Little Learners

David Wood explores the latest trends in preschool programming.

Talk to a group of children’s TV producers and distributors, and there’s one thing they can all agree on—there’s a glut of preschool programming on the market. At least, there is when it comes to animated shows at the older end of the age range.
If everybody is making preschool shows, you have to ask, why? A poll of preschool-show producers and distributors turns up a wide range of reasons. At the top of the list is the fact that there are more opportunities in the genre now than ever before, with demand coming from preschool programming blocks on terrestrial channels, dedicated digital channels and OTT providers such as Netflix.

Hans Ulrich Stoef, CEO of m4e, observes that another reason there is an oversupply of preschool programming is that producers know it is the number one genre for licensing and merchandising.

Stoef estimates that at m4e—home to Tip the Mouse and the brand-new Milkshake! commission Wissper—between 60 and 80 percent of revenues from the company’s preschool brands are derived from licensing and merchandising activity.

Also, preschool is considered by many as a relatively easy genre to produce, according to Alison Warner, Technicolor’s VP of IP sales, acquisitions and co-productions. “It’s oversubscribed because it is perceived as easier to develop. There is a certain assumption that anyone can make a successful preschool show, which certainly isn’t the case.”

Those who believe that preschool is an easy genre to make are really talking about producing content for the older end of the market, where there are more buyers and fewer constraints. At the younger end, there is much less competition, as producers and distributors recognize that it’s a very tough genre to do well.

Stoef at m4e confirms that early preschool is a particularly tough demographic. “Parents don’t really want their kids in front of the TV at that age. And if they do, they want control. They prefer to have them in front of SVOD platforms, and they want to limit the amount of viewing time.”

“Parents really want enriching and empowering content,” says Richard Goldsmith, the executive VP of global distribution at The Jim Henson Company. “The secret sauce of what we do at Henson is tell great stories that include information for children that is really going to impact their lives.”

Frederic Soulie, the senior VP of global distribution at Saban Brands, notes that parents and kids will respond to “intelligent, immersive storytelling and appealing songs.”

Despite the difficulty of making quality early-preschool content, there’s no doubt that broadcasters are keen on it, especially because their youngest viewers are very loyal—unlike older children, whose attention is a lot more difficult to grab and hold on to.

“One of the good things about early preschool is that it’s like wine: properties tend to get better with age,” says Jérôme Alby, the managing director of Mediatoon Distribution. “When preschoolers like a show, they won’t change it for another one.”
Broadcasters recognize the loyalty of preschool viewers, which makes them more likely to invest in longer runs of fewer shows, says Saban’s Soulie. “This can make preschool a tough market to break into. Broadcasters are looking to invest in properties with a long life cycle, which means they tend to favor airing additional seasons of established programs rather than brand-new shows. This has led to less variety over the years as broadcasters stick with what works. A very small number of preschool shows are picked up, and even fewer last to a second season.”

MOMMY SAYS
The influence of parental control is cited as one important reason that preschool networks such as Nick Jr., Disney Junior and CBeebies have become more successful than their older-skewing sister channels. It also reflects the way the preschool market has changed in recent years, dividing into two quite different demographics with distinct behaviors.

At a younger age, viewing is heavily mediated by parents, and 2- to 3-year-olds consume whatever they get, explains m4e’s Stoef. “But at the older end of preschool, the demographic has changed, with 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds playing with smartphones, going online, using tablets, discovering apps and playing games—things [the kids in this demo] were not doing five or ten years ago. They are increasingly losing interest in educational, prescribed preschool programming and are being introduced to new formats and older-skewing programming earlier than they were in the past.”

Olivier Dumont, the managing director at Entertainment One (eOne) Family and Licensing, supports Stoef’s perspective, observing that the upper end of preschool viewers “are more in control of what they are doing. They have their own tablets and connected devices and their own ways of accessing content.”

If attracting older preschoolers is becoming more of a challenge, it’s one that broadcasters are rising to with bigger investments in digital. All new shows today come with digital brand extensions, with around 10 percent of budgets now dedicated to digital development.

“Preschoolers and their families are often the earliest adopters of new ways of consuming and engaging with their favorite characters and content, so digital brand extensions are very important,” says Finn Arnesen, Hasbro Studios’s senior VP of global distribution and development.

“Kids are embracing immersive entertainment at a very young age, and it’s essential for kids’ content providers to have a comprehensive ‘all-screens’ multiplatform strategy, covering both long-form traditional and short-form digital consumption, alongside apps, social media, downloadable games and coloring pages,” insists Arnesen.

“In My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, for example, we have taken an iconic global brand and designed it with full online immersion available for rollout across multiple territories, which provides vital added value for our international clients and is proving a key driver of the show.”

The creation of apps and other extensions of preschool brands into the digital world is becoming much more important, agrees m4e’s Stoef. “You need to be across all devices in today’s market.”

The biggest challenges with digital extensions tend to be a lack of investment and the difficulty in managing the delivery of digital assets so they coincide with the linear TV show—that is, making sure they look good and match the linear TV brand in terms of quality, and are ready on time.

LET’S GET DIGITAL
Dumont at eOne says that supplying broadcasters with free digital assets, from websites to digital games, is crucial these days so that kids can interact with a property across the board. “When you become a fan, you want to engage in as many ways as possible—something that parents tend to welcome because games allow kids to become more interactive and less passive.”
The amount a studio invests depends on the property, but for an action-adventure series involving more sophisticated gameplay, the figures would be closer to the upper end of 10 percent of the budget. But, companies should not neglect traditional media such as print publishing, advises Stoef.

Another growing trend is the increasing importance of the preschool genre to OTT service providers such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.

“We have deals with Netflix in place for many of our franchise brands,” says Hasbro’s Arnesen. “Demand from OTT providers is increasing across international territories, not only from the more global-facing providers such as Netflix, but also from local OTT providers in each territory, some of which are making significant inroads into preschool viewing figures.”
Arnesen lists Presto in Australia, Kidoodle.TV in Canada and BesTV in China as examples of digital players that are increasingly active in the preschool space. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are particularly keen on preschool because families, and those with preschool kids in particular, are big SVOD users, notes eOne’s Dumont. “Kids like to watch and watch again, which is great for those platforms.”

Mediatoon’s Alby adds, “As well as working with Netflix, we have provided series to other digital broadcasters, such as iTunes, Watchever, Amazon and DLA. Digital and nonlinear broadcasting has become a key element of our business strategy. Nonlinear broadcasting now makes up 20 percent of our sales figures, compared to 2.5 percent in 2009, and 80 percent of our OTT income now comes from content aimed at 2- to 6- or 7-year-olds.”

The rise in popularity of OTT services highlights the fact that on-demand services have discovered and capitalized on an important social niche in preschool homes.

“Every parent has a tablet and, when they want to watch the ball game, tend to give the tablet to the kids, allowing them to go to YouTube or Netflix and watch their preschool shows,” Mediatoon’s Alby continues.

Plus, the OTT platforms offer parents useful tools, such as profiles for different family members, allowing them to limit what their kids can watch. Many of the preschool world’s best-known content providers, among them The Jim Henson Company, are now making shows specifically for OTT platforms. Word Party, a Henson Digital Puppetry Studio production for Netflix, is designed to improve preschoolers’ vocabularies.

“Word Party underlines the fact that Netflix knows there is a demand from parents to entertain kids with tablets, but there isn’t much good content around,” says Henson’s Goldsmith.

Saban has also made strides with OTT services. “We have a really strong relationship with Netflix that began with Power Rangers, Digimon and Julius Jr. and now extends to original content like Popples and Cirque du Soleil: Luna Petunia,” says Soulie.

Stoef at m4e notes that the OTT platforms are a great source of additional finance for preschool producers. “They put a little bit of pressure on existing terrestrial broadcasters price-wise. The terrestrials realize now that if they don’t come up with the right amount of money, they might lose a show to an OTT platform. It’s a very positive development, helping to buoy up finance, although we are still not at a very healthy level in terms of program budgets, and there is a lot of room for improvement.”

Mediatoon’s Alby adds a note of caution. “I don’t see today’s OTT platforms putting as much money into a show as a free-to-air broadcaster did 15 years ago for the same limited [number] of rights. Another big difference is that OTT platforms are not [acquiring] for one territory but for worldwide rights.”

TOON TIME
It’s fair to say that some types of preschool content are in greater demand than others. Animated shows are particularly popular on all platforms because, according to Hasbro’s Arnesen, “Preschoolers are avid consumers of animated content—the rich, colorful visuals, and bright, engaging characters are perfect for this demographic.”

Henson’s Goldsmith adds: “Animation makes much more sense for preschool content, as it’s more global. It travels well and, given how expensive our productions are, we need a global business to monetize and profit from our productions.”

In contrast, live-action preschool remains largely confined to public-service broadcasters, as it doesn’t travel as well.
“Although we are seeing demand for live action, animation continues to be preferable because it allows you to develop a world as big as your imagination, without astronomical budgets,” notes Saban’s Soulie. “It also tends to age better than live-action content, as it avoids of-the-moment fashion styles and special effects.”

Many companies are now looking at family-themed preschool shows, appealing to the connection between kids and their parents. Programs about the family unit, which are still relatively rare, tend to resonate well with audiences, says Dumont at eOne, which represents Peppa Pig.

Shows that focus on school peer groups and emotions are also in vogue; the latter is explored in eOne’s CGI animation PJ Masks. This adaptation of a French book property concerns a trio of superheroes dealing with emotions, friendship and doing the right thing. Dumont says that kids love the series because it is a preschool spin on the types of superhero characters from the Marvel and DC Comics stables that preschoolers find fascinating, but are not allowed to watch.

The key is to avoid familiar, oversubscribed themes, such as shows about builders, that are designed to exploit preschoolers play patterns, recommends Technicolor’s Warner. “Broadcasters are not really looking for different versions of things they already have. They want something fresh and new. But if you do want to do a vehicle-based show, make sure you go away and produce a teaser and a script that will knock their socks off in terms of being completely different,” she says.

Above all, content is still king, across all platforms, concludes Hasbro’s Arnesen. “Buyers are looking for first-class production quality, great storytelling with elements of adventure and comedy and strong characters. These ingredients continue to be the driving force behind preschool’s long-running series.”