{"id":11561,"date":"2017-01-11T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T20:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/stream-on\/"},"modified":"2017-01-11T15:01:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T20:01:54","slug":"stream-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/stream-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Stream On"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StreamOn-MLPEquestriaGirls-117\"Kristin Brzoznowski explores how on-demand and streaming platforms are changing the game for kids\u2019 programming producers and distributors.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kids today wield a tremendous amount of power with their tiny fingertips. In one click of a button or swipe of a screen they can call up their favorite TV shows at any time in any place, and their penchant for on-demand viewing is reshaping the children\u2019s programming landscape as we know it.<\/p>\n

Kids are \u201ctransforming the business that we\u2019re in from a \u2018push\u2019 business into something that is entirely consumer-centric,\u201d Catherine Balsam-Schwaber, the chief content officer at Mattel, said in her MIPJunior keynote. \u201cKids are the primary reason that people everywhere have become consumed with creating their own content. Most significantly, when we think about what kids are doing, they\u2019re turning media from a medium that is defined by form [into] one that is defined by platform. They\u2019re the ones driving us into this new age of connected platforms for telling stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the number of on-demand services seems to be multiplying by the minute, and kids\u2019 content has become a staple of their slates. The proliferation of these platforms has had a widespread impact on producers and distributors of children\u2019s programming, who are learning to adapt to the myriad challenges and opportunities of selling kids\u2019 titles to on-demand and streaming services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the unknown frontier!\u201d says Rick Glankler, the president and general manager of FremantleMedia Kids & Family (FMK). \u201cWe\u2019re all figuring it out together. There are growing pains that come with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE RIGHTS STUFF
\n<\/strong>Olivier Dumont, the managing director of Entertainment One (eOne) Family, lists the \u201cslicing and dicing of rights\u201d as one of the most challenging issues to grapple with nowadays when it comes to deal-making. He says it has become \u201cmore and more complicated to do multiple deals, as they all need to be compatible with regard to nonlinear viewing, including catch-up rights of traditional broadcasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dumont also notes that certain SVOD platforms are now \u201caggressively pursuing\u201d first windows and exclusivity.<\/p>\n

For the time being, though, the majority of nonlinear players remain perfectly pleased to take the second run. \u201cThey do still see value in having a broadcast window first, to build general awareness, and then having the SVOD window after,\u201d says Josh Scherba, the senior VP of distribution at DHX Media. \u201cThose are tricky deals to negotiate, but when it works, it can be a great symbiotic relationship. The initial broadcaster might not have to pay as much for exclusivity over the term, but they still get first-run exposure, and our SVOD partner that took a little bit of the burden off the first-window partner financially gets the benefit of linear exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n

J\u00e9r\u00f4me Alby, the managing director of Mediatoon Distribution, has seen more requests coming through for first runs, \u201cespecially when it\u2019s a key franchise or property.\u201d However, he notes, \u201cWhen we have requests for a first run, very often it\u2019s for a series that we\u2019re not able to grant those rights for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mondo TV is looking initially at nonlinear slots for two of its latest series, Invention Story<\/em> and Heidi, Bienvenida a Casa<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019re knocking on the doors for digital to have the first window, and then we will take these to free-to-air broadcasters,\u201d says Micheline Azoury, the company\u2019s head of TV sales. Mondo has also teamed up with the kid-focused on-demand entertainment service Toon Goggles for the original IP Eddie Is a Yeti<\/em>.<\/p>\n

BEING ORIGINAL
\n<\/strong>Hasbro, meanwhile, signed a deal with Netflix to produce its first original for the platform, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters<\/em>. The company has also placed several series from two of its top franchises with digital platforms, including My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic<\/em>, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls<\/em> and Transformers: Rescue Bots<\/em>. Gustavo Gomez, sales director for Latin America and Iberia at Hasbro Studios, cites recent deals with such services as Telef\u00f3nica, Claro Video, blim and VTR.<\/p>\n

Part of the appeal with these Hasbro shows is that they are based on well-known properties, making them stand out when kids and parents survey a vast catalog of on-demand titles.<\/p>\n

The slate at Mattel Creations is filled with series and specials based on iconic brands, among them Barbie and American Girl. The latter inspired the animated series WellieWishers<\/em>, which has Amazon Prime Video as its exclusive premium subscription streaming home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout question, brands are winning the day,\u201d says DHX\u2019s Scherba. \u201cThat goes for linear as well. As the market is increasingly fragmented, having familiarity is key, particularly in kids\u2019 content, which has a certain amount of parental control and impact on what\u2019s being viewed. It has always been important, but the new technology is emphasizing just how important it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherba also notes that nonlinear players are trying out different types of kids\u2019 series. \u201cWith on-demand consumption, you can change the storytelling slightly,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had huge success in the U.K. with Topsy and Tim<\/em>. The ratings are excellent for CBeebies, and the on-demand views are great on iPlayer. What\u2019s interesting is that it\u2019s a live-action preschool series that has a slight series arc. There are events in episodes early in the season that have an impact on what happens later in the season, which is new for preschool content. I\u2019m not sure it would have worked without on-demand technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a resurgence of serialized content,\u201d echoes eOne Family\u2019s Dumont, \u201calthough SVOD platforms do see the same trend as linear platforms with regard to the lack of repeat viewing for that type of content. That being said, it is good to see more variety in the formats of the content being commissioned by SVOD platforms and this includes serialized series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dumont says that overall it\u2019s a \u201cgreat time to be making TV content, because the rise in these digital platforms has created opportunities to do a wider variety of shows, such as action-adventure series, prominently girl-skewing shows or [shows about] niche subjects that traditional broadcasters would have required to be more gender-neutral or have broader audience appeal in order to commission them.\u201d He adds that producers can also push the boundaries a bit more \u201cwith some of the digital platforms that are actively looking for content that is more authentic and a little less sanitized.\u201d<\/p>\n

FMK has been both reactive to and proactive about the changes in the marketplace caused by the rise in on-demand and OTT players. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve learned over the last couple of years is that there is a difference in the consumption needs of linear broadcasters and SVOD broadcasters,\u201d Glankler says. Traditional broadcasters, he explains, constantly have a need for more episodes, new seasons and fresh content to drive ratings, which are their metrics of success. \u201cSVODs, especially the younger you go [regarding the programming], comparatively could live with fewer episodes and have less of a need for the constant newness that a linear broadcaster has.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be interesting to see how we balance that, especially in terms of originals, because we want to create franchises and properties that will have multiple seasons,\u201d Glankler continues. \u201cThat\u2019s the struggle that we\u2019re finding. We build our development and production [pipelines] based on the linear model. That\u2019s the next wave, reconciling the differences in consumption needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

BALANCING ACT
\n<\/strong>DHX\u2019s Scherba has also encountered this challenge and says it becomes particularly tricky with properties that have SVOD partners in some territories and linear partners in others. \u201cLinear services tend to burn through more episodes quickly, and their audiences are expecting new [content] from the shows they have on air. With SVOD, the data supports that having fewer episodes in seasons is beneficial for them, or there\u2019s less of an impact from having a higher volume than there is in linear. It\u2019s about finding the middle ground between both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherba says that another issue in dealing with the on-demand world involves the marketing of content on these platforms. \u201cThe promotional aspect and discoverability aspect of video-on-demand is something that we\u2019re all talking a lot about. There\u2019s an understanding that that\u2019s going to need to evolve so that these shows have a better chance of finding their audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike linear platforms, which have built-in self-promotion and advertising structures, it is more difficult to keep viewers on digital platforms aware of what content is available on which devices or on an on-demand basis,\u201d agrees Hasbro\u2019s Gomez.<\/p>\n

While many execs in the kids\u2019 content business acknowledge that marketing exposure can be a challenge with on-demand platforms, Mediatoon\u2019s Alby views these services as having an interesting opportunity when it comes to their consumer reach. \u201cIf you subscribe to an SVOD platform, sometimes they will send you an email telling you about a program that\u2019s going to premiere or giving you a recommendation,\u201d he explains. \u201c\u2018You watched this, this and that, so we believe you might like this.\u2019 There is less exposure; however, the contact with the end-user is stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pressing aspect for Alby when it comes to working with on-demand players is rooted in technology. \u201cShows that have been produced, for example, at the end of the \u201990s or in the early 2000s don\u2019t always have the technical specifications that are required by an SVOD platform,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes it can demand a lot of technical investment and money. That\u2019s difficult when you leverage that with the income you get\u201d from doing these deals.<\/p>\n

Speaking of revenues, for Mondo\u2019s Azoury one of the most difficult parts of structuring deals with on-demand or digital platforms is adjusting to their business models. \u201cMost of them, maybe 70 percent, are on a shared-revenue model of 50-50 or 60-40,\u201d she explains. For a company like Mondo, which is publicly traded and has financial investors checking in on contracts quarterly, it\u2019s challenging to not always have a hard figure to peg to a sale.<\/p>\n

MONEY MATTERS
\n<\/strong>\u201cI always ask about expectations…of how much money we will be generating,\u201d Azoury says. \u201cThis is something that we can attach to the agreement, but in so many countries you can estimate a figure but not get close to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says that often, when negotiating an agreement with a smaller platform that offers a license fee, doing a volume deal is the best way to go. The fact that Mondo has a library of titles that are available in multiple languages is alluring for bulk on-demand buys as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of these platforms do not want to venture into an extra cost with dubbing,\u201d Azoury says. \u201cIf you come as a producer and negotiate a small fee with them for other versions on top of the license fee, they will take it! If they would have to dub it into another language themselves, it\u2019s a headache for them\u201d\u2014and a costly one at that.<\/p>\n

With regard to volume, DHX\u2019s Scherba believes the trend nowadays is for platforms to be more selective when picking up titles, particularly as these services begin to develop more original content. \u201cThere are only so many hours that they need, and as more originals come they are going to push out more of the library,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing to keep in mind is that the world is a big place and platforms are at different stages,\u201d Scherba continues. \u201cThe U.S. is the most mature market in this space, but if you go to Southeast Asia, for example, where services are newer and getting a foothold, we\u2019re continuing to sell interesting large packages, as it\u2019s important for them to have a big selection of content to see what\u2019s going to work or what\u2019s not going to work.\u201d The company recently announced sales for more than 2,400 half-hours of preschool and kids\u2019 content across VOD services in China.<\/p>\n

China, and Asia at large, has also been a market of keen interest to FMK when it comes to on-demand. Glankler says that because there isn\u2019t one dominant service in the Chinese on-demand space, but rather several \u201cvery nimble, fast-moving players,\u201d the strategy there is not about landing an exclusive SVOD deal with a single platform.<\/p>\n

WHERE THE KIDS ARE
\n<\/strong>\u201cWe launched Tree Fu Tom<\/em> and Kate & Mim-Mim<\/em> on CCTV in China…and then immediately after expanded to all of the footprint of SVODs to have hundreds of millions of eyeballs watching. As we look at global [strategies], it\u2019s still important to recognize unique markets like China or Japan to make sure that we have a regionalized focus that maximizes those markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

But global strategies are proving to be increasingly important in this space, Glankler says. \u201cThe local regional SVOD players are now becoming global. Look at Amazon and Netflix. Their biggest gains aren\u2019t in-market year-over-year subscriptions; it\u2019s about global footprint. With that come global deals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the complexities that accompany this, distributors and producers in the kids\u2019 space recognize that the opportunities of working in the on-demand arena outweigh the challenges. \u201cThe reality is that kids are consuming in very different and evolving ways,\u201d says Glankler. \u201cWe have to create shows and deliver our stories in each and every one of those ways and then look at how we leverage those platforms to deepen engagement even further.\u201d<\/p>\n

At eOne Family, Dumont says that sales projections for digital platforms are becoming \u201cvery substantial. With shows like Peppa Pig<\/em>, PJ Masks<\/em> and Ben & Holly\u2019s Little Kingdom<\/em> in our portfolio, we have prime content that drives tremendous viewership on these platforms, and they are therefore prepared to pay premium license fees to access our content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he says, \u201cLinear platforms are still a big part of our business, and there is still no better way to get your brand discovered than having it on linear platforms, even if digital platforms are catching up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured: Hasbro\u2019s <\/em>My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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