ABC Commercial Partners with Birde Platform

ABC Commercial has inked an agreement to become a content provider for Birde, an interactive multimedia player designed for early childhood users.

The deal sees ABC KIDS content, including The Wiggles, Play School, Bananas in Pyjamas and Peter Rabbit, as well as animated books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Hairy Maclary, join Birde’s growing library, which features Counting with Paula, Dinosnores and Storybots. Birde is being launched for pre-order this month by Australian company Lyrebird Interactive.

The multimedia player provides toddlers and preschoolers with a way to independently and safely listen to music, watch their favorite videos or listen to audiobooks. Birde is a brightly colored audio player that can be synced with connected devices such as smart TVs and tablets to play video. Each console comes with a selection of ‘Birde Seeds,’ content that includes sounds, audiobooks, music or video, with more content available from the Birde website.

Jack Lord, the CEO of Lyrebird Interactive, believes Birde is set to become a game-changer because it enables young children to access technology in a safe and controlled way. “Birde is about capturing the simplicity and magic of ‘tap and play.’” Lord said. “Children simply tap the Birde console with a Birde Seed and the magic begins.”

Jessica Ellis, the head of content sales and distribution at ABC Commercial, added, “We see this as the future of content distribution for young children. While there is a breadth of content available digitally, we love that children can physically interact with Birde and choose the music, audiobooks and videos they want to engage with.”

Play School presenter Rachael Coopes signed on as a Birde ambassador. “As a busy mum trying to manage the content my son watches, I love that Birde is fun, educational and completely safe,” she said.