YouTube’s push to develop original content will soon extend to kids’ programming.
Google’s online video streaming service recently announced plans to offer four new children’s series from YouTube’s community of content creators. The company will begin rolling out the series this spring and they will be available to stream for YouTube Red subscribers. YouTube launched the ad-free streaming subscription service, which costs $9.99 per month, in 2015 and began debuting original content for the service last year.
The new kids’ series will include: Hyperlinked, a show that follows the five members of the tween girlband L2M as they create a website for young girls; Dan TDM Creates A Big Scene, a series starring British YouTube creator Daniel Middleton and several of his animated friends; The Kings of Atlantis, an animated series set in the underwater city of Atlantis and starring YouTubers “Cody and Joe”; and Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force, another animated show that follows four “Fruit Ninjas” as they fight evil using “Juice Jitsu.”
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s technology newsletter.
The announcement came as YouTube celebrated the two-year anniversary of its launch of YouTube Kids app, which has racked up more than 30 billion views to date and more than eight million active viewers each week.
In a blog post, YouTube said the new original children’s programming was “created especially with the YouTube Kids app in mind.” (The company added that the YouTube Kids app will soon be available to download on various smart TVs made by LG and Samsung.)
YouTube released more than 20 pieces of original programming in 2016 for YouTube Red, the company told Coins2Day in December. One of the service’s breakout stars—and its highest-paid creator—was Swedish vlogger PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg. YouTube cut ties with Kjellberg this week, after it was reported that he had recently posted several offensive videos online.
