UK-based broadcaster Da Vinci Media had entered the FAST channel market as part of a broader move to grow its US audience, appeal to families, and hone in on the topics kids care about most. At launch, the channel’s offering boasts hundreds of hours of content, and the goal is to add another 400-plus hours in 2023.
Da Vinci is looking to commission and acquire animated and live-action content for its linear channel, OTT platform and now the new FAST channel. The company is particularly interested in concepts with a focus on financial and digital literacy, sustainability and female representation in engineering, says Estelle Lloyd, co-founder and COO of edtech company Macademia (formerly Azoomee), which owns and operates Da Vinci.
Insidus Games:
- Buzz Lightyear Star Command
- Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit
- Spider-Man Toxic City
- Baby Felix Halloween
The broadcaster’s major aim is to stretch beyond its current preschool focus and reach kids ages eight and up in a big way. It’s working to meet a demand for educational content for tweens, as well as providing programming that touches on kids’ interests and that appeals to a co-viewing audience, adds Luca Fiore, Macadamia’s head of content.
Da Vinci has made a start on this goal in recent months, inking a two-part deal with Seattle-based YouTube-first prodco HiHo Kids (5.1 million subscribers) for short-form shows Kids Meet (52 episodes), in which children talk to people with interesting backgrounds, such as a teen mom and a Holocaust survivor; and Kids Try (32 episodes), which is all about discovering foods from different cultures and eras.
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The partnership will also see the companies create a co-branded miniseries called For Our Planet, which gives both Kids Meet and Kids Try an environmental twist with segments like “For Our Planet: Kids Try Sustainable Foods”.
For Our Planet is a good example of Da Vinci’s s new focus on reaching older kids by going beyond science- and math-focused content to address topics of interest to families, says Fiore.
“Personal development, wellbeing and mental health are what we’re hearing from families is important, and we’re looking for these new ways to engage the audiences and places we can grow,” he says. “During the pandemic, we almost doubled our traffic, and we aim to retain that by creating fun and educational content for co-viewing, because there isn’t enough of that for kids.”
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