Halifax,Canada-based DHX Media is the latest company to get into the SVOD business, with its soon-to-be launched streaming platform Kids Room. The ad-free OTT product will be available on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 platform this summer.
All of the content on the service will be taken from DHX’s 13,000-hour content library, and will include preschool series Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Teletubbies and Strawberry Shortcake. Kids Room will also debut with properties targeted at slightly older kids, such as Slugterra (pictured), Kid vs. Kat, Chuck’s Choice, Sabrina: The Animated Series and Angela Anaconda. More series will be added to the service in the coming months.
While this is the first time DHX has formally unveiled the OTT product, it has been mulling the idea for some time. During an investor call in November, CEO Michael Donovan said the company was looking to combine its channel infrastructure and expertise in Canada with its vast library to create packaged channels that could be taken into the US, Latin America and other territories.
The announcement comes as DHX makes a number of significant changes to both its strategic focus and operational structure. Last September, following a year-long strategic review, the company said it was streamlining its content strategy to focus on producing fewer, higher-budgeted projects. Since then it has also reduced its production infrastructure, first selling its Halifax animation studio and later its Toronto production studio on Bartley Drive.
For its part, US cable giant Comcast has been evolving its X1 platform to include more kid-focused SVOD offerings. This includes Disney Family Movies, Stingray Karaoke, Kidstream, PlayKids and TumbleBooks TV. Kids Room will cost X1 subscribers US$4.99 per month.
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