated content proliferation, trusted, quality brands matter more than ever, and the BBC's international reputation is still a real asset, particularly in the kids space.

The Danny Go segment is full of enthusiasm. The YouTube-native kids show — music-led, high energy, and genuinely well-produced in a way Jo compares to the Wiggles — has just been picked up by Netflix, and Andy argues it could give Ms. Rachel a run for her money once it lands on the platform. The broader point the conversation develops is about the YouTube-to-Netflix pipeline and what it now represents. YouTube functions as an incubation layer — a place where creators build audiences, make their mistakes, and prove their concept — before Netflix swoops in once the risk has been de-risked. Crucially, the exclusivity model that Netflix once insisted on seems to have softened: like Ms. Rachel, Danny Go is expected to remain on YouTube alongside its Netflix presence. Andy frames the Netflix pickup as something like peer review, or the moment an online-only brand gets stocked in a major department store — it confers credibility and marks a kind of graduation. The caveat is that Danny Go has been building since 2019, which leads to a broader point about fandom: you simply cannot speed run it. The Savannah Bananas are cited alongside Baller League as parallel examples of IPs that have taken seven or eight years of patient building before distribution deals and mainstream attention arrived.

The episode closes on a note of measured optimism about original IP. Hoppers for Pixar and Disney and Project Hail Mary both get name-checked as encouraging signs that audiences haven't entirely given up on new ideas — that the franchise-only approach, while understandable from a risk management perspective, isn't the only game in town. The hope is that commissioning budgets eventually follow the same signal.

Key Takeaways:

The BBC's appointment of a Director General from a big tech background signals a deliberate shift towards a platform-first, data-literate, globally-minded BBC — one that is more willing to treat distribution partnerships with the likes of YouTube as opportunity rather than threat.
BBC Studios and the BBC's global brand equity should be leveraged now, before that value erodes — the trust premium on quality, branded content is growing in an era of AI-generated content proliferation, and the BBC is well placed to capitalise on it internationally.
YouTube is functioning as Netflix's R&D department for kids content — Netflix is letting creators build and prove their audiences on YouTube, then acquiring those that break through, rather than taking the development risk itself.
The exclusivity model appears to have changed — both Ms. Rachel and Danny Go suggest Netflix is now comfortable with creators maintaining their YouTube presence alongside a Netflix deal, recognising that the audience was built there and can't simply be relocated.
A Netflix pickup now carries a credibility signal — landing on Netflix after building on YouTube functions like moving from a direct-to-consumer website into a major bricks-and-mortar retailer, conferring legitimacy and reach.
You cannot speed run fandom — Danny Go has been building since 2019, the Savannah Bananas since 2019, Baller League for over two years. The IPs that are now doing distribution deals have typically been at it for seven or eight years. Patient, consistent building is the pattern, not overnight success.
Original IP is showing signs of life at the box office — Project Hail Mary's strong hold into its second weekend, alongside Hoppers and K Pop Demon Hunters, suggests audience appetite for new stories hasn't been extinguished by the franchise era, even if the studio system hasn't fully caught up with that yet.
Commissioning investment into quality kids content remains under pressure, and the concern is that the YouTube-to-Netflix pipeline, while exciting, doesn't fully substitute for a healthy commissioning ecosystem that takes risks on original ideas from the outset.

This is a short, unplanned emergency episode — Andy, Jo, and Emily jumping on a three-way call in real time to react to a double dose of seismic industry news landing in the same day. First came the announcement that World Screen (and its TV Kids publication) would be ceasing to publish. Then, as the episode was being recorded, the news dropped that the Kids Screen Summit would not be returning in 2027, with parent company Brunico Communications confirming it is discontinuing its entire US events portfolio — Kids Screen, Realscreen, and NATPE among them. Jocelyn Christie, who has long been the face of Kids Screen, is also departing.

The trio don't dress it up. Kids Screen Summit has been, as the official announcement itself acknowledges, the heartbeat of the international kids content community for 30 years — the event that defined careers, brokered relationships, and gave the industry its annual gathering point. Its loss, coming alongside World Screen's closure, feels like more than a coincidence of bad timing.

The conversation quickly moves to the why. Andy notes that the most recent Kids Screen Summit was noticeably down on attendance, raising real questions about whether the numbers could ever add up again. Jo and Emily point to the structural shifts underneath: the kids media industry is under sustained pressure across funding, distribution, and monetisation, and the traditional event model — built around large corporate delegations from major broadcasters like Disney who could absorb the cost of sending whole departments — no longer reflects the reality of who is actually in the room. With fewer buyers, a more fragmented landscape, and individual attendees increasingly having to justify the expense themselves, the value proposition has fundamentally changed.

There's a broader point made about what these events were actually for, and whether that purpose still exists. Andy frames it neatly: these conferences were built around the gravitational pull of the big broadcasters, and when that gravitational force weakens, everything orbiting around it drifts. Emily raises the comparison with World Screen's TV Kids online summits, which have continued to attract strong speakers without requiring anyone to get on a plane — a model that perhaps points to where things are heading.

The episode ends on a note that's equal parts rueful and forward-looking, with Jo floating the idea that the Kids Media Club itself might have a role to play in filling some of the vacuum being left behind.

Key Takeaways:

Kids Screen Summit will not return in 2027, with Brunico Communications discontinuing its full US events portfolio — a significant moment for an event that has been central to the kids content industry for three decades.
World Screen and TV Kids have also ceased publishing, meaning the industry has lost two major institutional pillars in a single day.
Declining attendance was already a warning sign — the most recent Kids Screen was visibly down on numbers, raising questions about sustainability that have now been answered.
The traditional event model was built for a different industry — when major broadcasters could fund large corporate delegations, the economics worked. With fewer buyers and more individual attendees justifying costs themselves, the model has become increasingly difficult to sustain.
This is symptomatic of deeper industry-wide pressure — the loss of these events reflects the same structural stresses around funding, distribution, and monetisation that have been reshaping kids media more broadly.
The gravitational pull of the big broadcasters is weakening — and the conferences, markets, and publications that were built around that pull are feeling it acutely.
Online events may point to a more viable model — the TV Kids online summits are cited as an example of strong programming delivered without the barrier of travel costs and logistics.
A vacuum is forming, and the question of what — or who — fills it is now very much open.

This bonus episode takes a different format, with Emily reporting live from the Animation Dingle Festival in County Kerry, Ireland. Rather than a single guest, the episode brings together three separate conversations captured across the festival weekend: an interview with co-founder and festival director Maurice Galway, a chat with veteran screenwriter and director Karey Kirkpatrick, and a conversation with Ailbhe Fearon and Muireann Mulvihill, the two recent graduates who swept the festival's Animation Awards with their short film Anam.

Maurice sets the scene by explaining what makes Animation Dingle distinct from the industry's typical market-driven events. Now approaching its 15th year, the festival deliberately caps attendance at 750 and keeps its split exactly 50/50 between students and professionals — a structural choice that keeps the focus squarely on education and mentorship rather than deal-making. Maurice talks through several initiatives designed to lower the intimidation barrier for students, including the "Pitch and a Pint" session where students pitch directly to executives from broadcasters and streamers, a new confessional-style format for sharing ideas too wild or half-formed for a public pitch, and a "Tell Your Untold Story" stage coaching session. A theme Maurice returns to is the two-way nature of the inspiration: professionals arrive to give, and consistently leave having received something themselves from the energy and enthusiasm in the room.

Karey Kirkpatrick brings a sharp perspective on the state of the industry, drawing on a long career that includes work with Aardman and multiple original features. The central argument she makes is that the entertainment industry has become so risk-averse — particularly as studios answer to shareholders rather than creative leads — that the idea of a "sure thing" has taken over, even though it doesn't really exist. She uses K Pop Demon Hunters as a case study in how a genuinely original, unconventional idea can catch fire when it's given the right platform and timing, but notes that the same idea would likely have been passed over repeatedly in a pitch room. The conversation turns to what this means for emerging creators, and Karey's advice is clear and practical: don't wait to be discovered through a pitch, make things. Streamers in particular, she argues, are increasingly behaving like distribution platforms rather than development partners — meaning the work needs to demonstrate proof of concept before it reaches them, not after. Her summary advice to students is to build the craft fundamentals so that when a door opens, they can handle the pressure that comes with it.

The episode closes with Ailbhe Fearon and Muireann Mulvihill, whose Irish-language short Anam — meaning "soul" — won seven awards at the festival, including the overall Student Animation Award. The film, about an old man and a young boy on the Aran Island of Inis Oírr, grew out of a two-week research residency on the island and draws on the philosophy of John O'Donohue and the concept of the inner child. Their commitment to making the film in Irish — not translating an English script but constructing it in the language from the ground up, down to getting the specific Inis Oírr dialect right — gives the conversation a quietly profound dimension. They also share the story of reaching out to musician Brian McGlynn (of New Vagabond) after listening to his album on repeat throughout their residency, and his score going on to win its own award at the festival. Both are newly graduated and keen to stay in the Irish animation space.

Key Takeaways:

Animation Dingle is deliberately not a market — the 50/50 student-to-professional split and the cap of 750 attendees are design choices that protect the festival's educational culture and make it distinct from every other industry gathering.
Lowering the stakes unlocks participation — the confessional-style pitch format and the "Tell Your Untold Story" session are thoughtful responses to listening to what students actually need, recognising that not everyone thrives in a high-pressure public pitch environment.
Inspiration runs both ways — professionals who come to give frequently report leaving re-energised by students' creativity and enthusiasm, something Maurice says has become one of the festival's unexpected gifts.
There is no such thing as a sure thing in entertainment — Karey Kirkpatrick's core argument is that the attempt to science-ify creative risk is both futile and damaging, and that some of the industry's biggest successes (K Pop Demon Hunters, Anora) would have struggled to get made under current risk frameworks.
Fear is driving creative conservatism at the executive level — the pressure of reporting to shareholders rather than creative stakeholders means executives default to "defensible" choices over bold ones, which is hurting original IP across the board.
Streamers are becoming distributors, not developers — Karey's observation that streamers want work that's already beyond the idea phase, already executed with some competence, has significant implications for how emerging creators should be thinking about building their careers.
For students entering the industry: make things, build FOMO — the practical advice from Karey is to create a body of work that generates a sense of momentum and demand, rather than waiting for a pitch to land. Proof of engagement is now more valuable than a great pitch alone.
The Irish language is a storytelling asset, not just a box to tick — Ailbhe Fearon and Mulreann's insistence on making Anam in Irish rather than dubbing it, and their careful attention to Inis Oírr dialect, is held up as an example of authenticity that audiences and judges responded to strongly.
Animation in Ireland is in a strong moment — the quality of student work on show at Animation Dingle, and the international talent it attracts, reflects a wider sense that Irish animation is punching well above its weight as an industry.

In this episode, Andy, Jo, and Emily are joined by Ashley Mady, President of Zigazoo — a social media platform built specifically for kids that has been quietly growing its user base to over 10 million while the wider debate around children and social media has grown louder and louder. The timing feels right: with social media bans for under-16s being debated in legislatures around the world, Zigazoo makes the case that the answer isn't to shut kids out of online social spaces altogether, but to build better ones.

Ashley walks through what Zigazoo actually is and how it works. At its core, the platform is challenge-based — kids respond to video prompts by creating their own short-form content, and everything goes through moderation before it reaches the feed. The design philosophy is the inverse of most COPPA-compliant platforms, which tend to solve the safety problem by removing engagement entirely. Zigazoo keeps kids active and social, it just does so within guardrails built by educators rather than pure tech entrepreneurs. The founding team — husband and wife Zak and Leah — bring that dual lens of engineering and digital wellness to every product decision, and Ashley is clear that the mission is read aloud at every team meeting to keep it front and centre.

The moderation conversation is illuminating. Zigazoo started with round-the-clock human moderation but has since developed a hybrid "human in the loop" model where AI handles the initial filtering — including detecting whether a user is a child or adult and flagging inappropriate content — while humans remain part of the process. The addition of a comments feature, which was held back for years due to concerns about intent being lost in written text, was only made possible once AI became reliable enough to support it.

There's a lot of ground covered on what the platform has learned about kids' behaviour online. Notably, Zigazoo found that punishing bad content didn't work as well as rewarding good content — a shift from early notification-heavy approaches to a model that simply surfaces positive posts and lets the algorithm do the teaching. Kids who post well get featured; kids who don't get silence rather than a telling-off, and they adjust accordingly. The existing community of over 1,000 kid creators reinforces those norms organically, policing the platform's culture with a pride of ownership that Ashley describes as one of its most unexpected and valuable outcomes.

The platform's audience data is interesting in its own right. While Zigazoo launched as a preschool app, its core audience has aged with it — 9 to 12 year olds are now its most active creators, and some users who joined five years ago are still on the platform at 15. Rather than losing them to mainstream social media, Zigazoo has had to keep evolving to stay relevant, a challenge Ashley acknowledges openly and with some enthusiasm.

The brand and commercial side of the platform gets a thorough airing too. Over 100 brands — from Paramount and Amazon to toy companies, sports organisations, and publishers — use Zigazoo as a COPPA-compliant way to build genuine two-way community with kids. The platform vets all brand partners for mission alignment and manages their channels directly, which keeps the quality high but also means brands get something genuinely rare: verified, bot-free engagement with actual children. A wishlist feature that sends personalised emails to parents when a child saves a product is highlighted as a standout commercial innovation — formalising the influence kids have over family purchasing decisions in a way no other platform can currently match.

The episode closes on a broader cultural note. Ashley sees the current generation of kids as meaningfully different from their parents — more media literate, more aware of the downsides of social media, and more interested in positive online experiences. Jo echoes this from her own experience as a parent, noting a generational swing away from the open, unguarded approach their own generation took to early social media. The group agrees that banning kids from social media entirely risks pushing them towards unmoderated spaces via VPNs and hand-me-down phones, and that platforms like Zigazoo represent the more responsible path.

Key Takeaways:

Zigazoo makes the case for building better social media rather than banning it — the platform argues that keeping kids off social altogether drives them to less safe alternatives, and that the right response is purposefully designed, moderated spaces.
The challenge-based model is central to how it works — kids respond to video prompts with their own content, creating active participation rather than passive scrolling, while everything is moderated before reaching the feed.
Rewarding good behaviour outperforms punishing bad behaviour — early attempts to notify kids when content failed moderation created a negative experience. Surfacing good posts and letting poor ones disappear quietly proved far more effective at shaping behaviour.
AI-assisted "human in the loop" moderation has unlocked new features, including the comments section that was held back for years — a reminder that moderation technology, not just policy intent, sets the ceiling for what's safely possible on kids' platforms.
The platform's community polices itself — 1,000+ kid creators model positive behaviour, and when TikTok faced its US ban and new users flooded in, existing Zigazoo users actively told newcomers that this was a different kind of space.
Age-gating within the platform recognises that under-16 isn't a monolith — the experience for a 6-year-old looks nothing like that for a 13-year-old, a distinction that blanket social media bans tend to collapse entirely.
Zigazoo has become a Gen Alpha trend intelligence platform — with 10 million users and polling features originally built for fun, the platform now has genuine insight into what kids are talking about, buying, and looking forward to, before those trends surface elsewhere.
The brand model is built on mission alignment and white-glove management — brands can't self-serve onto the platform, which keeps commercial activity COPPA-compliant and maintains trust with parents and kids alike.
The wishlist-to-parent email feature is a commercial innovation worth watching — it formalises child-to-parent purchase influence in a privacy-safe, opt-in way that no other platform currently offers.
Parent involvement is baked in from signup, which Ashley argues leads to longer platform lifecycles — a child whose parent has given informed consent is far less likely to be pulled off the platform than one who has found their way onto something their parents don't know about.

This bonus episode of the Kids Media Club sees Andy and Jo joined by Emily, who has just published her latest Netflix Kids Content Performance Report — a deep dive into Netflix's engagement data covering the second half of 2025. It's a data-rich conversation that covers which shows are winning, which are declining, and what it all means for the wider kids content landscape.

The headline finding is that Paw Patrol has taken the number one spot by hours viewed in H2 2025, driven by its first-ever US Netflix window opening in July. It's a significant moment that underscores just how competitive the preschool segment has become — Gabby's Dollhouse held the top spot in H1, Ms. Rachel has climbed from sixth to fourth place, and Cocomelon, while still enormous, is showing signs of decline. The preschool race, as Emily puts it, is very much a ten or fifteen horse race.

Sesame Street's arrival on Netflix gets a thoughtful treatment. Launching with just four episodes, it performed modestly — and the group unpick why. Is it a volume problem? A brand perception issue, with audiences still associating the show firmly with PBS and YouTube rather than Netflix? Or simply that Sesame Street hasn't yet established a home on the platform? Emily is generous in her read of it, noting the brand's smart collaboration with YouTube creator Mark Rober as a savvy move to stay relevant — and Rober's own Netflix show, Crunch Lab, posted strong launch numbers.

That leads into a broader conversation about Netflix's creator economy strategy. The platform has been quietly building a pipeline of YouTube-native talent — Cocomelon, Little Angel, Blippi, Ms. Rachel, and now Mark Rober — and the data suggests the crossover approach is paying off in engagement terms. Jo raises the interesting point that Netflix appeared to step back from kids originals after disbanding its dedicated team, only to start commissioning original and exclusive content with creator talent again. The consensus is that Netflix never fully stepped away — it just got more selective, leaning into broader "family" content alongside its core kids slate.

SpongeBob emerges as one of the episode's most interesting talking points. Generating 143 million hours viewed on Netflix without a US window, Emily argues the Sponge is quietly having a moment that the industry isn't talking about loudly enough. She floats the prediction that SpongeBob could overtake Bluey as the top kids show in US streaming in 2026 — and notes what the strength of both SpongeBob and the Warner animation catalog (Teen Titans Go, The Amazing World of Gumball) could mean in the context of the Paramount-Warner merger.

The deeper theme running through the episode is the extraordinary durability of long-running IP. Paw Patrol at 15 years old, SpongeBob at 25, Peppa at 20 — these shows have entered a multigenerational pass-down mode where they remain fresh enough for new young audiences while carrying nostalgia value for older ones. For anyone trying to break through with a new show, that's the competitive reality they're up against.

The episode closes with a look at Gabby's Dollhouse's prospects for long-term franchise status, and a frank assessment of Cocomelon's decline — which Emily argues is structural rather than a failure of execution, given how narrowly age-targeted the IP is by design.

Key Takeaways:

Paw Patrol is Netflix's most-viewed kids show in H2 2025, powered by its US streaming debut — a clear illustration of how much a new territory window can move the needle on an established IP.
Preschool is the most competitive segment on Netflix, with Gabby's Dollhouse, Ms. Rachel, Paw Patrol, and Cocomelon all jostling for position. No single show dominates the full year.
Sesame Street's modest debut was likely a volume and perception problem — four episodes is thin for a brand of its stature, and audiences may not yet associate it with Netflix given its long history on PBS and YouTube.
Netflix's creator-to-streaming pipeline is working — shows like Ms. Rachel and Mark Rober's Crunch Lab demonstrate that YouTube-native talent can drive strong streaming engagement, and Netflix appears to be doubling down on that strategy with original commissions.
SpongeBob is underrated in the industry conversation — top animated comedy globally on Netflix without US distribution, and a genuine contender to be the number one kids streaming show in the US in 2026.
Long-running, multigenerational IP is the hardest thing to compete with — shows like SpongeBob, Peppa, and Paw Patrol are being passed down from parents who grew up with them, giving them a structural advantage that newer shows simply don't have yet.
Cocomelon's decline is structural, not a crisis — its very young target demographic limits its ability to build the multigenerational audience that sustains IP over the long term. Still huge; just not built to grow the way story-driven shows can.
Gabby's Dollhouse has genuine franchise longevity potential, particularly if the team can extend the live-action talent into formats that grow with the audience — something Emily sees as a clear opportunity.
The "family" designation matters more than it might seem — shows that appeal across age groups, from kids to parents, consistently deliver better engagement numbers and longer shelf lives than narrowly targeted content.

This is the second half of the Kids Media Club's conversation with Chris Heatherly, the former Disney executive who oversaw Club Penguin at its peak. The discussion picks up where part one left off, diving deep into online safety, the realities of moderating kids' platforms at scale, and where kids gaming is headed next.

Chris pulls no punches on the subject of child safety online. He walks through the specific tools Club Penguin used — heavy speech filtering, outright bans for serious offences, and a clever technique called "fake send," where borderline messages appeared to send but were never actually delivered to other users. The insight behind fake send is worth sitting with: when bad actors stopped getting a social reaction to their behaviour, they largely stopped bothering.

He's equally candid about the limits of any platform's ability to keep kids safe, and draws a sharp distinction between what he sees as genuine child protection efforts and a broader political movement using child safety rhetoric to push for internet regulation that would affect everyone. It's a provocative argument, and one that sparks a good back-and-forth with the hosts.

Roblox comes up repeatedly throughout the episode, with Chris offering a robust defence of the platform against what he considers unfair criticism. He points out that the most serious harm tends to happen off platform — predators use Roblox to make contact but drive kids elsewhere to avoid detection — and argues that Roblox's moderation efforts are more substantial than the headlines suggest. He also shares some remarkable behind-the-scenes stories from the Club Penguin era, including a DDoS attack during a Star Wars event that exposed Disney's complete lack of cyber protection, and a subsequent investigation that pointed to a potential hostile foreign actor using teenage hackers as cover.

The conversation then shifts to the state of kids gaming more broadly. Chris argues that the market effectively collapsed after COPPA-style regulation created an uneven playing field — legitimate kids platforms had to comply while others with large child audiences didn't bother — and that Roblox and Minecraft essentially rebuilt it from scratch. His framing of Roblox as "the new console" is a headline moment: he believes it represents a genuine architectural and business model shift away from the console and mobile era, not just another platform.

On the creator economy, Chris is optimistic. He sees AI as the tool that finally lowers the barrier to game creation enough that the YouTube-to-Hollywood pipeline becomes the norm for gaming too. He also flags that handing development over to creators brings its own risks — notably questionable monetisation mechanics — though he's sceptical of some of the more alarmist takes around loot boxes.

The episode closes with a strong point on parental involvement: platforms can't do it alone, and parents need to be treated as a distributed moderation force rather than passive bystanders.

Takeaways:

The Kids Media Club podcast is currently accepting sponsorship opportunities for interested parties.
Listeners can engage with the podcast via LinkedIn or the official website for strategic conversations.
Chris Heatherly, an influential figure at Disney, shared profound insights during our discussion on children's online safety.
The conversation surrounding online safety for children remains critical and unresolved after two decades.
The challenges faced by Club Penguin in moderating content are similar to those currently confronted by Roblox.
We believe that empowering parents to monitor their children's online activity is essential for ensuring their safety.

Links referenced in this episode:

kidsmediaclubpodcast.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

Disney
Club Penguin
Roblox
Pinterest
Sago Sago
Takaboka

In this episode, Andy, Jo and Emily sit down with Chris Heatherly — former Disney executive, Club Penguin General Manager, and the man who ran the world's biggest kids' playground for nearly a decade. What follows is a candid, fascinating look at one of kids media's great "what ifs."

Chris traces his journey from overseeing Disney's toy business to becoming the custodian of Club Penguin, the safe, customisable multiplayer world that, at its peak, boasted 200 million registered avatars and 300,000 concurrent players. He talks about the early days of the platform, the innovative toy-to-game codes that predated today's digital unlocks, and how a fan-created myth about blurry in-game artwork spawned Card Jitsu — a trading card game that briefly outsold Pokémon at Toys R Us.

But the conversation goes deeper than nostalgia. Chris reflects honestly on why Club Penguin was ultimately shut down in 2017: a combination of the mobile transition (Club Penguin was built by artists who could code, not engineers), Disney's wider mismanagement of its games portfolio, and — perhaps most tellingly — corporate leadership that simply didn't understand the value of community. "I had suits ask me, 'what's the value of community?'" he recalls. It's a question that still stings, given what platforms built on exactly that principle are worth today.

There's also a moving thread running through the episode about what Club Penguin was really for. Chris describes a mission to protect children's innocence in a media landscape that's constantly pushing maturity down to younger audiences. He shares a quote from a focus group participant — a girl who said that at school she wasn't the most popular, but on Club Penguin she could be whoever she wanted — that became the team's north star. That ethos extended to the platform's charity work too, with millions donated through the Coins for Change initiative, and an unusually rigorous commitment to making sure the money actually made an impact.

Club Penguin may be gone, but as Chris points out, pirate servers running the game today have more active players than ever played during its official peak — and a new generation of lore has grown up entirely after his time. The nostalgia is real, and it's earned.

Key Takeaways

Community is a product feature, not a side effect. Club Penguin's lasting cultural impact came from genuine human connection — moderators who replied to kids' emails, a team that listened to its audience, and leadership that treated the playground metaphor seriously. Platforms that stripped out those elements to cut costs never managed to replicate the magic.
Artists who code build differently than engineers who design. Club Penguin's charm came from its creative-led origins. The comparison with Disney Infinity — a technology-first project — is instructive: one is still talked about with affection; the other isn't.
User-generated culture is powerful, and ignoring it is expensive. Card Jitsu, one of Club Penguin's biggest hits, came directly from fan speculation. Disney's corporate structure struggled to understand how a platform could generate its own IP from the ground up — a lesson that Roblox and Minecraft would later prove at enormous scale.
Corporate short-termism kills long-term value. The decision to shut down Club Penguin is presented here as one of the clearest examples of a business prioritising spreadsheet logic over strategic vision. Chris left Disney partly because he refused to be the one to close it.
Protecting children's innocence is a genuine editorial position — and a commercially sound one. The longevity of Club Penguin's cultural footprint suggests that audiences — and their parents — are hungry for platforms that hold that line.
Part two of this conversation continues next week.

This episode brings Andy, Jo, and Emily back together after a busy fortnight that saw the Kids Media Club divide and conquer — Emily and Andy heading to KidScreen in San Diego while Jo hosted the Kids and Teens Summit at MIP London. Here's what they came away with.

The hierarchy is gone — and that's now official. Both events reflected something the podcast has been saying for a while: TV no longer sits at the top of the kids media food chain. YouTube, Roblox, and broadcast were all on equal footing — on the panels, and in the rooms. That shift from polite tolerance of digital platforms to genuine integration feels like a genuine turning point.

KidScreen got intentional about YouTube and Roblox. Rather than token sessions, this year's programming offered real depth — from 101-level introductions to developer showcases — signalling that the industry has accepted these platforms as core infrastructure for young audiences, not add-ons.

Jonathan Haidt's keynote caused friction. The Anxious Generation author's appearance divided the room, given that the very conference schedule celebrated platforms he believes are harmful to children. It made for an interesting tension — and a useful reminder that the debate around kids, screens, and wellbeing is far from settled.

Social media bans: well-intentioned, but complicated. The team unpacks the nuance that came out of both events and the Children's Media Foundation day. Outright bans may actually let platforms off the hook. The COPPA regulations are held up as a cautionary tale — well-intentioned legislation that may have done unintended damage to the kids content ecosystem, with YouTube monetisation for children's content reduced to around 30% of what it once was.

Kids media is facing a potential market failure. TV commissions for children's content were down 20% in 2025 — more than double the decline seen in other genres. Combined with reduced YouTube monetisation, the financial incentive to make content specifically for kids is shrinking. Some producers are already quietly dropping the word "kids" from how they describe themselves — something the team finds genuinely alarming.

Roblox is getting ahead of the crosshairs. Andrew Bareza from Twin Atlas (the studio behind Creatures of Sonaria and various Lego activations) addressed safety concerns directly and clearly at MIP London — walking through the toolsets Roblox is rolling out and demonstrating how brand-safe, purposeful activation on the platform is very much possible.

The BBC and YouTube partnership: a front door, not a full commitment. Jo hosted the BBC and YouTube in a fireside that got unexpectedly candid. The BBC's suite of seven YouTube channels won't simply mirror their broadcast output — the strategy is promos, tactical full episodes around new series launches, and some YouTube-first commissions (including a Next Step micro-drama). The goal is to use YouTube as a gateway to iPlayer, though whether a generation raised on YouTube will follow that path remains an open question.

The Sidemen are rewriting the rules on appointment viewing. Long-form content, licensed TV formats (a Family Fortunes rework pulled from Fremantle's archive got 3 million views in 24 hours), and a focus on watch time over view counts — the Sidemen's keynote at MIP London was a masterclass in how creators are evolving into something closer to TV studios, and why that matters for the future of format licensing.

Despite a lot of hard truths, both events left the team with a clear impression: the people still in the room are passionate, pragmatic, and not going anywhere without a fight.

Episode Summary:

In this bonus episode, Andy Williams and Emily Horgan join Eric Calderon of Surviving Animation for a candid debrief straight from the Kids Screen conference floor in San Diego. With a smaller-than-usual attendance, a shifting industry landscape, and more than a few big questions hanging in the air, the three take stock of what Kids Screen looks like now — and what it might need to become.

Key Takeaways:

1. Smaller crowd, better conversations. Attendee numbers were down, but the quality of conversations was up. The frantic "hard sell" energy of previous years gave way to something more honest — people asking each other how they're really doing and what they're trying next.

2. The old guard model is done. The days of "what does Netflix want?" panels are over. This year's conversation centred on anime, K-pop, webtoons, Roblox, and YouTube — and crucially, the buyers in the audience were the ones taking notes.

3. The audience is there. The business model isn't. Platforms like YouTube and Roblox have the kids. Nobody has quite figured out how to build a sustainable revenue model around them yet — and the group are refreshingly honest that no one left San Diego with the answer.

4. Jonathan Haidt stirred the room. The keynote took a hard line against social media and called out Roblox and micro-drama sessions directly. The reaction was mixed — some applauded, some walked out. The group discuss whether a blanket ban approach is too blunt, and make the case for a more graduated, age-appropriate ladder of access instead.

5. Kids Screen itself is at a crossroads. With attendance below a thousand and a move back to Miami on the horizon, the conference is grappling with an identity question: if the traditional buyer-seller marketplace no longer functions the way it used to, what is the event actually for? The group land on a compelling answer — relationship deposits. You're not closing deals, you're laying groundwork.

6. Do the thing, don't just attend the session. Sitting in on a YouTube strategy panel no longer counts as a YouTube strategy. The studios generating the most excitement were the ones actually experimenting on new platforms — making mistakes, learning fast, and trying again.

7. Humility is the new competitive advantage. Whether you're a veteran studio or an independent creator, approaching new platforms with curiosity rather than authority is what separates those who are adapting from those who aren't.

The mood heading into 2026? Cautiously determined. As Eric puts it: stop surviving, find the fix.

Let me know if you'd like to adjust the tone, length, or structure of any section.

In this special live episode, recorded at KidsScreen in San Diego, Andy and Emily take to the stage to moderate a deep-dive panel on one of the most talked-about new preschool IPs in the market right now: BeddyByes.

Born out of the very relatable chaos of lockdown-era bedtimes, BeddyByes is a new show from Jam Media designed to help young children wind down — and it's been built with real intention, from the ground up. Joining Andy and Emily are John Rice, CEO of Jam Media and co-creator of the show; Richard Goldsmith, EVP of Kids and Family at Blue Ant Media, who handles worldwide distribution; and Vienna Downs, also from Blue Ant, leading consumer products and licensing.

Together, they walk through the full journey of bringing BeddyByes to market — from the initial creative spark and the challenge of pitching a "bedtime show" to broadcasters, to landing deals with the BBC, RTE, Disney Junior, and Moose Toys. The panel covers the deliberate, step-by-step distribution strategy, what it really takes to build authentic consumer products around a new IP, and why owning a clear niche might just be the smartest move a brand can make right now.

It's an honest, energetic conversation about what it looks like to build a franchise the right way — with great content at the centre and the right partners around the table.

This week the Kids Media Club team is back for another Host’s hangout - Andy returns from a ski holiday (not in a cast, luckily) — and he's joined by co-hosts Jo and Emily for a wide-ranging house chat covering some of the biggest stories shaping kids media right now.

YouTube's Quietly Enormous TV PlayThe conversation kicks off with something that still surprises people even when they hear the numbers: YouTube has just had its biggest year for ad revenue ever, pulling in $40 billion. Add in the YouTube TV subscription tier — now revealed for the first time in Google's earnings — and the total climbs to $60 billion, making YouTube the second largest TV subscription service in the US.

The team unpacks what this means for how we think about YouTube. It's not the disruptive upstart anymore. It's building tailored content packages — including a kids-specific bundle featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and PBS — and increasingly talking and behaving like a traditional broadcaster. Sound familiar? That's roughly the same trajectory Netflix took, and we all know where Netflix ended up.

The BBC–YouTube Partnership: Who Really Wins?Closely related to all of this is the BBC's recently announced partnership with YouTube, bringing seven new BBC kids channels to the platform.

The group agrees it's genuinely mutual. YouTube gets the credibility boost of having the world's foremost public service broadcaster as an official partner — no small thing at a moment when social media platforms are under intense regulatory scrutiny. The BBC, meanwhile, gets reach (especially globally, where those three letters carry less weight with younger generations than they once did) and access to YouTube's expertise in creator-led content — an area where the BBC openly acknowledges a skills gap. The Creator Lab initiative and the ongoing Last Pundit Standing project are all part of that upskilling effort.

Child Safety, Age Verification and the Regulatory HeatRecording on Safer Internet Day (10 February), the team touches on the fast-moving world of platform regulation. Australia — first mover on age restrictions for under-16s on social media — has now requested an urgent meeting with Roblox over child safety concerns, potentially bringing Roblox into the same regulatory frame as other social platforms in France and the UK.

Rather than viewing this purely as threat, the group notes that Roblox, Discord and others are actually accelerating their own age verification and safety rollouts in response. The pressure may be producing faster, better tech than the platforms would have developed on their own timetable. Whether it's enough to get them out of the regulatory crosshairs is another question.

This sparks a broader thought: could regulatory pressure push more platforms towards subscription models, where identity verification is structurally easier to enforce?

Club Penguin: Disney's Most Expensive Missed Opportunity?From there the conversation takes a wonderfully nostalgic detour into Club Penguin — the beloved, chaotic, genuinely safe online world for kids that Disney acquired and then, the team argues, fundamentally misunderstood.

The diagnosis? Disney saw Club Penguin as a promotional platform rather than as an IP or community in its own right. They didn't invest in a proper mobile transition at the critical moment. And crucially, they couldn't see its long-term potential because they were busy counting Frozen and Star Wars money. The comparison that lands hardest: Club Penguin could have been Roblox. Disney is now investing heavily in Fortnite as its digital parks equivalent — the very thing Club Penguin might have become with patience and strategic vision.

This leads into a broader discussion of Disney's new CEO Josh D'Amaro, the question of whether Disney has a genuine new IP problem (spoiler: the group thinks yes), and what the Eisner era did differently that allowed creative hits to flow consistently. The emerging consensus: Disney Plus could be the incubator for new franchise IP, but only if it's protected from the weight of impossible commercial expectations from day one.

Pokémon at 30, Minions vs Monsters, and the Long Game of Franchise BuildingThe episode rounds out with two Super Bowl ad appearances from kids IP giants — Pokémon celebrating its 30th birthday and the trailer for Minions and Monsters — prompting a conversation about what it actually takes to justify an $8 million, 30-second media slot. The answer? Roughly 15–20 years of patient capital and multi-generational brand building.

Jo and Andy also flag an upcoming panel at KidsScreen exploring exactly this question — how early-stage franchises like Betty Buys from Jam Media begin the long journey towards that kind of brand scale.

Find Kids Media Club on all major podcast platforms, YouTube, and Substack.

Tags: kids media, YouTube TV, BBC YouTube partnership, children's content, Club Penguin, Disney IP, Roblox, child online safety, age verification, Safer Internet Day, Pokemon, Minions, kids franchise building, public service broadcasting, MIP London, KidsScreen

This week the Kids Media Club welcomes Sarah DeWitt, SVP and GM of PBS Kids, for a conversation that covers a lot of ground — and covers it brilliantly.

For international listeners, Sarah begins by unpacking how PBS actually works: a network of 330 member stations across the US, locally run but nationally coordinated, funded through a mix of voluntary public donations, corporate underwriting (with strict nutrition and advertising rules), and federal grants. It's a model unlike anything in the UK or Ireland, and understanding it makes what comes next all the more striking.

Sarah explains the two major federal funding cuts that have hit PBS Kids hard — the dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the abrupt termination of the Department of Education's Ready to Learn grant, a $100 million, five-year programme that has quietly underpinned some of PBS Kids' most beloved shows. Super Why, Odd Squad, and the brand new Phoebe and J all owe their existence, in part, to shifting presidential education priorities channelled through that grant. With it gone almost overnight, PBS Kids has cut close to 30% of its content staff and is now looking at halving its development pipeline by 2028 and 2029.

But the conversation is far from doom and gloom. Sarah talks about the extraordinary public response — kids running lemonade stands and sending in their pocket money — and shares that 82% of US voters, including 72% of Trump voters, say they value PBS for its children's content. She's also busy exploring new territory: philanthropic foundations, commercial licensing, and international co-production opportunities that PBS had never needed to pursue before.

There's also a rich discussion about what public service media can do that commercial broadcasters simply won't — from Carl the Collector, a show with a lead character on the autism spectrum that sparked a seven-year-old to ask his parents if he was autistic, to the challenge of creating developmentally appropriate short-form content that pushes back against the addictive mechanics now baked into so much of kids' media.

It's one of those episodes where the hosts keep trying to get back on track and keep getting beautifully derailed — and you won't mind one bit.

Aardman Animations, renowned for its innovative and beloved characters such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, is undergoing a significant transformation in its approach to audience engagement as articulated by Emma Hardie, the executive commercial and brand director. The discussion pivots around the studio's strategic shift from a broadcast-first paradigm to a fan-centric model that prioritizes direct consumer interactions. Hardie delineates how this evolution is not merely a superficial adjustment but reflects a profound understanding of contemporary branding, where the audience is not just passive consumers but active stakeholders in the brand's narrative. This transformation is underscored by Aardman’s rich history, celebrating its 50th anniversary, and highlights the necessity for brands to remain perpetually relevant amidst the ever-changing dynamics of digital engagement and consumer expectations. Throughout the conversation, Hardie elaborates on the intricacies of this shift, detailing how Aardman's storied legacy is being leveraged to foster deeper connections with fans across diverse platforms and demographic segments. The studio is actively exploring innovative ways to engage audiences, such as through interactive social media campaigns and experiential events, which allow fans to immerse themselves in the creative processes behind the beloved characters. This approach not only enhances brand loyalty but also enriches the creative ecosystem that Aardman has cultivated over decades, ensuring that its characters resonate with both new and long-time fans alike. The dialogue encapsulates the essence of Aardman's commitment to crafting narratives that transcend traditional media, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in storytelling. Hardie's insights reveal a forward-thinking vision that seeks to integrate fan feedback into the creative process, thereby making Aardman's offerings not just products but integral parts of the fan experience. As the studio embarks on this new chapter, the implications for the animation industry at large are profound, presenting a case study in how legacy brands can adapt and thrive in the digital age while maintaining their unique creative identity.

Takeaways:

In this episode, we discussed Aardman's pivotal shift from a broadcast-first model to a fan-first approach.
Emma Hardie elaborated on the importance of audience engagement, highlighting Aardman's dedication to understanding fan expectations.
The podcast underscored the significance of innovation within Aardman, particularly in adapting to digital platforms and evolving content creation methods.
Aardman's commitment to craft and storytelling remains paramount, as they continue to develop beloved characters that resonate with audiences globally.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

Aardman
Chicken Run
Wallace and Gromit
Shaun the Sheep
Timmy
Powerwash Simulator
M&S
Pingu
Pokemon
Lego

Episode OverviewIn this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Jo, Andy, and Emily reunited in person at London's OTT Question Time event. Between sessions, they carved out twenty minutes to share their insights from the conference, diving deep into Emily's Vertical Video panel and previewing Jo's upcoming Data and Strategy discussion.

Key InsightsVertical Video: More Than Just Micro Drama HypeEmily's panel tackled the elephant in the room: vertical video is not synonymous with micro dramas, despite what your LinkedIn feed might suggest. What started as marketing tactics has matured into a legitimate digital commissioning strategy spanning sports content, documentaries, and diverse formats that go far beyond scripted drama.

The timing couldn't be more significant. Just weeks before the event, major industry shifts signaled vertical's mainstream moment: Disney announced their vertical pivot at CES, TikTok launched a standalone micro drama app, Netflix hinted at vertical ambitions during earnings calls, and the BBC unveiled a major YouTube partnership.

Finding Audiences at the Intersection of NichesPerhaps the most compelling insight came from Paramount's unexpected success with Geordie Shore content. When one cast member shared her infertility journey through vertical video, it transcended the show's typical audience entirely. This demonstrated how platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels curate intersecting niches that connect content with viewers who'd never engage with the traditional format.

Vertical isn't cannibalizing traditional viewing—it's complementary. ESPN's "Verts" app proves this beautifully. Rather than pulling sports fans away from the big screen, vertical content enhances the experience with player deep-dives, stats analysis, and supplementary angles that enrich rather than replace live viewing.

The format's inherent intimacy matters too. Phone-based vertical video creates deeply personal experiences, whether exploring serious topics like infertility or offering fresh perspectives on beloved entertainment franchises.

Traditional Broadcasters Go Fishing in New WatersEstablished players like Channel 4, ITV, and the BBC have reached a crucial realization: audiences aren't coming to them anymore. Rather than doubling down on walled gardens and exclusivity, they're strategically "fishing" where audiences actually are—YouTube, Meta, and other platforms. This represents a fundamental shift from trying to corral viewers through forced exclusivity to acknowledging the fluidity of modern fandom.

Data: Powerful Tool or Dangerous Master?Looking ahead to Jo's panel, the conversation turned to a critical tension in modern media: there's no excuse not to know your audience, yet data can easily become misdirection. While data should inform commissioning and distribution decisions, it tends to measure what's easily measurable—which isn't always what truly matters.

Moonbug's Cocomelon provides the perfect case study. Their YouTube data-driven approach demonstrated analytics' power for IP and franchise building, but also raised important questions about creative vision versus algorithmic optimization.

The real skill isn't drowning in data—it's knowing how to zoom out and distill signal from noise. Ironically, experienced media professionals with 20+ years of instinct are uniquely positioned to thrive in this data-rich environment. Their gut feel, honed over decades, can cut through analytical clutter to find strategic clarity that spreadsheets alone cannot provide.

The sweet spot? Combining analytical rigor with seasoned intuition—letting data inform without letting it dictate.

Recorded live at OTT Question Time in London

Jo is away so Andy gets Emily perspective on Netflix's latest earnings report. In a recent strategic shift, Netflix are moving away from the subscriber count obsession and focusing on ‘engagement'. It's an interesting pivot, especially as the streaming giant grapples with the reality that their core markets are pretty well tapped out.

The big question now is how to keep demonstrating growth when you've already signed up most of the households you're going to get. Enter: engagement metrics. Netflix wants us to care about hours watched, not just how many people have accounts.

But that’s not the only strategic shift, Emily and Andy look at how vertical content and gaming fit into Netflix’s new playbook.

Meanwhile, the kids' content slate is having a moment. Ms. Rachel and Paw Patrol are quietly racking up serious viewing numbers, proving once again that children's programming might be the steady, reliable workhorse of any streaming service.

And then there's the possibility of Netflix acquiring Warner assets—a move that could beef up their content library and give subscribers more reasons to stick around. As Netflix figures out its next chapter, it's clear the playbook is evolving from "grow at all costs" to "keep people engaged and happy."

Takeaways:

The recent Netflix earnings report reflects a shift in focus from subscriber growth to content engagement metrics, indicating a new strategic direction for the company.
Despite a slight year-over-year increase in engagement, the overall performance remains underwhelming, suggesting challenges in sustaining growth in a saturated market.
The introduction of vertical video content is a significant move for Netflix, aiming to capture mobile viewership and compete with platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. may provide necessary content diversification to enhance engagement and strengthen their position in the streaming market.
The Netflix kids' programming landscape is evolving, with significant shows like Ms. Rachel and Paw Patrol demonstrating strong audience engagement and popularity.
The ongoing development of Netflix's gaming strategy highlights their commitment to retaining viewer attention across multiple formats, enhancing overall user engagement.

The landscape of children's entertainment is shifting—fast. In this eye-opening conversation, multi-award-winning creative executive Jesse Cleverly shares why now might be the perfect time to work in media, despite all the doom and gloom.

The Perfect Storm (In a Good Way)Jesse drops a perspective bomb early in the conversation: while traditional media is facing seismic changes, he genuinely believes we're entering "an interesting and great moment" for the industry. Why? Because creators no longer need permission to build audiences.

"If you've got a great idea or you are a great creator, you can go out and learn what works," Jesse explains. The empowering nature of new platforms means you can test and refine before spending €10 million on a 50-episode series. Revolutionary? Absolutely.

The Creator Burnout CrisisBut it's not all sunshine and viral videos. Jesse pulls back the curtain on a troubling reality: many successful digital creators are exhausted and burned out, trapped in a world of low CPMs (cost per thousand views) with no sustainable revenue model beyond grinding out content.

The solution? Studios and creators need each other now more than ever. Traditional media professionals bring crucial skills in brand development, monetization, and long-term value creation that many creators desperately need but don't have the bandwidth to develop themselves.

Rethinking the "Kids' Audience"Here's where Jesse gets provocative: he questions whether the traditional definition of a "kids' audience" was actually created by commercial television rather than reflecting what children genuinely want.

His evidence? When given true choice, kids increasingly watch content made for broader audiences. His own research revealed young viewers gravitating toward shows like "Heartland" (a Canadian horse ranch drama) because there's "no punching and killing"—not because it was marketed to them as children's programming.

"I wonder whether this definition of the kid audience is also a product that we used for media in the commercial television age," Jesse muses, challenging fundamental assumptions about age-appropriate content.

The Power of NichesForget mass audiences—Jesse sees the future in passionate, engaged communities around specific interests. His favorite example? Werewolf romance fiction is "killing it" with tens of millions of readers, yet virtually no one is creating werewolf video content.

The math is simple: going from broad, low-engagement audiences to narrow, high-engagement niches means higher lifetime value (LTV) per fan. Plus, we're not limited to local markets anymore—you can reach every werewolf romance fan in the world.

"The goldfish and the water," Jesse says. "We've been swimming in the world of low-hanging fruit local markets. We're not in local markets now—we're in the world."

5 Key Takeaways1. Permission is Dead: You don't need a commissioner's approval to build an audience anymore. Create, test, learn, iterate—then scale. 2. Creators Need Studios (and Vice Versa): Digital creators have audiences but often lack monetization expertise. Traditional media professionals have those skills but need to understand platform-native content. 3. Value Has Shifted: Historical kids' media companies like Nickelodeon made most of their money from licensing and merchandising, not the TV shows themselves. That model still works—just on different platforms. 4. Rethink Your Audience: Age-based demographic targeting may be a legacy TV construct. Focus on interests, values, and what genuinely resonates rather than arbitrary age brackets. 5. Play the Long Game: Build communities, not just view counts. Engineer awareness through the "primordial soup" of social platforms, then nurture what evolves.

The Primordial Soup TheoryJesse's closing metaphor brilliantly captures the new creative landscape: platforms like YouTube and Instagram are the "primordial soup" where millions of content ideas compete to evolve. Most will die away, but a few will succeed and thrive.

His role? "Watching the shoreline and waiting... oh, that one looks like it might evolve. And then you run in, grab it, help it up onto land."

Why This Matters NowJesse’s argument in a nutshell: Traditional TV commissioning is contracting. Streaming services are tightening budgets. But direct-to-audience platforms are exploding. For creative professionals willing to adapt, learn new skills, and genuinely listen to what audiences want (rather than what we think they should want), the opportunities are enormous.

What do you think? Is Jesse's optimism naive or strategic? He's seen both worlds, from BBC commissions to digital-first studios, and he's betting on a future where authentic engagement beats mass distribution every single time.

Listen to the full episode of Kids Media Club wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe for weekly insights from the brightest minds in children's entertainment.

In this episode we discuss the evolving regulatorary landscape around kids content on YouTube and social media. The wild west era of children's content on YouTube appears to be coming to an end. As countries worldwide move toward stricter social media regulations—France announcing September 2026 enforcement, Virginia implementing new protections—YouTube's AI-powered content moderation is creating uncertainty for creators in the kids' space.

Key TakeawaysThe Regulatory Shift: After years of minimal oversight, 2026 looks set to bring significant changes to how children's content is managed online. Multiple jurisdictions are finally catching up to long-standing concerns about kids and social media.

YouTube's Opaque AI System: YouTube's AI now determines whether content is "suitable" for young audiences, but the decision-making process remains unclear. Creators face potential demonetization or restricted reach without understanding the benchmarks, making commercial viability increasingly risky.

The "Social-Only" Gamble: Creators who went all-in on YouTube as their sole platform now face a precarious position. Diversification across multiple platforms—once considered smart strategy—is becoming essential again as the regulatory landscape shifts.

BBC's Opportunity: As YouTube becomes a financially high-risk space for quality kids content, publicly funded broadcasters like the BBC have a chance to prove their value. Charter renewal debates may gain new context when commercial platforms struggle to sustainably serve young audiences.

Content Duration Concerns: The rise of ultra-short-form content raises questions about optimal viewing lengths for developing brains. Even tech founders are reportedly limiting their own children's screen time—yet clear benchmarks remain elusive.

Bottom Line: The permissive era of creators freely making kids' content on YouTube is closing. Welcome to the new regulated reality.

In this special New Year episode of the Kids Club Podcast, we reflect on our favourite Podcast conversations of 2025 and share eight moments that stood out for us from the year.

We revisit conversations with industry professionals who share honest insights on being transparent and staying scrappy in tough times.

Featured Topics:

Building resilience as a content creator in 2026
The importance of self-advocacy for aspiring creators
Breaking through in a competitive creative environment
Practical advice from writers, producers, and industry professionals

This year-end episode we highlight key takeaways from guests who opened up about the realities of working in kids media in 2025.

The team dives into Netflix's Christmas movie dominance, shares heartwarming holiday TV traditions from around the world (including Ireland's legendary Late Late Toy Show), and makes bold predictions for 2026's animation landscape. Spoiler: sequels reign supreme, and Australia's social media ban for kids could reshape the creator economy.

Episode Breakdown🎅 Netflix's Christmas Movie EmpireEmily kicks things off celebrating Netflix's "pure and lovely" commitment to churning out Christmas content. This year brought Champagne Problems, My Secret Santa, and Jingle Bell High Speed, with classics like Klaus (Jo's favorite from 2018) getting their annual boost.

Key insight: Christmas is genius brand strategy—it's an open-source brand everyone can leverage. Andy points out it's smart business too, giving A-list talent a chance to do "something warmer and family-friendly" while earning sweet residuals that come back every year.

Cultural gem alert: Emily introduces the Late Late Toy Show, an Irish institution that's been running longer than US late-night shows. Picture kids staying up past midnight to watch toy reviews, celebrity surprises (Roy Keane hassling kids this year!), and wholesome chaos. It's basically a three-hour commercial that somehow works because it's cultural heritage.

🎬 2026 Animation Predictions The hosts get into crystal ball mode for next year's releases:

Andy's calls:

Toy Story 5 - Will dominate (though Emily wonders if Lightyear's underwhelming performance signals franchise fatigue)
Hoppers (Pixar's robot-consciousness-transfer story) - Will underperform and struggle to cut through
Live-action Moana - Big winner, demonstrating the power of established IP

The Illumination juggernaut: Super Mario Galaxy movie + Minions 3 dropping in 2026 could net them $2-3 billion at the box office. Emily notes we're firmly in a "sequel world."

The dark horse: Disney's Hex (November 2026) about a teenage boy discovering magical powers. Emily thinks there's appetite for well-executed magic content after Spellbound missed the mark.

📱 The Creator Economy Shake-Up Emily gets passionate about YouTube kids creators needing to "hold their nerve" on streaming deals. The economics have gotten tougher since YouTube's COPPA restrictions five years ago made it harder for mid-tier creators to sustain careers.

The Australia wildcard: The social media ban for under-16s could be a game-changer. While challenging for creators, Emily sees it as "tough medicine" that might force better economic models and push creators toward premium streaming deals. YouTube Kids could become more crucial, and platforms like Discord might benefit unexpectedly.

Miss Rachel mention: As an example of intentional content strategy—no shorts, calm and steady vibes, less dopamine-focused approach that resonates with parents.

🎤 Wild Cards & Sign-Offs The hosts wrap with a joke about whether the wheels will come off the Kids Media Club podcast itself in 2026 (they won't), and acknowledge it's been "a busy year" with their heads "slightly blown off" by industry moves like Netflix buying Warner Brothers studios.

Quotable Moments"Christmas is a brand that nobody owns and everybody can leverage." - Emily on Netflix's strategy

"I want 5,000, not a fiver. It's renting the audience I've built." - Jo on creator economics

"Sometimes you take the medicine." - Emily on Australia's social media ban

What to Watch in 2026* Toy Story 5 vs Hoppers performance * Illumination's potential $2-3B year * Creator economy deals as social restrictions tighten * Whether magic-themed family content finds its footing again

Next episode: TBD (they're taking a Christmas break!)

Perfect for: Animation industry watchers, kids media professionals, anyone curious about streaming strategy, and people who need their yearly dose of Late Late Toy Show content

The Kids Media Club crew tackles the biggest media story in years: Netflix's acquisition of Warner Brothers. Andy and Jo dive deep into what this seismic deal means for streaming, cinema, theme parks, and most importantly—the future of kids' content production. From Harry Potter to DC Comics, and from theatrical releases to original programming, they unpack the winners, losers, and uncertain future facing producers everywhere.

Key Takeaways🎯 Why Netflix Wanted Warner Bros

Unlocks merchandise and theme parks—two areas Netflix never had access to
Adds massive legacy IP including Harry Potter, DC Universe, and Cartoon Network
Completes Netflix's transformation from tech company to full-spectrum entertainment studio

🎬 Cinema Under Threat

Warner Bros films are tentpoles of the theatrical box office
Netflix's anti-cinema stance could devastate theater chains
Two-week window releases might become the new normal, worrying directors like James Cameron

📺 The Producer's Dilemma

One fewer independent buyer in an already consolidated market
Netflix may focus budget on legacy IP management rather than original programming
Could producers be waiting years for attention to shift back to new shows?

🏢 Industry Consolidation Accelerates

Paramount's hostile counter-bid adds drama to an already complex situation
UK broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Sky) may follow with their own mergers
The era of distinctive brand voices (Cartoon Network vs Nickelodeon vs Disney) may be ending

🎪 The Walmart Effect

Netflix becomes the "entertainment supermarket"—so big it can't have a distinctive voice
Homogenization risk: will everything start to feel the same?
The monopoly question intensifies as the third-biggest streamer disappears

⚡ Wild Cards

What happens to CNN under Netflix ownership?
Could this deal actually be blocked on monopoly grounds?

Bottom Line: This isn't just a business deal—it's a fundamental reshaping of how entertainment gets made, distributed, and consumed. For kids' content creators, the golden age of multiple competing buyers may be coming to an end.

Episode Summary: Andy, Jo, and Emily are joined by marketeer and 'recovering French man' Louis Grenier to give an outside perspective on kids media. Louis delivers his inimitable no-holds-barred take on the industry—expect sweary spikiness and truth bombs about what's really going on in children's content.

Key Discussion Points:

Ethical marketing practices in children's content
How media consumption affects kids
Using creativity to differentiate in a competitive market
Creating meaningful, responsible content for young audiences

Guest Expert: Louis Grenier shares marketing insights and fresh perspectives on kids' media

Hosts: Emily Horgan, Jo Redfern, and Andy Williams (Kids Media Club podcast)

https://www.kidsmediaclubpodcast.com/

https://creativelycurious.substack.com/

https://thekidsstreamersphere.substack.com/

https://joredfern1.substack.com/

Louis Grenier’s website

https://www.stfo.io/about

Author Louie Stowell (Loki series) joins the Kids Media Club to make the case for more chaos in children's books. Why do young readers crave mischief? How do illustrated books hook reluctant readers? And what's killing kids' love of reading—spoiler: it's not TikTok.

Key Takeaways:

Mischievous characters create powerful entry points for emerging readers
Illustrations aren't just for "struggling" readers—they're a legitimate storytelling medium
Testing culture is crushing reading joy (and what we can do about it)
Give kids real choice in what they read—it matters more than you think
Children's publishing needs more risk-taking, diversity, and yes, anarchy

https://louiestowell.com/

https://www.kidsmediaclubpodcast.com/

In this special listener's digest episode, we examine the challenges and opportunities of creating children's content on YouTube. We listen back to three creators who shared their experiences navigating COPPA regulations, monetization struggles, and strategies for building sustainable businesses in the current digital landscape.

Key Guests Melly Buse - Boutique content producer discussing COPPA's impact * Cory Williams - Creator of Silly Crocodile, a YouTube-first kids IP * Nic Cabana* - Claynosaurz, discussing transmedia approaches

Major ThemesThe COPPA CrisisCOPPA regulations have devastated YouTube revenue for children's content, with some creators experiencing drops from £8,000 per month to just £300. Channels marked as "made for kids" earn approximately 20 times less than adult content, making sustainable production nearly impossible through YouTube revenue alone.

The Monetization RealityDespite impressive metrics, revenue remain a challenge. Silly Crocodile, with nearly a million subscribers and 13 million monthly views, earns only $5,300 per month - highlighting the stark disconnect between engagement and revenue for kids content.

Survival StrategiesDiversification is Essential: Creators must expand into merchandising, publishing, and retail distribution. Platform dependency is increasingly risky.

Transmedia Approach: Claynosaurz creates content across multiple platforms simultaneously. Their 39-episode series uses seven-minute formats optimized for YouTube while remaining adaptable for European distribution and streaming.

Building in Public: Successful creators involve audiences early in development, building trust through authentic behind-the-scenes content - similar to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings development journals.

Creator-Led Model: Direct audience relationships and active community management are crucial, with founders maintaining presence "in the trenches" to gather feedback.

Key Takeaways1. YouTube alone won't pay the bills - Diversify revenue through licensing, merchandising, and distribution 2. COPPA decimated revenue without clearly improving child safety 3. Meet audiences where they are - Success requires content across multiple platforms, not single-format bets 4. Community is currency - Early fan engagement creates loyal audiences and valuable feedback 5. Think transmedia from day one - Don't build for just TV or film; build for everywhere

The Bottom LineCreating successful kids IP on YouTube requires resilience and strategic diversification. While revenue challenges are severe, creators who embrace transmedia strategies, build authentic communities, and operate outside traditional studio models can still thrive.

The Big Shift:

Nickelodeon is launching new shows on YouTube FIRST before linear or streaming
Kid Cowboy marks their flagship YouTube-first series
This represents a 5-year evolution, not a sudden pivot

Why It Works:

Leadership buy-in from the top (Brian Robbins understands digital platforms intimately)
Tight integration between creative teams and data analytics
Platform-specific content strategy rather than repurposing linear content
In-house production for speed and cost efficiency

The Strategy:

Launch new IP on established YouTube channels (Kid Cowboy debuted on Blaze and the Monster Machines channel)
Use data to identify what audiences love (robots, gadgets, races)
Create format-first content tailored to YouTube viewing patterns
Build trust and iterate based on performance data

Full Episode SummaryThe Evolution to Digital FirstNickelodeon's digital first strategy didn't happen overnight. Alex Reed (SVP Business and Operations) and Marc Cantone (VP of Preschool Digital Content) explained that this has been a gradual five-year journey.

The progression was natural:

Building up the YouTube network
Early seeding of new shows
Sampling episodes on the platform
Finally, launching shows YouTube-first

The Kid Cowboy Case StudyKid Cowboy represents Nickelodeon's first major YouTube-first launch. Key decisions included:

Strategic placement: Launched on the Blaze and the Monster Machines channel, which is the #1 preschool vehicle channel on YouTube
Audience alignment: The show features robots, gadgets, and races—all elements that Blaze audiences love
Format adaptation: Instead of straight narrative, they created "Guess the Gadget Rescues" using gamification formats that resonate with the existing audience
24 episodes: Currently have 24 four-minute episodes planned

The Data-Driven Creative ProcessThe team emphasized that platform specificity is underrated. Their approach balances:

Data inputs:

Computer vision analysis of content performance
YouTube Analytics providing granular insights
Identifying trending elements (specific characters, themes, formats)
Testing and iteration based on real-time feedback

Creative excellence:

Multi-hyphenate producers who are writers, composers, designers, and animators
In-house development and scripting for speed and audience knowledge
Maintaining Nickelodeon's storytelling standards
Creating repeatable formats that allow for efficient production

Overcoming Internal ChallengesThe biggest educational hurdle wasn't with executives but with show creators who needed to understand that:

YouTube isn't "just YouTube"—it's a strategic platform for building franchises
Digital content serves the IP across all platforms
Data insights can inform long-form production (example: Blaze learned robots are popular, incorporated them into later seasons)
This approach leads to more season pickups

Production PhilosophySpeed and efficiency without sacrificing quality:

In-house creative team eliminates external approval cycles
Most time in production is spent waiting for decisions—they've minimized this
Reusable animation, props, and sets
Mix of 2D and 3D techniques
Clear runway from leadership to execute quickly

The mantra: "We're here to make really great content just for this platform, which is very specific."

The Broader Portfolio StrategyBeyond Kid Cowboy, Nickelodeon is:

Doing light reboots (Backyardigans with modern pop music and updated animation)
Testing new series on existing channels (Barnyard Daycare on Blue's Clues channel)
Launching Bubble Guppies reboot
Developing two more original YouTube-first properties

The YouTube QuestionCan you build a kids brand today without YouTube?

The consensus: It's really difficult. They point to Bluey as perhaps the last example of the "old model" that rode Disney+ success, though even Bluey had a YouTube presence. The team believes platform specificity and YouTube presence are now essential for scaling kids brands.

Why This Model Works for Nickelodeon1. Leadership understanding: Brian Robbins built Awesomeness TV, understands digital platforms intimately 2. Trust built over time: Five years of proving the digital team serves the IP, not just "chopping up content" 3. Integration: Digital team isn't an appendage—they're deeply connected to show creators and executives 4. Proven track record: Blaze and the Monster Machines channel success led to season pickups 5. Clear mission: Being wherever kids are (echoing Nickelodeon's founding DNA)

Future OutlookThe team expects:

This won't be a one-size-fits-all model
Acquisitions might follow different strategies
Age groups will require different approaches (easier with younger audiences)
YouTube will always play a role, whether for development or early seeding
Format-first thinking will continue to drive original YouTube content

Key Quotes"We're not just putting a video on YouTube. We're doing it strategically and creatively." - Marc Cantone

"Platform specificity is underrated... what people are there for and how they engage and what the platform rewards, they're all different." - Alex Reed

"If we're not having fun making what we're making, kids aren't going to have fun watching it." - Marc Cantone

"The majority of time spent in making something from pitch to launch is spent waiting for people to make decisions." - Alex Reed

The Three Pillars of SuccessAccording to the team, every decision considers:

The Business - sustainability and growth
The Audience - what kids actually want
The Platform - what works specifically on YouTube

This balanced approach, combined with creative excellence and data-driven insights, positions Nickelodeon to build franchises in the modern media landscape while staying true to their mission of being wherever kids are.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, hosts Andy, Jo, and Emily discuss the current challenges in the kids' media industry, including layoffs and the importance of networking. They highlight Emily Brundige's success as a creator and the significance of in-person experiences. The conversation shifts to the rise of stage productions and the dynamics of fandom, particularly focusing on K-Pop Demon Hunters. They also explore the importance of content planning for IP longevity and conclude with a discussion on SpongeBob's resurgence and Nickelodeon's enduring power in the market.

Takeaways:

The industry is facing significant layoffs and challenges.

Emily Brundige's success story serves as inspiration for creators.

Building a network is crucial for career longevity.

In-person experiences are becoming increasingly important.

Stage productions are evolving as part of IP strategies.

Fandom engagement is vital for sustaining interest in content.

K-Pop Demon Hunters is a case study in modern fandom dynamics.

Content plans are essential for the longevity of IP.

SpongeBob's resurgence highlights Nickelodeon's enduring power.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Sponsorship Opportunities

01:56 Industry Layoffs and Their Impact

05:43 Building in Public: Lessons from Emily Brundige

09:42 The Evolution of Stage Productions in Kids Media

13:22 Experiential Opportunities and IP Revivals

17:02 Fandom and Community in Cinema Experiences

18:24 Crafting Theatrical Experiences from IPs

21:00 The Evolution of Fandom and Engagement

24:36 The Impact of Algorithms on Fandom

27:44 Depth of IP and Content Planning

34:18 SpongeBob: A Case Study in Longevity

39:40 Reviving Legacy Brands and Future Prospects

In this week’s Kids Media club podcast, it the hosts are playing tag: Emily is away this week, but Jo is back from giving a talk at the Vimeo Creativity conference in New York. Andy and Jo discuss the Vimeo conference and the way video platforms are evolving. On the one hand we have platforms like YouTube and TikTok which offer massive reach, albeit subject to the vagaries of the algorithm, and on the other hand we have fan-based subscriber driven platforms like Substack, Patreon, Vimeo, possibly even Onlyfans. It feels like YouTube, TikTok et al are the way to get noticed, but getting paid there is a bit more of a question. Do the fan based subscription platforms offer a better financial return for creators? Listen in to hear what we think!

https://creativelycurious.substack.com/

https://thekidsstreamersphere.substack.com/

In this episode of the Kids Media Club, we are back from Cannes and have some thoughts! Jo is on a work trip, but for the rest of us, we are back in the office and ready to share our impressions of MIPCOM and MIPJunior and just what it means for the industry. We chew the fat on the current state of programming strategy in streaming services, highlight the contrast between the algorithmically led programming compared to editorially led approaches. Lots to dive into.

Also, quick plug for Emily’s brilliant and incisive substack, which we mention on the episode: https://thekidsstreamersphere.substack.com/

In this episode of Kids Media Club podcast hosted at Mipjunior in Cannes, we were delighted to be joined by the very special guest Frank Falcone, founder of Guru Studios. On the 25th anniversary of his studio, Frank reflects on the changes the animation industry has gone through in that time. We discuss the challenges of A.I., adapting to the fragmented landscape and new audiences expectations, and the continuing importance of delivering high quality, and passionate storytelling created with human creativity.

On this week’s show, we are delighted to be joined by David Michel of French television producer and CEO of Cottonwood Media. We discuss the craft of creating dramas for tweens, teens, and millennials. We look at the impact that big budget Netflix shows like Wednesday, Heartstopper, and even Stranger Things have had on the industry and whether kids producers have the resources to compete for that cross-generational attention. There’s stuff about the role for social and vertical video to reach younger audiences and the place for linear TV within this new landscape. It’s a packed episode. Listen in and let us know what you think!

In this week’s Kids Media Club Podcast, we are joined by the creator Cory Williams who talks to us about creating a digital first children’s franchise - Silly Crocodile. He talks about how the character was inspired by toy play with his daughter, shares his challenges with the YouTube algorithm, issues around AI and piracy, and his reasons for turning down a $5million offer. This is a must listen for any YouTube kids creators out there.

https://sillycrocodile.com/

In this week's episode of the podcast, we chat to analyst Ian Whittaker and ask him the question - 'Is YouTube TV?'

This question prompts a deep dive into channel fragmentation, advertising revenue, the creator economy, and the centrality of Kids content within the current battle between legacy media and social media.

It's a fun, no hold bars, discussion, so grab a tea and sit back and enjoy.

Oh and a small disclaimer - as Ian always says, none of the opinions expressed here constitute investment advice! :-)

In this episode, we dive deep into Roblox as a game-changing platform for brand engagement and immersive content creation. Our guest, Nate Spell, CEO of Barrier4, reveals how his team evolved from producing trailers to building interactive experiences for top brands like Netflix and Nickelodeon—all within the Roblox ecosystem.

We explore how brands are moving beyond traditional ads, using gameplay as storytelling and Roblox as a long-term engagement strategy. From licensing opportunities to community-driven development, this episode unpacks the new frontier of digital marketing and interactive media.

Key Takeaways: Roblox is transforming digital marketing—shifting from a novelty to a core strategy for audience engagement. * Barrier4's journey: From a niche magazine to a major Roblox content studio serving global brands. * Gameplay meets brand storytelling: Why integrated, interactive narratives drive deeper user connections. * Roblox as a platform for IP growth: Opportunities for both emerging and established franchises. * Community-first strategies: Why successful brands treat Roblox as a living ecosystem, not just a campaign. * Licensing potential*: Explore how brands can tap into and collaborate with Roblox’s vast creator community.

As the media industry transforms at lightning speed, how do iconic events like MIPCOM and MIPJunior stay ahead of the curve?

In this episode, we sit down with Lucy Smith (Entertainment Division Director, RX France; Director of MIPCOM) and Carole Ollardissen (Content & Conference Manager, MIPCOM & MIPJunior) for an insider look at how the world’s leading entertainment markets are evolving to meet the demands of a shifting industry — from the rise of streaming to the explosion of the creator economy.

Together, Lucy and Carole discuss the strategic changes coming to MIPJunior 2025, its deeper integration with MIPCOM, and how both events are designed to fuel connection, innovation, and opportunity in an increasingly competitive and global content space.

🔍 In this episode:

Lucy’s 20-year journey through media transformation — from the DVD era to the streaming age
Why MIPCOM and MIPJunior are more relevant than ever in 2025
How the events are tackling the biggest challenges in kids and family content
Major format changes at MIPJunior 2025, including:
Physical integration with MIPCOM (no longer separate venues)
Smarter, dedicated matchmaking tools
Stronger alignment with broader MIPCOM initiatives
New YouTube partnership and a focus on the creator economy
Why MIPJunior is no longer just the “room where it happens” — it’s a collaborative launchpad for the future of kids content

Whether you’re developing IP, distributing content, building partnerships, or navigating the digital-first world of kids media, this episode offers an essential preview of what to expect at MIPCOM 2025 — and why it remains the beating heart of global entertainment deal-making.

In this week's Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy is away so Jo and Emily are indulging their inner-geek and doing a deep dive into THE kids phenomenon K-Pop Demon Hunters.

They unpick the strategies behind the birth of a new mega kids franchise, check out the fan created content on Roblox and Youtube, and learn about the science and craft behind the chart topping songs.

K-Pop Demon Hunters really is THE hit movie that has taken everyone by surprise. When even tennis champion Novak Djokovic is doing the soda pop dance at the US Open for his daughter, you know this is one of those cultural explosions that happen very rarely.

This week’s hosts’ hangout at the Kids Media Club HQ is all about discussing K-Pop Demon Hunters’ record-breaking success (yay!). They also talk about the ongoing challenges facing kids’ media (boo!) and, in particular, try to tackle the thorny issue of COPPA regulations. Could they be amended to help the industry monetise kids’ content on YouTube more successfully or is it working as it was intended?

In this episode, we respond to the UK government’s industry survey on children’s content, programming, and social media.

We talk about the aims of the survey, share our honest thoughts on what’s working, what’s not, and what the future of kids' media could look like. From funding challenges to the impact of social platforms, we unpack it all.

🎧 Tune in for a real-time industry check-in from three people who care deeply about children’s content.

KidsMedia #ChildrensTV #GovernmentSurvey #KidsProgramming #DigitalKids #KidsMediaClub

In this episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, we sit down with renowned children's TV writer and producer Mellie Buse. Known for her work as head writer on Charlie and Lola, co-creating Grandpa in My Pocket, and writing/producing The Hoobs for The Jim Henson Company, Mellie shares her journey through the world of kids’ television.

We dive into the evolution of children’s media, discussing the shift from traditional TV to platforms like YouTube, the opportunities this brought for IP creators, and the challenges that followed due to COPPA regulations and monetization changes.

Whether you're a content creator, producer, or fan of children’s programming, this episode is packed with insights into the creative and business sides of kids’ media. Tune in now! #KidsMedia

ChildrensTV

KidsContent

TVProduction

Screenwriting

MediaForKids

ContentCreation

CreativeIndustry

KidsEntertainment

Kids Media Club is thrilled to team up with Brands in Play for an exciting new episode! We chatted with Nic Hill and Albane Prioux, hosts of the Brands In Play podcast, to explore the wild and deeply weird world of Italian Brain Rot. This chaotic blend of ironic meme culture and generative AI is making waves as the latest UGC trend. Is it just the sloppiest of AI slop yet, or does this anarchic phenomenon have the potential to evolve into a massive, open-sourced IP?

Meme Chaos or IP Gold?

Tune in to find out!

In this week's episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, we sat down with Nic Cabana and Andrew Pelekis, the folks behind Claynosaurz. We talk about how they leveraged fan-power to build their a monster sized IP. We dive into how they flipped the animated brand playbook on its head by starting with collectables and building to series and discuss their mission to build a community of superfans. If you're interested in the future of brand building this is a must listen.

Hosts Hang Outs are a bit like buses, there aren't any for months and then two come along one week after another!

Yes, that's right, we enjoyed our hosts' natter so much we decided to do another one straight away.

Here's what we chat about in this episode of the Kids Media Club:

Emily has just seen Rachel Zegler as Evita in the West End - we get her thoughts on the show and discuss the buzz around Zegler's performance. After the Snow White fiasco is this her emancipation?

The British Media regulator Ofcom has published their advice to public service broadcasters on YouTube and other social video platforms - we discuss whether broadcasters need to be all in on YouTube or follow a more nuanced strategy.

Finally we talk about kids media brand extensions from Pokémon teaming up with Aardman to Bluey targeting grown-ups.

Back to one of our favourite formats - the Hosts Hang Out! Yes, we do love the sound of our own voices! :-) In this episode, we cut loose and dive into what's happening in children's media. No guests, just the hosts putting the world to rights. And there's a lot to put right! We chew over the sensational success of the 'K-pop Demon Hunters' animated movie on Netflix and the rise if Ms Rachel, explore the implications of Sky Kids' announcement that they will end original content commissioning, and compare the MAD marketing Fest in London with CMC conference in Sheffield.

Here are the topics we discuss:

The success of "K-pop Demon Hunters" on Netflix

Sky Kids' decision to end original content commissioning and the Implications for the industry

Insights on "Ms Rachel" on Netflix

Comparison of the MAD Marketing Festival in London and CMC in Sheffield

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode and suggest topics you'd like us to explore in future shows!

We're out of the office this week, either on holiday or at Children's Media Conference in Sheffield, so we thought we'd take this opportunity to dive into the archive and revisit this conversation with the OG nursery rhyme preschool band - The Wiggles.

Normal service will be resumed next week, in the meantime enjoy this episode - it's a cracker!

In this latest Precise TV sponsored episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, we spoke with Gregory Dray, co-founder of Animaj, about his mission to create the next big digital-first children's media brand.

We discuss:

Greg's background at YouTube

How Animaj are using AI to manage production in a way that empowers creatives rather than replaces them

The challenges of raising investment at a time when the kids media business is considered broken.

Why the industry is so stuck and Animaj's plans to fix it.

At a time when people can often despair about the challenges the industry is facing, Greg’s positive, practical, and innovative approach to kids’ content is truly refreshing.

For this episode, we have opened the archives and returned to a great discussion we had with Kevin Parry, stop-motion animation, visual magician, and FX wizard.

Kevin has built a huge following on all the major social media platforms from LinkedIn to Youtube. He regularly gets viewing numbers networks would envy!

In this episode, Kevin chats about making stop-motion animation go viral, the power of behind the scenes content, and why he likes to think of his audience as a 'network' of collaborators rather than 'followers' and 'subscribers'.

Connect with Kevin

https://kevinparry.tv/

Instagram: @kevinbparry

TikTok: @kevinbparry

YouTube: @kevinbparry

Join us for an exclusive dive into the world of CBeebies, featuring special guests Kate Morton, Senior Head of Commissioning, and Joe McCulloch, Executive Producer. We’ll explore how CBeebies commissions its shows, discuss its YouTube strategy, and delve into its approach to building communities. Kate and Joe also introduce CBeebies’ new Parenting brand extension, revealing how it supports families with valuable tips, resources, and engaging ways to learn and grow together.

As part of our current series diving into the world of YouTube content creation, we’re dusting off an old episode from the Kids Media Club Podcast archives! In this episode we chat with Christian Hughes, the creative mind behind Gecko's Garage, to uncover what it takes to build a successful kids’ YouTube show. This conversation explores Christian’s YouTube journey, the strategies and challenges that shaped Gecko's Garage, and the breakthroughs that led to its success.

In this episode, we cover:

How Christian kickstarted his YouTube channel
What he’d do differently if starting from scratch
Why data is a game-changer in content creation
His experience partnering with Moonbug

In this exciting episode, recorded live in partnership with Precise TV, we sit down with Jasmine Dawson from BBC Studios to dive into the digital phenomenon of the kids IP, Bluey. We explore the early days of fandom growth post-launch and how it snowballed into the massive wave of viewers for Season 3! Jasmine shares her team’s innovative approach to Bluey’s YouTube presence, embracing a native creator mindset from day one - a brilliant strategy that’s paid off in spades. Listen in for an insightful chat about building a juggernaut in kids’ media!

From rhymes to riches?

Nursery rhymes have become one of the biggest genres on YouTube, captivating young children and their parents while spawning major entertainment franchises. In this episode, we sit down with Liz Gonzalez, an expert in children's digital content, to explore how nursery rhyme videos became such a massive phenomenon. We'll discuss the unique challenges of creating production pipelines for this type of content, and address the frequent criticism about whether this type of content represents quality output. Whether you're a producer, content creator, or just curious about the business of kids' media, this conversation offers fascinating insights into one of YouTube's most successful - and sometimes controversial - genres.

In this week’s episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy are joined by Tom Box, Co-Founder of Blue Zoo animation studio. Tom discusses Blue Zoo’s AI policy, which aims to ethically integrate AI into their workflow.

AI in animation is a contentious topic, sparking heated and polarising debate. The hosts even imagined hordes of angry animators, pitch forks in hands, marching up to their podcast studio at the merest mention of the word.

Incorporating AI successfully into a company’s production pipeline while finding common ground among artists takes a delicate and careful touch, akin to a bomb-disposal expert deciding which wire to cut to stop everything blowing up. Tom has thought long and hard about the best way to approach this topic and it was a wonderful opportunity to discuss the issues and concerns swirling around AI in animation.

What do you think about AI in animation? Have Blue Zoo struck the right balance? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

In this special episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, sponsored by Precise TV, we’re joined by Denis Crushell, Chief Commercial Officer of Precise TV to dive into their PARK report on YouTube viewing habits among UK kids and families. Hosts Andy, Emily, and Jo unpack key insights, including YouTube’s dominance as the #1 platform for kids and the influence children have on household purchasing decisions. Plus, don’t miss an exciting announcement about an upcoming live event you won’t want to miss!

https://www.precise.tv/kidsmediaclub

https://www.precise.tv/

The arrival of a new baby takes a lot of planning and that's as true for the Peppa Pig family as any other! In this week's Kids Media Club podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy are joined by Esra Cafer, SVP Global Brand Strategy at Hasbro, to discuss the new addition to the Peppa Pig family and just what's involved from a brand management and strategy perspective.

In this week's episode, special guest Emily Brundige joins the podcast to talk about what goes into creating an animated show. She draws on her extensive experience that covers from her first break producing a YouTube original series through to developing and producing her own show GOLDIE for Apple TV+. This is a must-listen to any aspiring or experienced animators and show producers.

https://www.emilybrundige.com/

We dip into the archives to revisit an old episode. Roblox has recently broken its own record of concurrent players on the platform, so we thought we'd look back at this episode about kids media IP owners increasingly playing in the Roblox sandbox:

Dreamworks is extending its Roblox integration with the launch of the new Shrek game. It's a sign that Roblox is becoming a key part of a big brand's flywheel and IP eco-system. Is it a trend or is Roblox here to stay? In this episode, Jo, Andy, and Emily chatted to Bill Kispert, SVP & GM, Games & Digital Platforms at Universal Products & Experiences, and Marcus Holstrom, CEO The Gang, to unpick how to build successful Roblox games that grow huge brands.

What are the five most common mistakes made in kids media? In this week's episode, the hosts got together to share their thoughts on the biggest boo-boos being made in the industry today. From blindly following data to making shows for parents rather than kids, they propose their picks for the most typical blunders the industry is guilty of committing.

What do you think? Would you have suggested some different ones? Let us know in the comments.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, our hosts chat with Simon Pulman, entertainment lawyer and returning guest to the show. They get together to discuss the topic that everyone is talking about. Namely the Minecraft Movie. What factors contributed to its startling commercial success? Was it by respecting the source material or by ensuring the Minecraft community felt properly represented and seen? Will Hollywood learn from this or grab the wrong end of the stick? Simon, Jo, Emily, and Andy unpick the pixels behind the story to uncover how the Minecraft Movie went from sandbox to cinematic triumph.

It's host hang out time again. Emily, Jo, and Andy have celebrated their 100th episode anniversary and are back shooting the breeze about all things kids media. This time around they're discussing the Youtube metrics changes and CBBC going all in on Youtube, the Snow White backlash (was Rachel Zegler pushed under the bus or did she pull the bus down on herself?), and ponder how big the Minecraft Movie will be!

Settle in for a short chinwag with your favourite kids media pundits.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Andy, and Emily were delighted to be joined by Robert Chandler, the irrepressibly enthusiastic producer of animated features like The Cantiville Ghost and The Amazing Mauricem among many others. Robert is a veteran of TV and movie production and has the scars on his back to show it! He shares his insights on how to put together a successful animated feature, working with IP holders, and the current state of the market. This is a must listen for anyone looking seriously at producing features.

This episode the Kids Media Podcast gets meta for a podcast discussion on podcasting for kids. Hosts Andy, Jo, and Emily are joined by podcast experts, Lindsay Patterson and Carla Herbertson.

They discuss :

How listening behaviours are different for a kids audience

What shows are hits with young audiences

The discoverability challenge for kids podcasts

And why podcasts are the ultimate sandbox to try out new ideas.

So if you want to know more about what's happening in the audio space for kids and family, tune in, listen and learn.

In this week's Kids Media Club, it's another hosts hangout. Jo, Andy, and Emily chat about how Ms Rachel is doing on Netflix, Mr Beast's series on Amazon and how it fits into his media strategy, and the new Pixar original series Win Or Lose.

Join the Kids Media Podcast as Jo and Andy chat with Alex Piper, producer, former Global Head of Unscripted at Youtube, and executive vice president of original content at the NBA. Alex shares his insights and experiences from being involved in Mr Beast's meteoric rise to overseeing the NBA's content strategy and production. He shines a light on how the worlds of mega sports brands and content creators are merging and crossing over. This episode is an unmissable glimpse on a new way of thinking about fandom and sports.

This podcast episode looks at Nickelodeon's YouTube as springboard strategy. Jo, Emily, and Andy catch up with Alex Reed and Marc Cantone from Nickelodeon to discuss the studios YouTube playbook.

Their new preschool show Kid Cowboy launches first on YouTube. Nickelodeon's mission is to be where kids are and it's a reflection of the sesmic shifts in the industry that more than ever that place is YouTube. How does a big kids TV brand adapt and innovate, but stay true to their storytelling roots? Listen in and find out.

In this week's podcast, Jo and Andy welcome Ed Barneih to the show. Ed is launching a new venture committed to championing storytellers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

A former executive at Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Asia, Netflix, and BBC Worldwide, Ed has a comprehensive understanding of the global kids media market. Join the chat, as he shares his vision for moving beyond an exclusively western focus to discovering the universe of stories from across the globe.

In this week's episode, the Kids Media crew are all together, live and in person, at San Diego for the Kidscreen Summit 2025.

Jo, Emily, and Andy share their thoughts on the mood at the conference and which of the sessions they're excited to attend. Along the way, they also hear from other delegates and get their views on the conference and what it might mean for the kids media industry.

In this week's episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy are beyond thrilled to be joined by the folks behind the cherished preschool phenomenon THE WIGGLES! Wiggles CEO, Luke O'Neill, and the legend and co-founder of the Wiggles, Anthony Field share their insights and experiences on a journey that started with them playing to small classes of children and grew to performing at Madison Square Gardens.

They discuss how the Wiggles began, what they feel are the secret ingredients to their success, and some of their surprising celebrity fans.

This is an inspirational chat about building an internationally successful children's brand and a must listen for anyone looking to create tomorrow's kids media hit.

January is almost over, Toy Fair London has wrapped and the Kids Media Club hosts are catching up to share their impressions and talk about what new trends they spotted and what toys to look out for in the year ahead

Jo, Andy, and Emily also talk about the new Netflix report and the continued dominance of YouTube.

In this special Kids Media Club Podcast episode, brought to you by The Insights Family, Jo, Andy, and Emily are joined by Jack Day, Global Strategy Account Director, along with researchers Needa Khan and Udoy Nafis Oli, to discuss The Insights Family’s flagship annual report, Future Forecast, exploring the emerging consumer shifts and industry trends shaping how organisations connect with young audiences in 2025 and beyond.

Download your free copy of the report https://go.theinsightsfamily.com/download-future-forecast-2025 or

visit https://theinsightsfamily.com/ for more information

This episode is all chat, no guests; just hosts Jo, Emily, and Andy having a good old chinwag about all things kids media.

Topics covered:

The consequences of the potential TikTok ban
What is and isn't popping on Netflix
WWE and live programming on Netflix
Thoughts on Kidscreen and Toyfair.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy are joined by Michael Hirsh, the co-founder of Nelvana Animation Studio and Cookie Jar entertainment. Michael, who is credited with building the Canadian Animation industry from the ground up, shares his experience and insights gained over more than five decades in entertainment. He has kept pace with changes to the industry, working with dedicated children's channels like Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney channel, while also embracing the possibility of streaming and online platforms like Netflix and Youtube. Very few people working in the Kids Media industry today have that combination of experience and curiosity.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Animation-Nation-Built-Cartoon-Empire-ebook/dp/B0DFTVVS7D

The Kids Media Club revisits a recent chat with the Insights Family. In this Kids Media Club Podcast episode brought to you by The Insights Family, Jo, Andy, and Emily are joined by Adam Woodgate, VP of Research Solutions, and Aimee Brookes, Customer Success Manager for the Insights Family to take a look back at 2024 and discuss the emerging trends in store for 2025 and beyond.

Happy holidays. We're taking a break this week, but to carry us through we thought we'd revisit this great interview from this year with Kevin Gillis the creator of the classic animation, Raccoons.

Tis' the season of Christmas hats, xmas jumpers, and lots of tinsel and the Kids Media Club crew have got with the festive spirit for this week's episode.

Jo, Emily, and Andy test each other's knowledge of Christmas movies past and present, and compare notes on two new Netflix animated movies, 'Spellbound' and 'That Christmas'.

In this Kids Media Club Podcast episode brought to you by The Insights Family, Jo, Andy, and Emily are joined by Adam Woodgate, VP of Research Solutions, and Aimee Brookes, Customer Success Manager for the Insights Family to take a look back at 2024 and discuss the emerging trends in store for 2025 and beyond.

https://theinsightsfamily.com/

This week's episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast features part two of the chat with Evan Shapiro. In this section of the chat Evan discusses the role of PBS in the current kids media eco-system.

https://eshap.substack.com/p/all-the-tea-vee

The quiff has landed. In this week's episode of The Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy are joined by Evan Shapiro, media cartographer and analyst. Evan has delivered a wake up call to the media industry warning us about the 'media apocalypse', and the shifting tectonic plates shaking up media giants like Warner Bros and Disney. In these changing times, a conversation about where the industry is moving has never been more important. Tune in to part two of our chat and don't forget to listen to the second half of this discussion with Evan next week.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy are joined by Nic Hill, co-founder of digital creative agency Sawhorse. Nic is a specialist at creating fantastic experiences and games on Roblox and is the go-to person for big brands and studios when they want a promotional game for their product or movie that has impact on the platform.

They discuss:

How the film industry is leveraging UGC platforms like Roblox to support box office as we’ve seen with KF Panda, Minions and Beetlejuice.
Roblox and Sports – what is the opportunity for rights holders?
The Roblox brand partnerships hub, will all companies have a 3D space in lieu of websites? How soon?
What do brand owners or IP creators need to bear in mind when activating on Roblox

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Emily, Jo, and Andy talk to Paul Schleicher about his Netflix animated series, Bad Dinosaurs.

They discuss:

The Netflix commissioning process with Bad Dinosaurs?
How did they develop the show?
Producing a language-less comedy.
The reception of the Bad Dinosaurs.

In this week's Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Andy, and Emily are joined by producer Steve Smith from Beakus to discuss his new series BIG LIZARD. They talk about the development process, the funding, and how he navigated the ups and downs and roundabouts of international co-productions.

Join us and find out just what it takes to hatch a series like BIG LIZARD.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024gkv

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024gkv

The Kids Media Club hosts, Jo, Andy, and Emily caught up after their time at MIP in Cannes to share their impressions. The market has been pretty gruelling for the industry so what was the mood like? Were producers buoyed by Can-can attitude at Cannes, or were they feeling more can't-can't? Is there a growing acceptance of new platforms like Roblox? Is it feasible for entertainment producers to use the immense popularity of Youtube to cash-flow their series?

What is the collective word for a group of 'nerds'? A herd of Nerds? A tribe of Nerds?

In this week's episodes of the podcast, Andy, Jo, and Emily nerd out about nerd culture. The chat covers the waterfront. They dive deep into the world of fandoms - from comics to trainers, from Star Wars to Marvel, from gaming to Lego. This show is for everyone who is proud to be a nerd and anyone interested in understanding geek culture.

Dreamworks is extending its Roblox integration with the launch of the new Shrek game. It's a sign that Roblox is becoming a key part of a big brand's flywheel and IP eco-system. Is it a trend or is Roblox here to stay? In this episode, Jo, Andy, and Emily chatted to Bill Kispert, SVP & GM, Games & Digital Platforms at Universal Products & Experiences, and Marcus Holstrom, CEO The Gang, to unpick how to build successful Roblox games that grow huge brands.

In this snack-able episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Emily looks back on our recent chat with Kat Carr on TikTok and picks her key takeaways. Tons of bite-size wisdom and insights on the most viral social media platform around.

Keep tuned for some awesome interviews coming up in the next couple of weeks

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy chat with the brilliant Kat Carr from creative agency, Think Jam, about how kids media brands can get the most out of TikTok. We explore what makes things go super viral on TikTok, how the TikTok audience is changing, and why even kid brands needs to have a TikTok strategy.

A bonus episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast (we're spoiling you!): Jo and Emily give us their impressions of the event and what they think it tells us about the licensing market as a whole.

It's Brand Licensing Europe week so what better time to revisit this interview with Laura Clunie from Spin Master where she shares her experience and insight on what it takes to build a mega franchise like Paw Patrol.

In this episode of "The Kids Media Club Podcast," Jo, Emily, and Andy chat with Eric Calderon, the Executive Vice President of Creative Development at Falcon's Beyond. Together they explore the awesome world of anime. Eric knows his stuff when it comes to this, and he's talks about anime's origins, the unique system in which the work is developed and made, the hit shows, and what's next for anime.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, the tables are turned and the listeners get to ask the questions! Jo, Andy, and Emily take their listener's burning questions. The hosts try dusting their crystal ball and explore what the kids media landscape will look like in five years time and they also tackle the pros and cons of using AI in kids media.

Join hosts Andy, Jo, and Emily for a fun, breezy, and hopefully insightful round table chat on a number of hot topics in this week's episode of "The Kids Media Club Podcast".

First up, they tackle the phenomenon of sport fandom and through the lens of Roblox, exploring how incorporate virtual kicks and digital cheers are shaping the next generation of sports enthusiasts.

The conversation then moves seamlessly into the cinematic fortunes (or misfortunes) of "Ryan's World: The Movie." - Is it a blunder of epic proportions? The gang debates whether Ryan, the YouTube sensation, failed attempt to move his brand into the world of movies, is a set-back for other YouTubers looking to diversify their personal brands.

Finally, the trio share their nervousness over the upcoming "Moana 2." Will the magic of the original be recaptured, or will this sequel be a wash out?

It's a take-away episode this week. Jo, Emily, and Andy explore the topic of family movies and cinema in 2024. They pick some favourite moments and insights from their past interviews with industry experts Scott Mendelson, columnist and box office analyst for Puck, and Becky Evans, content strategist for Generation Media.

We interrupt your normal service for a special FAST and Furious takeaways episode all about FAST channels. In this bite-size but turbo charged episode, Andy, Jo, and Emily select their favourite guests insights on FAST channels.

In this special episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, we had the privilege of interviewing Kevin Gillis, the mastermind behind the beloved cartoon show, The Raccoons. Kevin takes us on a captivating journey behind the scenes, sharing valuable insights into how the series was created and the heartwarming impact it had on audiences. Furthermore, he discusses the significance of reintroducing The Raccoons to a new generation, giving us an exclusive peek into what this revival means to him personally. If you're a fan of The Raccoons or simply intrigued by the art of storytelling, this episode is not to be missed!

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Andy, Jo, and Emily are joined by special guest Jeff Gomez, President and CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment. A pioneer of transmedia storytelling, Jeff shares his valuable insights into this ever-evolving landscape. Dive into the world of transmedia and discover the exciting potential it holds for storytelling across different media platforms.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Andy, Jo, and Emily are joined by Louise Bucknole and Kyle Jenkins from Nickelodeon UK and Milkshake (the preschool block on UK's Channel 5). They discuss Milkshake's slate of local live-action based shows and their strategy for local programming.

Stop motion animator and visual magician is the guest on today's Kids Media Club Podcast. Kevin has built a huge following on all the major social media platforms from LinkedIn to Youtube. He regularly gets viewing numbers networks would envy!

In this episode, Kevin chats to Jo, Emily, and Andy about making stop-motion animation go viral, the power of behind the scenes content, and why he likes to think of his audience as a 'network' of collaborators rather than 'followers' and 'subscribers'.

Connect with Kevin

https://kevinparry.tv/

Instagram: @kevinbparry

TikTok: @kevinbparry

YouTube: @kevinbparry

In this week's Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Andy, and Emily are joined by guest Scott Mendelson, Box office columnist at Puck News, to talk about the state of family movies. They discuss whether the success of Inside Out 2 heralds the return of the Family movie blockbuster, try and pin down what Disney and Pixar got wrong with Buzz Lightyear the movie, and ponder if the sweet spot for nostalgia franchises is old but not ancient.

In this week's episode, Emily and Andy chat with Brandon Katz, Senior Entertainment Industry Strategist, about the upcoming entry of several major entertainment properties into the Public Domain. What impact will it have on the major studios when their most cherished brands are available for anyone to put their spin on? Will this potential creative freedom rejuvenate stagnant characters with fresh and unexpected perspectives, or will it lead to creative chaos and confusion? We asked Brandon for his view of what's in store for the big studios and legacy IP holders.

In this episode of The Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo, Emily, and Andy have the pleasure of chatting with Laura Taylor Williams, head of Digital Partnerships and Monetization at Aardman Animation. They discuss the evolving market for FAST channels (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV), the differences between the commercial opportunities for them in North America compared to Europe, and Aardman's own experience and learnings from setting up the 'Shaun and Sheep and Friends' FAST channel.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy, Jo, and Emily have a chin-wag about the latest kids media news. They discuss the bonanza box office of Inside Out 2 (does this break the Disney Pixar curse?), share their impressions of the new public domain Winnie the Pooh, and talk about the latest Roblox news.

In this week's episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Jo, Emily, and Andy talk to Becky Evans, from Generation Media, who leads placement of content in cinema as a marketing strategy. They discuss how family cinema going has changed since the pandemic, the rise of more niche and diverse programming from gaming to Bollywood, and even whether we will see SideMen or Mr Beast the movie. Tune in to find out what the future might look like for family cinema.

In this special bonus episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, co-host Andy Williams turns roving reporter at the Annecy Animation Festival (it's a tough gig). He asks some of the people attending the festival what they're watching, who they're meeting, and what makes the festival unique and such a calendar fixture for industry veterans and animation fans alike.

In this bite-size episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, we hit re-re-rewind and listen back to chats with guests who know a thing or two about creating big, big, BIG brands. Jo and Emily select a few key takeaways and insights on brand-building from guests like Laura Clunie, Nina Hahn, and Dennis Crushell.

In this Kids Media Club Podcast episode, Andy and Jo chatted with Laura Clunie from Spin Master. They talked about developing and producing mega-hits like Paw Patrol, how Spin Master's experience as a toy company informs their series development approach and the importance of taking a multi-platform approach today.

Welcome to the latest episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast. In this episode, we will be taking a deep dive into the world of data and media strategy. We'll be rewinding the clock and revisiting discussions with Brandon Katz, Andrew Rosen, and the Entertainment Strategy Guy. And as a special bonus, co-host Emily gives us an audio summary of her latest newsletter on the Netflix data dump. You want the data, but can you handle the data?

KidsMediaClub #Podcast #BrandonKatz #AndrewRosen #EntertainmentStrategyGuy #Netflix #DataDump

On this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Emily and Andy are joined by the brilliant Claire Tavernier, co-host of the Media Beat Podcast, to discuss YouTube and the state of streaming. They cover the olden days of Youtube, the under-the-radar rise of Youtube Premium, and the pain of Geo-blocking. Plus, we find out if Claire agrees with Emily that Youtube has won the streaming wars?

In this break from our normal programming, we revisit some recent podcast discussions with guests Simon Pulman and Sam Clough to garner key insights and takeaways on the Comfort TV trend and teen media habits in general. Think of it as a brain-snack.

This episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast sees the return of a friend of the show, entertainment lawyer Simon Pulman. In what they like to describe as a relaxed, free-form, and discursive chat (don't say rambling!), Jo, Emily, Andrew, and Simon shoot the breeze about topics like fast channels, the popularity of old shows for young audiences, and the tiktokification of everything.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, Emily, Jo, and Andy talk teen audiences with Sam Clough, Global Head of Insights at Super Awesome. They discuss common misconceptions about teens, the brands succeeding at engaging with them, and the ones failing to impress. It's everything you wanted to know about teen media but were afraid to ask!

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Emil and Andy sit down with Keith Chapman, the creator of children's TV franchises like Bob the Builder and Paw Patrol. Together, they discuss the process of finding the big idea that can lead to the creation of a successful children's franchise that resonates with audiences worldwide. Chapman shares his insights and experiences on how to develop strong characters, storylines, and themes that can appeal to young viewers and their families. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the world of children's media and the art of creating successful franchises that endure over time.

In this episode of The Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Jo, Emily, and Andrew are joined by Sophie Peachey, assistant editor at the News Movement, a ground-breaking news company that exists entirely on social media with a mission to take news to where young people are. Together, they discuss the challenges of reaching young audiences with news, navigating the vagaries of social media platform's regulations, dealing with disinformation, and how News Movement is making a difference. It's an inspiring chat that sheds light on the future of news distribution and the importance of engaging young audiences. Don't miss this episode to learn how News Movement is revolutionizing the way news is delivered to the next generation.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, we're joined by Stephen Dypiangco to discuss the popular gaming platform, Roblox. As an expert on Roblox, Stephen shares his insights on how brands can navigate and make the best use of this rapidly growing platform, as well as the similarities and differences to Youtube. From understanding the game mechanics to creating engaging branded content, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to make an impact in the Roblox community. Tune in now to learn more!

In this episode of the Kids Media Podcast, we take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of our Roblox themed discussions. We rewind the tape to listen back to our chats with Ricardo Briceno of Game Fam, who shares his insights on the popular gaming platform, and Entertainment Lawyer Simon Pullman, who talks about the IP value of gaming franchises and why we will see a lot more movies like Mario Bros.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club, it's back to the round-table format as Jo, Emily, and Andy catch up on the latest happenings in the world of kids' media.

They kick things off by getting Jo's impressions on the recent Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, highlighting what caught her attention there and how it compared to the Kidscreen Conference in San Diego.

Next, they dive into the groundbreaking release of the Ryan's World movie and speculate whether this could be part of a wider trend.

Finally, they discuss the recent news of Mr Beast's TV deal with Amazon and ponder what this means for entertainment in the future. Are we seeing a changing of the guard here?

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Andy, Jo, and Emily are joined by Julian Bashford, Executive Producer and Show Creator, and Chris Bowden, Producer at Mackinnon & Saunders, to discuss neurodiversity in kids' media. Julian and Chris worked on the wonderful Sky Kids series "BooSnoo!", which was designed for an audience that includes children on the autistic spectrum. Chris also discussed the importance of authentic representation of disability in the preschool animation "Mixmups".

If you want to learn more about these topics, be sure to check out "BooSnoo!" and "Mixmups". Thanks for listening and be sure to tune in for our next episode!

https://www.boosnoo.com/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-67168408

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, we headed to the British Animation Awards and sat down with Rob Doherty, Media Executive, Consultant, and Founder of Festivus, to get his thoughts on the state of animation and how he sees things developing in the future.

Join Jo, Emily, and Andy as they dive into the latest news in the world of kids media. In this roundup, we'll discuss the recent Children's Summit in London, Netflix's decision to put the animated movie Nimona on Youtube in the run-up to the Oscars, and the Kung Fu Panda game that's blowing up on Roblox.

Sign up in support of the children's media foundation here: https://www.thechildrensmediafoundation.org/responding-to-the-crisis-of-childhood

And check out the sessions from the Children's Media Summit here https://www.youtube.com/@thechildrensmediafoundation

Nimona Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_fuHRyQbOc

Kung Fu Panda Obby Game on Roblox: https://roblox.fandom.com/wiki/Kung_Fu_Panda_4_Obby

On the latest episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, the host summarizes key takeaways from previous guests on the topic of YouTube. The discussion focused on how kids creators and producers can get the best out of this platform, which is the biggest video platform on the planet. This highlights episode includes insights from some of the previous guests, including Simon Clarke from BBC, Ryan Bradley from Dream Works, and Alix Wiseman from 9 stories.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Emily and Andy interview Denis Crushell, the CCO of Precise Media. They discuss the misconception of simply "putting stuff" on YouTube, the reasons why YouTube remains THE popular platform for preschoolers, and how to connect with children aged six and above. As a seasoned executive with extensive experience in working with YouTube for kids, Denis shares valuable insights in this area. A must listen for anyone looking to learn more about creating and marketing on Youtube and beyond.

You can download a report from Precise TV about video consumption amongst US Gen Alphas here:

https://content.precise.tv/en-us/en-us/park_usa_2024_report_landing_page

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, your hosts are on-site at the Kidscreen Conference in San Diego, California. Joined by industry professionals from around the world, they ask attendees for their key takeaways from the conference, their perspectives on the current state of the market, and their hopes for the future of the kids' media industry. Tune in to hear what Kidscreen attendees think about the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the ever-evolving world of children's media.

In this episode of The Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Andy, Emily, and Jo choose their key takeaways from the previous episodes covering topics such as Sports Fandom, Franchise Vs Originals, and FAST channels. The episode highlights key points and insights shared by guests and is a great way to catch up on what you may have missed or simply refresh your memory.

In this latest episode of the Kids Media Club podcast, hosts Andy and Emily dive into the world of FAST channels (Free Advertiser-Supported Streaming TV) with media expert and consultant Marion Ranchet. They discuss the rise of FAST channels, the benefits of this new streaming option, and the impact it has on traditional TV. Ranchet also shares her insights on the future of streaming TV and how it will shape the entertainment industry. Tune in to this informative and engaging episode to learn all about FAST channels and what they mean for the future of media consumption.

Welcome to the Kids Media Club Podcast! In this episode, your hosts Andrew, Emily, and Jo sit down for a fascinating chat with Nina Hahn, a highly experienced Kids Media executive, consultant and former head of Viacom International Studio Kids. The topic of the day is Franchises Versus Originals in kids media, and Nina brings her wealth of knowledge and insights to the table. Nina is an incredibly insightful, smart, and engaging guest with a unique point of view on the state of the industry.

Join hosts Jo, Andy, and Emily as they take you through some of their favourite conversations from the Kids Media Club podcast in 2023. In this Kids Media 2023 Wrapped Episode, the hosts select their favourite stand-out clips from the year featuring a diverse range of guests and thought-provoking topics. From Ryan Bradley's insights on the streaming-first franchise, Gabby's Dollhouse, to Simon Pulman's take on the convergence of gaming and animation, Mikael Shields' advice on building a kids brand with longevity, and Alix Wiseman's inspiring rallying call for the industry, there's something for everyone interested in kids media. So sit back, grab a cuppa, and listen to these picks from 2023.

In this episode of The Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Jo and Andy dive into the world of sports fandom. They are joined by two special guests, Tom Bowers, the founder of Hypothesis Media, and Maurice Wheeler, the CEO of We Are Family. Together, they explore the latest trends in Sports fandom. From the increased use of interactivity to the impact of social media, they cover a wide range of topics relevant to anyone interested in the intersection of media and youth culture.

In this festive episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, your hosts Jo Redfern, Emily Horgan, and Andy Williams take a look back at the past year of big changes in kids media. They catch up on the latest movie releases, share their views on Adam Sandler's new Netflix animated movie, Leo, and share their predictions for trends in the year to come. But be warned there might be some bad dad cracker jokes along the way! So grab some eggnog, put on your favourite christmas sweater, and join us for this seasonal round up.

In this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, hosts Andy and Emily sit down with Mikkel Lee, Story and Innovation Lead at Lego, to explore the fascinating world of Lego story development. Mikkel shares insights on how Lego use play patterns and play types to direct story development across all their products, from in-store displays to augmented reality experiences and even down to their instruction manuals. For his team at Lego it is all about how to make the Lego user an active participant in the story. Mikkel gives listeners an exclusive glimpse into their creative process and explains how they ensure that every touchpoint tells a cohesive and engaging story.

In this latest episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, our hosts Jo, Andy, and Emily chat to Ricardo Briceno, the chief business Officer at Gamefam. They discuss how kids brands can leverage the enormous potential of Roblox. They compare and contrast the platform with YouTube, and explore whether the rise of video on Roblox might mean that brands will not need to launch on other platforms such as TikTok and YouTube in the future. This is a great place to start if you've ever wanted to know more about Roblox's potential for Kids' brands.

Join us for a great chat with Mikael Shields, CEO of Acamar Films and the producer of the loved preschool animated series BING. In this episode, Mikael shares his decade-long journey of building a successful kids' brand. Learn how Mikael and the team used ideas around cognitive development to create a show that not only entertains but also helps young children develop key skills. He touches on what he feels the industry could do to future-proof itself in terms of training and education for new people entering the industry. Essential listening for producers, commissioners, writers, parents, and fans of Bing.

Join Andy, Emily, and Jo in this episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast as they welcome special guest, media and finance analyst, Ian Whittaker. Together, they dive into the news about the resolution of the recent strikes and what it could mean for the entertainment industry, those rumours about Apple buying Disney, if that wasn't enough there's some Dad dancing analogies about Youtube and TikTok. Listen in to find out what we're talking about!

In this episode, we sit down with the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a super experienced and insightful media analyst, and ask him to turn his lens on the current state of kids' media. We wrangle and wrestle the data to look at the best strategies for creating a new hit kids' franchise in our multi-platform world. This episode has a plethora of insights from the Entertainment Strategy Guy on the evolving landscape of entertainment for young audiences.

Join us as we sit down with Alix Wiseman, Senior Vice President of Distribution and Acquisitions at 9 Story Media, to discuss the ins and outs of development, acquisition, and distribution and grapple with some seismic changes impacting Kids Media. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Alix has been at the forefront of kids' media, working at Channel 4 and Aardman before joining 9 Story Media. She shares her perspective on the business and what she thinks are some challenges and changes ahead. This is a must-listen for anyone interested in the ever-evolving world of kids media.

Join us for an exclusive interview with Dreamworks' Senior VP of TV and Brand Marketing, Ryan Bradley. Get an inside look at the making of Netflix's newest hit show, Gabby's Dollhouse, and learn valuable insights into building a successful preschool brand and launching a new series.

What's the secret Sauce to Bluey's success? Tune in to our latest podcast to find out.

In this week's episode, we sit down with Simon Clarke, to dive into the latest changes to BBC Studios, advertising trends, and new partnership opportunities. Simon gives an insider's view on shifts in the industry and how BBC Studios is adapting and evolving its partnership strategies.

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What does it take to create a successful kids YouTube show? Andy, Jo, and Emily chat to Christian Hughes, creator of GECKO'S GARAGE to find the answer.

Listen to this episode to discover...

How Christian started his YouTube journey

Why data plays a ket role in content creation

Christian's experience teaming up with Moonbug.

In this episode Andy, Jo, and Emily chat with Kasey Moore from What's On Netflix to discuss the streamer's changing programme strategy, how the ad tier is doing, and lots of other good stuff.

In this episode, Andy, Jo, and Emily chat to special guest Ronan McCabe, CEO of Irish Animation, about the Irish Animation awards, tax-credits, the impact of Brexit, and why the future of animation in Ireland is looking bright.

In this episode Andy, Jo, and Emily chat to our special guest, entertainment lawyer, Simon Pulman about dealmaking, franchises, IP and something called 'Average Engaged Time per user'.

In this episode of Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy, Jo, and Emily chat with special guest, Estelle Lloyd, the co-Founder & COO of Da Vinci Kids & Azoomee. They discuss the challenges of curating a content service for kids, keeping up with changing trends in children's media and tech, and why 'broccoli in chocolate' is the perfect analogy for balancing entertainment and education.

In this episode of Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy and Emily chat with special guest, Andy Nairn, the co-Founder of Advertising Agency Lucky Generals, and author of 'Go Luck Yourself'. They discuss creative strategies Andy writes about in his book and whether they can be applied to kids media.

In this episode of Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy, Jo, and Emily chat with special guest, Andrew Rosen, the Founder of PARQOR, a newsletter which covers the seismic shifts under way in the media business.

2023 has barely started and we're already seeing a slate of old favourites being refreshed and recommissioned. While Jo, Andy, and Emily love shows like Phineas and Ferb, the question remains are these revivals crowding out new original content? Join us as we discuss this thorny issue.

To wrap up the year Jo, Andy, and Emily get into the festive spirit with a Christmas quiz. Along the way the discuss Netflix's addiction to Christmas movies, the excellence of Klaus, and some predictions for the year to come. The less said about Emily and Andy's performance in the kids media quiz the better!

Jo, Emily and Andy discuss a smorgasbord of media news today: from the explosive boardroom shenanigans at Disney to Netflix's dilemma about animation.

It's Youtube's 18th birthday and the young upstart has really come of age! Jo, Andy, and Emily chat to Helen Dugdale about why Youtube became the place to launch kids brands and how established producers are adapting.

In the third of a new returning format, Jo and Andy chew the fat with Emily Horgan about the latest kids media news. In today's show they discuss Netflix ad tier, Roblox, and accents in children's shows among others.

In the second of a new returning format, Jo and Andy chew the fat with Emily Horgan about the latest kids media news. In today's show they discuss how Roblox is becoming the top destination for brands, the latest trends spotted at the Brand Licensing Event in London, and how Buzz Lightyear has performed on Disney +.

In the first of a new returning format, Jo and Andy chew the fat with Emily Horgan about the latest kids media news. In today's show they discuss John Lasseter's return to feature animation with LUCK, Disney's latest statements on theatrical vs streaming and the new Little Mermaid teaser, and finally how HBO used Youtube to throw some shade on Amazon's latest mega-budget series The Rings Of Power.

In this special episode of the Kids Media Club Podcast, Jo and Andy chat to Jon Mason about the Secret Story Draw, an initiative he created to get more diverse talent into the animation and illustration industries. They are also joining by two previous winners Will and Katie who share their own experiences. Secret Story Draw https://www.instagram.com/thesecretstorydraw https://www.thesecretstorydraw.org

In this episode, Jo and Andy chat to media sleuth, regular guest, and all round brilliant person, Emily Horgan. They discuss the power of animated family movies and ask if news of cinema's demise has been a little premature. If you're interested in the current state of animated movies, cinema, and streaming platforms, you won't want to miss it.

In this episode of Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy and Jo chat with Michelle Lyons and Jerome Mazandarani about the growing popularity of anime and manga among young audiences.

In this episode of Kids Media Club Podcast, Andy and Jo chat with Chris Roberts AKA Ranger Chris about his business DINOMANIA and how he combines fun and learning.

In this special CMC collaborative episode, Jo and Andy talk to about learning on TikTok & Youtube with a panel of experts.

n this episode, Jo and Andy talk to Netflix experts Brandon Katz and Emily Horgan about the impact of the streamer’s share scare and what impact that might have for producers of children’s content.

In this episode, Jo and Andy talk to Nina Jane Patel, VP and Co-founder of Metaverse Research

In this episode, Jo and Andy talk to Linda Simensky, Head of Animation and Scripted Content at Duolingo.

In this special episode, Jo and Andy talk with Oli Hyatt, Angharad Garlick, and Andy Richards about the campaign to support the young Audience Content fund and persuade the government to rethink the plan to cut it.

In this episode, Jo and Andy chat to Emily Horgan and Tom Lea about where kids media is heading in 2022.

In this episode, Jo and Andy discuss the future of UK animation with Tom Box, co-founder of Blue Zoo Animation, Lindsey Adams founder of Daily Madness, and Steve Henderson, CEO of Manchester Animation Festival.

What is Edtech and why do content creators need to know about it? In this episode, Jo and Andy chat to Nick Richardson, CEO of The Insights Family, and Professor Dr Ger Graus OBE, Global Education Director Of Kidzania about the world of Edtech.

A podcast on Kids Media hosted by Jo Redfern and Andy Williams. In this episode, we chat with Richard North and Ian Downes about trends in Toys and Licensing.

A podcast about Kids Media hosted by Jo Redfern and Andy Williams. In this episode, we chat to Emily Horgan and Dominic Gardiner about trends in kids content distribution.

A Podcast about Kids Media hosted by Jo Redfern and Andy Williams. We explore the ever changing world of childrens media.