What do HBOMax, Apple+, and Disney Plus all have in common? Muppets. Last week, HBOMax announced that in addition to exclusive rights on new episodes of Sesame Street, it will be launching The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo, (“because Elmo’s bedtime is 7:30”), a celebrity talk show designed to appeal to kids and parents alike. Just a few day days ago, Apple+ premiered Fraggle Rock: Rock On!, a reboot of the 1980s children’s TV show. And despite its scant showing of Muppet content, as Vanity Fair recently noted, Disney owns the rights to the marquee Muppets (Kermit, Miss Piggy, et al), and has a smattering of TV shows and films from the franchise on its platform. (Note: While the Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock crews are not members of the Muppets, they’re part of the wider Muppets universe created by Jim Henson.)
The larger point here is that kids’ content, especially big-brand, household name kids’ content, is a hot commodity — especially now, as many parents are looking at an unspecified amount of time indoors with their children. As the so-called streaming wars have kicked up in recent months, content for children has emerged as a differentiator in a crowded market. Children aren’t as novelty-seeking as adults when it comes to programming — anyone who’s ever had to watch Frozen more than once in a single day can attest to this. Instead, kids get hooked on things — individual films, characters, songs, and can watch them again and again. So, much like the hordes of people who may flock to from Netflix to HBOMax because it’s now the carrier of Friends, children’s viewing preferences may help tip the scales with families who are trying to decide which streaming services are worth keeping and which can go.
There’s also a notable trend in recent kids’ television of creating content that appeals to both parents and children. This has been happening in film since the mid-90s when Disney movies started casting A-list talent in voice roles and upgrading the scripts to match. But in children’s television, which, prior to on-demand, had long been segmented into certain times of day (after school, Saturday mornings), there’s been a larger move towards creating content that adults won’t mind watching over and over. This move also explains the appetite for proven IP in children’s content, pitched to appeal to a sense of nostalgia in parents eager to share shows and characters from their own childhood with the next generation. And so we have Muppet characters on the three biggest streaming platform premieres of the year, a Looney Tunes reboot, and exclusive rights on new episodes of Pokémon on Netflix (which used to air on cable networks like Cartoon Network and DisneyXD).
With the bounty of options for children’s content available online and on apps like Roku, there’s always something to watch, with or without a subscription. For Amazon Prime members, Studio71’s own FGTeeV Roblox offers viewers a family-oriented take on gameplay. Fun Zone, a free Roku channel from Studio71, features shows with characters from LEGO and Minecraft. Other no-cost options include Crackle’s recently released “Homeschool Channel” in partnership with the Ad Council. PBS Kids is available to livestream online. And for those looking for something a little different, there’s always the Monterey Bay Aquarium penguin cam.
