TV Kids Festival Panel Spotlights Industry Shifts

BBC Studios’ Cecilia Persson, Cyber Group Studios’ Raphaëlle Mathieu, Paramount Global Content Distribution’s Lauren Marriott and 9 Story Media Group’s Alix Wiseman talked about how their companies are approaching the latest game-changing shifts in the kids’ business at the TV Kids Festival.

The Big Picture session, moderated by TV Kids’ Anna Carugati, included Persson, managing director of BBC Studios Kids & Family; Mathieu, COO at Cyber Group; Marriott, senior VP of content partnerships and brand strategy at Paramount Global Content Distribution; and Wiseman, 9 Story’s senior VP of distribution and acquisitions. You can watch it here.

Last year was a challenging year for everyone, Mathieu noted, referencing cutbacks at the streamers, budget restrictions and reduced commissions. “I expect it to be a very slow 2024,” she said.

Returning brands are proving to be a bright spot, though, Marriott noted. “If there’s something that people are really confident will work, then they’re still willing to take it. There’s also a real need for a robust set of rights from buyers. There’s a lot of concern, understandably, about being able to compete with YouTube. There’s definitely a need for AVOD rights, catch-up, etc. And I think we’re seeing less demand for exclusivity in favor of more rights non-exclusively and a preference for building franchises rather than keeping everything exclusively.”

Wiseman agreed and also referenced the difficulty in getting commissions for new shows. “All the main investors are pretty risk-averse right now. We’ve been leaning into our catalog. Our best sellers, the shows that have performed for a long time, are the ones that are being relicensed and delivering across traditional platforms and also AVOD and FAST.”

Wiseman is expecting it will take at least a year for the sector to return to anything that feels like “normal,” which is when she hopes to see a commissioning bounce-back. Until then, she predicts the interest in known brands will continue.

Financing also takes longer, Mathieu noted, and involves more partners. “The partners from one season to another can change more often.”

Scale at a time like this is key, Mathieu added. “Right now, being a small independent is harsh. We’re pretty lucky. But we need to be smart as well to make sure that we are creative enough, both business-wise and editorially. We need to invest in development to have a wide variety of content to be able to interest a wide range of potential partners.”

Part of getting a greenlight means having a full 360-degree launch strategy planned, Marriott said. That includes gaming, consumer products, toys and more. “It’s very difficult to do that if you’re not in a big organization that has the ability to do that.”

Persson agreed, adding, “You need to be a partner that can bring several aspects to a property, particularly if you’re trying to get an original idea away. One of the things I see as a positive in these uncertain times is the fact that the rights are being asked for on a more non-exclusive basis, which is actually very helpful for an original idea. We have a content strategy team that spends time thinking about those things because it is needed—that additional push to make sure that you can get an original idea across the line.”

Partnerships have become increasingly important, the panelists noted. “We’ve always been very good at this,” Persson said. “We’ve always found partners to work together that have similar editorial needs and desires and know the different levers to pull together a deal that works for everybody. We’re definitely leaning in more on those skills at the moment.”

Wiseman is of a similar view on partnerships, “not least because needs must, but also because it’s a really interesting way of attracting different creative visions and talent outside of what we’re doing on our own slate.”

In order to be wherever kids are, Cyber Group has been creating additional content for brands that are proving sticky with kids. “We can have content potentially available on AVOD in a certain mode. We’ve made original songs and shorts. When the brand becomes bigger, you can have the licensing option growing with plush or theme parks.”

Marriott also pointed to the importance of having content on YouTube or elsewhere ahead of a show launch. For the Dora reboot, for example, a short was placed with the PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie theatrical release. At the same time, Paramount rolled out a YouTube channel with old seasons and four new episodes. “We continue to drip feed that with original content, like compilations and music videos, to build it with that demographic. The full series will launch on Nickelodeon and Paramount+ in the first half of this year.”

For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, meanwhile, gaming partnerships were key ahead of the August release of a new theatrical in that franchise and a new series for this year.

Gaming was important for Bluey last year, Persson said, alongside a stage show, among other extensions. “We’re combining all the different touch points that are available to us to make sure we build the knowledge and awareness and connect with the audience in all the different ways that they want.”

In terms of Roblox and Fortnite opportunities, Mathieu said they are paramount for brand-building and marketing. “It’s not yet an opportunity to actually earn money out of it.”

“We’ve been exploring Roblox as an extension of some of our brands at the moment,” Wiseman added. “We’re seeing how we can fit into that ecosystem and whether it makes sense for these brands.” 9 Story is in the works on a show based on a Roblox game. “How do you explore that deepness in an episodic series? These are all really interesting parts we’re looking at as we develop this show and try to elevate, iterate on and support the Roblox game and take it into further natural extensions.”

Looking at the challenges of the marketplace, Marriott noted, “2023 was the year that everyone realized that in order to make something successful, you have to be able to follow the consumer. You’ve got to satisfy your commissioning broadcaster or platform, so you can’t put everything on YouTube before it’s even gone to them. If we launch something in multiple non-exclusive places, is that actually going to fund the production of that show? That’s a puzzle that we all need to solve somehow. We’ve had to have a collaborative effort between production and distribution. We might create additional short-form content to put on YouTube to build up a property before we then have the long-form series that goes exclusively to the premiering partner. Maybe it’s about negotiating carve-outs to put a certain amount of episodes on YouTube.”

It is indeed a “perfect storm,” said Wiseman on the unprecedented shifts in the market over the last 12 to 18 months. But she and the other panelists remain optimistic that a turnaround will happen. “Kids are always going to need content,” she said. “So I think it will recover. The demand will come back for originals, just as much as known IP. The shape of the whole thing is changing—how it’s delivered, levels of exclusivity, the platforms. That opens possibilities to being creative and nimble, working differently, taking on a lot of new technologies, using those as tools. It will, of course, thrive and survive again. I think it’s just going to take a little bit of time.”

Persson agreed, adding, “I feel like this is going to open up opportunities for really interesting partnerships and combinations and ideas. Original ideas have to be truly, truly original now and special to cut through. In hard times, you have to be much more inventive. We all have that inventiveness.”