Kidscreen 2023: data and kid television trends

With more than a thousand confirmed delegates from more than 40 countries, including buyers, production houses and distributors, and executives whose companies have business lines that cut across content oriented to preschoolers, children, and tweens, Kidscreen Summitis returned with a new venue after 2022, which saw a gathering divided among the digital and the physical, due to the global impact of Covid-19.

The market gathering,  organized by Brunico, held again at the classic Intercontinental Hotel in Miami from February 12 to 15, with the goal of bringing together the key players in the Americas. It´s a key and special year for the organizer, after taking over one of the star markets of the USA and the Spanish-speaking industry, NATPE Miami.

This time the venue offeres again its KidscreenXchange matchmaking platform, which has been a great success and was an invaluable tool during the pandemic period, when some delegates could not move between countries.

So, Kidscreen Summit is once again at the top of the agenda of kid-orientes content gatherings, followed by the Quirino Awards for Ibero-American Animation (May, Tenerife – Spain), the Annecy-MIFA Festival (June – France) and finally MIPJunior ( October – France).

Brunico has confirmed a long list of delegates including the main players in the creative community, platforms and broadcasters, as well as all the services iwithinthe value chain. Among them: ABC Australia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Grupo Globo, Sinking Ship, Nelvana, YLE, Xilam, Gaumont, Canal+, Federation Animation, Super RTL, among many others.

Although the 2021 attendance as marked by large absences, 2020 was a record year for this market, with more than 2,200 attendees from 50+ countries, of which more than 50% are participating again in this edition. Adding up to more than 400 content buyers and 900+ producers and distributors.

Some of the keynotes speakers  that will lead the market are: Rick Clodfelter, Executive Director, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships at Disney Branded Television, who will provide details of the company's plans and priorities; Swin Chang, executive in charge of development and production at CBC Kids; also former Warner Bros. Discovery and Adriano Schmid, VP of content at PBS Kids, among others.

The Kidscreen Awards will once again recognize content specially designed for children and will be delivered within the framework of the market, on February 14. Among the categories are: In Preschool, Best New Series: Deepa and Anoop (Mattel Television, Netflix); Best Series: Bluey (BBC Studios Kids & Family, Ludo Studio, ABC Australia); Best Special Episode: “Dragon Island”, by Pocoyo (Zinkia Entertainment), among others.

Jocelyn Christie, SVP & Publisher, Kidscreen: 'With this edition we hope to bring together our entire community who work tirelessly in the content industry and all those adjacent businesses. While a lot has changed in the past two years, one thing that hasn't changed is the importance of doing business and meeting new people face-to-face. As always, we are honored to provide a forum for these critical interactions'.

Trends

World animation enjoys good health. There are three main trends, which are consolidating. On the one hand, the targets are reinforced: pre-school and adult animation poles, the former attracting a greater number of projects, especially from the large public channels (RAI, ZDF, France TV, BBC), but also from Majors such as Warner Bros. Discovery. which launched Cartoonito in Latin America and Asia; or Adult Swim, also from WBD, with a focus on the US and the Hispanic market.

Second, the stories of female heroines and protagonists are highlighted, along with diversity, inclusion, ecology and the environment; these topics and their educational potential have grown in demand, especially in the post-pandemic. And, third, the formats: although live action makes a strong comeback after the production pause due to the pandemic, animation stands out strongly and keeps gaining audience, as ittalso happens with adult animation.

Likewise, the new business models and the forms of content consumption have also reached the children's audience.This is why the main executives in Latin America and the USA foresee longer series, and that additional seasons of successful programs will be faster greenlighted, in order to meet the demand from both linear television and streaming.

Another topic that is also trending is the recovery of family viewing, with parents seeking a reason to be together with their children.Therefore, family-oriented dramas, movies and game shows are also very important at this point.

Lastly, local stories have become truly global phenomena, breaking down many barriers for regional voices to emerge and be heard much more powerfully than ever before. We believe that the diversity and local strength of the talent behind these stories are key for the big players in the region to have empathy with young audiences: Disney has already announced a lineup of animated series focused on Central American cultures; as well as Warner Kids, it has already commissioned adaptations of DC Comics franchises, but adding characters from different cultures, such as Latin and Asian.

New players, new businesses

Zigazoois the world's largest social network for children. Zak Ringelstein, CEO: 'We offer a safe place for children to be creative and share their ideas. We have generated several NFT’s for children, that is, digital toys to collect. We have partnered with Moonbug for Blippi (12 billion views on YouTube) to be available this week with exclusive (behind the scenes) content on our platform.

OVFX is a VFX studio from Baltimore (USA and LatAm) that has been presenting five original projects in the latest markets: three animations and two video games that will be released in 2023/2024. ‘We participate in trade fairs looking for partners and opportunities to grow internationally. We are very enthusiastic and with a good level of meetings,' said Walt Carter, VP.

MCN Totoy Kids seeks to grow from the US to the Spanish-speaking market with a special focus on Mexico and Argentina: 'Our success José Comelón expands regionally after the premiere on Netflix. We are closing Pay TV agreements in Brazil, at the same time that we are creating alliances with new countries in Latin America and the USA. We have content in Russian, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Spanish, English, Portuguese and Arabic,' described Rafael Bezerra, international business development.

The Canela Kids channel stands out among the newsfrom US Hispanic, having been launched in two stages: the first in last August with new programming such as Cocomelon, Blippi, Blippin Wonders and Lellobee Farm (these last two new to the  US Hispanic market); and the second stage last December, with the launching of a dedicated app and new productions, featuring four original projects. 'The channel is 100% in Spanish: we want parents and children to watch the channel together and the Hispanic heritage to be the pride of families', explained Maggie Salas-Amaro Castellón, director.

HITN's renowned OTT Edye announced an agreement with The Jim Henson Company, which has produced the platform's mascot puppet, and which has caught the attention of the Latino market: 'We are very excited to incorporate this new evolution into our offer of content. Ray is a magical character who represents a large part of what Edye is and means to children and parents,' emphasized Guillermo Sierra, head of Television and Digital Services.

Insight Family forecasts

As part of the market, the consultant, in alliance with the event, will present its list of new forecasts to take into account in the content segment for preschoolers and children.

One of the first points is the supremacy of Tik Tok as a preferred search engine for entertainment for children. The consultancy assures that children are consuming and will consume more social platforms that present short clips, such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts, to obtain news and get answers to their current questions. In Q3 2022, there was a 125% increase in the number of kids ages 10-18 who reported viewing informational content on TikTok.

Another of the points the consultancy highlights is the return of the consumption of content in linear. And it is that they highlight that it could return as 'a main way of watching television' as households reduce spending on entertainment on platforms and the consumption of AVODs grows.

Insights Family notes that linear TV in the UK already has a decent audience, with around a third of 8-18 year olds saying they watch the BBC (31%) or ITV (29%).

It also underscores the trend about childrenhaving increasingindependence in the decision to purchase gaming. The Insights Family predicts that purchases on community-driven gaming platforms like Roblox could eventually replace physical store purchases. And a combination of factors should help this trend in 2023. 41% of teens and tweens would rather spend money on an experience than a product, and and 78% of children ages 3-18 reported playing video games in the last three months.

This points to the remarable opportunity for brands of standing out among the children's community.

Finally, it is stressed that the children will be the next generation of entrepreneurs and that content creators should refocus their narratives on empowering them. The consultancy points out that whether it's YouTube videos or games to get rewards (common prizes today are avatar skins, NFT’s and crypto currencies), children are more eager to generate forms of monetization online.

 

 

MS