Louise Bucknole Talks Milkshake! Strategy

Opening the TV Kids Summer Festival today, Louise Bucknole, senior VP for kids and family in the U.K. and Ireland at Paramount, outlined her programming strategy at Milkshake! across acquisitions and commissions.

With the recent rebranding of Channel 5 and My5 to a unified 5 brand for linear and digital, Milkshake!, the broadcaster’s popular preschool block, has landed its first FAST channel, creating an additional touchpoint for audiences across the U.K. to engage with the brand. Bucknole discussed that development, harnessing YouTube and more in her keynote Q&A, which you can view here.

“There are four areas that drive our success,” Bucknole said. “Number one is always the content. We have some amazing brands like PAW Patrol, Rubble & Crew, Peppa Pig, The Adventures of Paddington, Milo and Pip and Posy. We have a mix of animation and live action. We have favorites like Thomas & Friends and Fireman Sam, and then U.K. commissions like Tweedy & Fluff, Mixmups, Odo and The Woohoos! and live-action series like Reu & Harper’s Wonder World and Animal Care Club. There is so much variety. And our brand is really strong. There’s the continuity that we have with our presenters—it’s that daily touchpoint with viewers. We’ve got six presenters and also our puppet, Milkshake Monkey! That means that seven days a week, we’re able to have that connection with viewers and their families. We have a live stage show, Milkshake! Live, and a magazine. We also produce a ton of shorts each year that can cover all sorts of different subjects. We cover areas that kids are focused on and encourage them to have a go and also take part. We’re very representative of the U.K. audience and their families. We’re a very safe and trusted brand. We’re on linear. We’re on VOD on 5. We just launched a FAST channel on the 5 platform. We have Milkshake! on Paramount+, our streaming service, and also on YouTube. So, we’re focused on everywhere that kids are.”

Bucknole talked about some of the very early lessons from the FAST channel rollout, which has helped to “enhance the viewing experience,” she said. “Platforms and viewership are evolving in different ways,” she went on to say about shifting consumption trends. “There is a lot more viewing on the VOD platforms and on YouTube. It’s very title-led; they’re drawn into their favorite shows and the IP that they love, and also new content. We launch new content on the linear platform. We roll it out straight away onto our VOD platform. It’ll then sit on a FAST channel. There’ll be promotions across all of the platforms. It’s about being accessible to that audience. Milkshake! is aimed at a core audience of 2- to 5-year-olds, with a little bit older audience as well. We know kids are agile. They can download and take the content with them. They want to watch their favorite show again and again on the VOD platform. We’re a very habit-based brand because we are on in the morning on 5. We have that regular return viewing of the fans that come back to Milkshake! as well as attracting a new audience all the time. We’ve just launched Tim Rex in Space on Milkshake!, and it’s performed very well. We ran a lot of clips and content on YouTube to highlight that the series was coming and then it was launched on the platform. It’s on our VOD service. We will be putting a full episode up on YouTube in due course. It’s about making sure that you’re agile with how you’re presenting that content to your audience so that it suits them.”

Bucknole then discussed her commissioning strategy to deliver content that will resonate with preschoolers across the U.K. “We want to reflect British children, their families, habits, desires and interests. We focus on things that are humorous, have adventure, fun and friendship and can inspire them to be curious about the world and fantastic characters that have great imagination. We follow the Early Years Foundation framework for preschoolers in the U.K. We pick up about two to three brand-new series a year, or it might be a returner. We have a mix of fantastic Nick Jr. content as well.”

Acquisitions complement the originals lineup. “We don’t necessarily require movies or specials unless they’re related to some of the IP that we already have. We also don’t look for shorts—anything under three minutes—because we have an in-house team that produces a lot of that content.”

She is on the lookout for slapstick comedy. “We also ensure that we have a sustainable theme in most of our content,” citing as an example The Woohoos! “It’s about having a clear hook and being slightly different. We don’t want the same as what we already have.”

The conversation then shifted to co-pros, which are key for Milkshake!, Bucknole explained.

“We’ve been working around these models for many years. Tim Rex in Space is our first co-pro with Nick Jr. globally. We’ve also had a co-production with Sky and ZDF, the wonderful Pip and Posy. Odo, from Sixteen South, is with KiKA in Germany. It’s about how we can access those funding opportunities and also collaborate with multiple partners to make the budget and the finance plan work. We all know that it is very challenged at the moment, so we’re very flexible on rights. We’re very open to discussing how the productions work. We want productions to go ahead. We will be involved at any stage, whether that’s development or a bit later on in the show. We’re open to all sorts of different models, and co-pros are absolutely in the center of how we produce our shows.”

Bucknole said that she’s also open to reviewing shared rights. For commissions, “we have to have the first broadcast on 5. The windows, we discuss at the point of commission. For acquisitions, it’s a little bit different. We share many shows that might be on different platforms, whether that’s something like Chip and Potato, which is on Netflix, or Thomas & Friends, where we take the first-run and then it’s on other platforms around the world as well. It’s thinking about what the IP is and how it fits in with our brand and what the funding model is.”

Bucknole is not super prescriptive when it comes to what she’s looking for, but did encourage creators to think about engagement, relatability, authenticity and sustainability themes, and consider how content will live on different platforms.

“One thing that we would like to see more of is…a well-rounded digital launch proposition. Content that you can roll out across YouTube and social media that enhances the shows that you have on the other platforms. [You need a] well-thought-through strategy of how you can reach an audience and be discovered in this very fragmented world that we have for kids. We’re always competing for kids’ time. You’ve got to be present on the platforms they’re on. Looking at that as part of your production plan is something that is interesting to us.”

Being on YouTube is essential, Bucknole said. “It’s about discovery and engagement, and social media and YouTube are often the entry point for some kids into new brands. We have recently been releasing full episodes on YouTube. We have short-form and other assets on Milkshake! on YouTube to drive that engagement and awareness. Linear and VOD are still key—we have to drive those ratings. We’re a commercial business. But we understand that the engagement from kids happens in different ways. The linear block on 5 in the morning is so important because it’s part of their routine of the day. In the afternoon, they can then catch up on our 5 VOD platform, or they might want to go onto YouTube. Kids will go wherever is suited to them. Particularly for preschoolers, where the parent and caregiver are the guardians, safe platforms are important. We know that YouTube and our linear and VOD platforms are well-curated, and they follow all of the compliance guidelines. We look to develop that further. For Nick Jr., we’re seeding content on YouTube to see how that develops. For example, Kid Cowboy is being released on YouTube. We are trying to ensure that we are in step with the audience.”

Bucknole and her team are also looking at the creator economy following the success of Go Green with the Grimwades, a series built around an influencer family. That commission has been followed up by Reu & Harper’s Wonder World and now discussions are underway for a new show that originated on YouTube. “We will lean into all of that experience and what YouTube has to offer to enhance the viewing experience and the brand.”

As the session wrapped, Bucknole said she remains optimistic about the kids’ media sector’s ability to survive this current turmoil. “Everybody who works in kids’ media is so passionate about the audience. They’re a brilliant audience to work with because they give you such honest feedback straight away. You will know whether a show is going to go well or not because an audience will connect with it very quickly. It is tough right now for creators and producers. That’s something that we’re mindful of. Content models are changing. But we get so much feedback about how much the audience enjoys Milkshake!; we see it from our viewing figures. Milkshake! has grown 2 percent this year. It grew last year on linear. It was up 24 percent on VOD. We know that the audience wants the content. There is a supportive and celebratory community in kids. We ensure that we are very much part of that and agile in how we work with different partners.”