{"id":21158,"date":"2021-07-30T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2021-08-04T10:33:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T14:33:25","slug":"sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Families and educators have long looked to Common Sense Media\u2019s recommendations as they seek out trusted content for young ones. Those values have now been built directly into Sensical, a new AVOD service that launched this summer, operated by the organization\u2019s for-profit arm, Common Sense Networks. Stressing the importance of high-quality programming in a safe environment, delivered for free to the consumer, Sensical has taken a highly curated and algorithm-free approach to devising its lineup. The viewing experience is built around age\u2014preschoolers (2-4), little kids (5-7) and big kids (8-10)\u2014with 50-plus topic-based channels and all content vetted for age-appropriateness, including all advertising campaigns. Sony Pictures Television veteran Eric Berger was tasked with using his deep knowledge of the streaming business to position Sensical for success in an increasingly crowded landscape. The CEO of Common Sense Networks shares with TV Kids Weekly<\/em> his strategies for making Sensical the preferred destination for kids and families.<\/p>\n

\"\"TV KIDS:<\/strong> Tell us about the thinking that went into crafting Sensical.
\nBERGER:<\/strong> Creating a service for kids is very different, so you have to be extremely thoughtful. We were focused on solving some specific issues in the market under the thesis that kids really do deserve better. Their viewing patterns have shifted to these large open platforms; they\u2019re watching there far and away more than [anywhere] else. About 80 percent of kids are spending over an hour a day just on the [free] platforms; they\u2019re also watching premium services and live TV. And unlike Sensical, which was designed specifically for kids, these platforms are designed for adults, which has inherent problems. They have content that is inappropriate, advertising that is inappropriate and the algorithms are a problem. We had to think about it holistically; we couldn\u2019t just put something out there with some licensed content. It was so crucial for us to get the environment and the experience exactly right.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> What was the timeframe from conception to launch?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> For me and most of the team, just a year. We put this all together over the course of the pandemic, which makes me incredibly proud. Common Sense Media set up a growth fund to look at for-profit businesses about three years ago. Their team was incubating the idea at first, refining how to apply evaluations of movie and television content, all vetted through their child development lens, to this type of platform. When they were ready to go, they brought me in as CEO, and we put together the team and pulled it together; the distribution, the product, the content licensing, the marketing activity. And we did it all on Zoom!<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> What\u2019s the approach to distribution partnerships?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> We do think that connected TVs are very important. We are live on Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire, in addition to iOS and Android mobile phones and tablets and the web. We\u2019ll continue to roll out more smart TVs over the course of the summer. That living room experience for streaming is so important\u2014increasingly for kids and families, as they do more and more co-viewing with their kids. But for kids\u2019 products, you need to have a collection of devices, which is different from adults, who tend to just stream on one device, so the mobile and tablets are critical.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> How did you curate your initial slate of content?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> We wanted to curate content that allowed kids to explore their passions. We\u2019re big believers in interest-based learning\u2014if kids like something, they\u2019re going to go down the rabbit hole, so it needs to be a safe rabbit hole. We have 50 topic-based channels designed around things like how-to in categories like sports or drawing or dance or cooking or DIY or building. At the same time, we have these areas of passionate interest that kids like\u2014animals, dinosaurs, video games, outer space or nature. Parents are looking for solid preschool learning\u2014reading, math, science, music\u2014and making and moving activities. All of those are there. It gives Sensical an interesting breadth that doesn\u2019t exist on another service like this for kids right now. It gives them a safe space.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> Did you find that the Common Sense Media brand name was beneficial as you approached distributors who sometimes can be wary about putting their content up on a brand-new AVOD service?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> Absolutely. A lot of the creators from whom we\u2019ve licensed love the brand association because you have to be selected. It\u2019s not a normal licensing deal; it goes both ways. You may want to get in, but you might not pass our criteria. If you went through the whole ratings process\u2014and we watched every frame of every video, through human review, we tag all of it and capture the metadata\u2014it\u2019s a little bit of a badge of honor. At the same time, it\u2019s incremental revenue for them. We\u2019re putting them out onto other platforms they may not be on already\u2014the Rokus, the Amazon Fires, other devices\u2014so it\u2019s a win for everybody.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> Are your deals largely non-exclusive?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> That\u2019s where we\u2019re starting right now. For us, the charm of Sensical is the curation. It would be very hard, if not impossible, for anyone else, and certainly a parent, to figure out the appropriate content by age across the breadth of what we\u2019re licensing. That said, as we look at all the data that we\u2019re getting and where people are aggregating, we\u2019ll be able to make informed decisions about where we need exclusivities and original content and other initiatives down the line.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> Are you currently geo-blocked in the U.S.? Are you looking at international expansion?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> We are geo-blocked right now, and we absolutely are looking to expand. We\u2019re testing in the U.S. right now but have a global vision. This is a global problem, one that we want to address. We want to, as quickly as we can, start to move into other territories. There are some big AVOD territories around the world that are obvious targets. In Europe, the U.K., Germany, France, Spain. In Asia, Japan, Australia. And Mexico and Brazil. Those are the obvious targets for us because there are AVOD businesses there. And other countries, of course.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> How is Sensical determining the right advertising brand partners to align with?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> That\u2019s as important as the content itself. The whole experience has to be right. We set up what we think are the best-in-class ad guidelines for digital. We do borrow a lot from television. There are some very good things about the ad guidelines in television; they just haven\u2019t been brought into the digital world. The first is, the content itself has to be appropriate and age-appropriate. We exclude certain categories\u2014unhealthy foods and drinks, for example\u2014that we don\u2019t think are appropriate. We also screen the creative itself. And then we look at things like frequency caps to make sure the volume of ads you\u2019re seeing, and the spacing out of the ads, is appropriate. The biggest issue has to do with the blending of the advertising and the content. This is one of the biggest problems in digital right now. It happens in two ways. One is where you can\u2019t tell where the content ends and the ad begins. We\u2019re going to have bumpers and clear separation in the messaging to the child. In the digital world, there\u2019s also a lot of brand integration into the content that is unclear, where the host of a popular show might be pushing a product, or they have these unboxing videos\u2014that\u2019s the type of thing we\u2019re not going to do.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> What are the key advertiser categories for you?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> Family consumer products, healthier foods. For 6 and under, a lot of the time you\u2019re talking to the adult, as per children\u2019s media in television. You\u2019ll even have some auto brands and other categories appropriate for the family. There\u2019s a good mix.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> I know preschoolers tend to re-watch the same content. As such, do you need to refresh your slate more often for the older demos?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> It\u2019s true that when preschoolers find something, they will watch it over and over again. You don\u2019t know what they\u2019re going to find, so you have to have a good breadth there, which I think we do. The refresh rate, and the nature of the programming, are a bit different for 8 to 10s. We have much more live-action how-tos for them; that\u2019s where we have more sports, drawing, dance, cooking, DIY things.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> Comparing the landscape today to the conditions in place when you were building Crackle out, what\u2019s more challenging now, and what\u2019s easier?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> The challenge is, you have a lot of competition. When we started Crackle, we needed to educate people on streaming, connected television streaming, building an audience, and we had to educate advertisers about AVOD. You trade that off now with the fact that it\u2019s very crowded out there. You have to have something that\u2019s differentiated and [that fills] a very specific need versus another me-too streaming service. We do. We have Common Sense Media\u2019s approach as our guiding light, and we have a base of users from Common Sense. When we do poll after poll in the market, 80 percent of parents are saying they know the content [on other free services] is not appropriate, the advertising is not appropriate. They\u2019re looking for something that offers educational value and is age-appropriate. What\u2019s easier is, when we started, you had to build everything, every piece of technology. Now there are a lot of off-the-shelf things you can do. When you\u2019re building these platforms, the trick is to know where you need to focus on proprietary intellectual property and where you can pull things off the shelf. For this business, what I focused on were the things that really matter, the tools we created that are unique, like the ParentZone, where caregivers can gain insight into what their kids are watching and how to extend the learning process. Or the way we did these topic-based channels inside the application. That\u2019s original IP.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> It\u2019s still early days for Sensical. Where do you want to be with the service six to eight months from now?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> We want a large and growing base of kids to be loving this service. We also want to be a partner to parents. You have a dual audience situation with kids\u2019 media. The parent tools we are supplying are not just helping them limit the watch time or put restrictions around it\u2014it\u2019s more to bring them into the conversation with their kids. These tools tell them what types of content they\u2019re watching along learning lines, but also what types of topics they\u2019re watching, and it enables them to extend the conversation with their kids and be part of the process. So yes, we want a lot of kids and a lot of parents, but we\u2019re successful if we\u2019re creating a different type of viewing and learning experience. And on a practical level, we want to be growing this around the world.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong> What are the key metrics you\u2019ll be focusing on in this initial phase of the rollout?
\nBERGER:<\/strong> Customer acquisition, engagement and retention. Can we acquire customers in an efficient manner, through our brand organically or other marketing channels? Once people are on, how much are they streaming? And the retention piece is key\u2014are they coming back? All of those metrics give you everything you need to know about the lifetime value of Sensical\u2019s customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Berger, CEO of Common Sense Networks, on making Sensical the preferred free streaming destination for kids and families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":21159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[5796,6119,5797],"class_list":["post-21158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-common-sense-networks","tag-eric-berger","tag-sensical","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nSensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eric Berger, CEO of Common Sense Networks, on making Sensical the preferred free streaming destination for kids and families.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-30T12:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-04T14:33:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/Sensical-Screen-721.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/\",\"name\":\"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-30T12:00:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-04T14:33:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming - TVKIDS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming - TVKIDS","og_description":"Eric Berger, CEO of Common Sense Networks, on making Sensical the preferred free streaming destination for kids and families.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/","og_site_name":"TVKIDS","article_published_time":"2021-07-30T12:00:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-04T14:33:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/Sensical-Screen-721.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansha Daswani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansha Daswani","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/","name":"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming - TVKIDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-30T12:00:22+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-04T14:33:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/sensicals-common-sense-approach-to-kids-streaming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sensical\u2019s Common Sense Approach to Kids\u2019 Streaming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/","name":"TVKIDS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad","name":"Mansha Daswani","description":"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}