Kidoodle.TV’s Brenda Bisner on Safe Streaming Amid COVID-19

Brenda Bisner, chief content officer at Kidoodle.TV, talks to TV Kids about what the safe streaming platform has in store—from new titles to educational initiatives—for kids and their parents as they’re finding themselves spending more time at home amid the global health crisis.

The family-focused platform Kidoodle.TV, owned by A Parent Media Co., counts thousands of episodes in its catalog licensed from kids’ content producers from across the globe. Diverse family-friendly shows are available within the service’s privacy-controlled setting that lets kids independently navigate and discover new titles. Weeks into an international stay-at-home lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kidoodle.TV is seeing over an 80 percent increase in daily active users.

“Our mission right now is strongly focused on gathering all of the fantastic PSAs that creators and brand owners are putting out to educate kids on the new world order of washing your hands,” says Bisner. “In addition to that, we are actively bringing on as many movement, music, wellness brands as possible, to really engage kids before, during and after their homeschooling. We also still have a large focus on big brands, YouTube creators and gamers.”

Kidoodle.TV recently launched a PSA featuring characters from the Miss Personashow, which launched on the platform last month. The special episode, entitled “Teddy Bear Kindergarten is Canceled!,” follows Miss Persona and Brandon Bear as they learn about ways to be helpful at home after teddy bear kindergarten is canceled. The company also rolled out Helpful Heads, a weekly e-resource sent to parents that features a roundup of educational services, entertainment options and physical and emotional health resources.

The initiatives complement Kidoodle.TV’s position as a global platform that puts safety for its young users—and their concerned caregivers—first.

“What we know about our customers is that they are increasingly aware of the need for safety when it comes to their kids streaming while they are working from home and tending to the multiple household duties,” says Bisner. “Every day we hear from parents thanking us for being that safe streaming channel they have been looking for.”

Bisner adds, “Unlike many other apps and channels, parents can feel safe providing their children with access to Kidoodle.TV knowing that each episode has been vetted. Additional content and value-added announcements are planned over the next several weeks.”

From the beginning of March to the first full week of shutdowns, Kidoodle.TV saw a 75 percent uptick in usage as well as a 95 percent increase in weekly active users. “Several activities are underway to meet demand while providing maximum value to parents who are able to access Kidoodle.TV without a fee through its AVOD service,” says Bisner.

Kidoodle.TV inked new acquisition deals last month for more than 500 episodes, boosting its content offering to more than 21,000 episodes. Among the content added to the platform is a range of series from CBC/Radio-Canada Distribution, including Alphabet Stories and Me & My Monster. A number of titles from Aardman—such as Shaun the Sheep Mossy Bottom Shorts, Shaun the Sheep Championsheeps, Learning Time with Timmy, Wallace & Gromit, Morph and Munki & Trunk—have also joined the platform.