By Sadhana Bharanidharan and Andrea Hernandez

The kids industry is brimming with podcast, audio and music news as more companies embrace creating content for young listeners. To keep you tuned into the most important deals and launches in this space, Kidscreen is rolling out a new bimonthly Audio Files series that explores opportunities and strategies for making noise in this increasingly crowded market. 

Rebel Girls

The aspirational female empowerment brand is going exclusive for the first time, making a new collection of 10 bedtime podcast episodes that will only be available on Hatch audio players. 

Narrating the real-life stories of inspirational women based on Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (pictured), the first ep dropped on August 31, and the rest are slated to drop by end of year on a bi-weekly release schedule. The content targets kids ages four to 12 and their families.

Previously, Rebel Girls launched its podcasts widely on all major audio platforms (Spotify, Apple, etc.) as well as on its own app. Collectively and across all distribution channels, these titles have generated 40 million audio listens. But as the podcast market gets more crowded, the next step for producers will be to explore exclusivity and niche distribution paths in order to stand out. 

To this end, the company flew into inflight entertainment for the first time this year, licensing content to Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and British Airways. And earlier this year, Rebel Girls also began uploading its podcasts to YouTube, where they have collectively generated around 14 million views.

“With devices, there’s an opportunity to not only license our podcasts, but also to create and collaborate on new content with exclusivity for our partners,” says Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe. In addition to these 10 custom episodes, Hatch is licensing 30 episodes from the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls podcast, and the California-based consumer electronics manufacturer is keen to sign more kids content deals to expand its catalogue.

Looking ahead, Rebel Girls’ plan is to experiment with different genres of audio content. For example, when the company launched its first self-help book (Growing Up Powerful) this May, it created a limited companion audio series at the same time. “We are also in development on a fiction podcast to complement our first fiction book series, launching in 2024,” Wolfe teases.

ABF Creative

One podcast content theme that is quickly becoming popular among families is health and wellness. New data released last week from podcast studio ABF Creative (which produces Charm Words) finds that parents want to use podcasts as a tool to support their kids’ mental health and boost their confidence, and this opens up new opportunities for producers. 

ABF’s research indicates that podcast creators should be looking to make content that empowers their listeners, and also producing educational guides so parents can provide supplemental learning to the audio stories, says company founder and CEO Anthony Frasier. 

ABF surveyed more than 1,000 parents in the US with kids ages four to 11 in May and June to explore what they are looking for in podcasts. The resulting report, Sounds of Self-Esteem (published September 6), found that 70% of parents want more kids audio content focused on mental and emotional health. And 63% are open to implementing a routine where kids listen to podcasts three or four days a week in order to help them develop self-esteem.

The study found that 60% of parents have noticed positive changes in their kids’ mood or behavior as a result of audio entertainment. Kids are happier and calmer when they listen to music, podcasts and audiobooks that teach them new things or offer positive affirmations, according to the parents surveyed. More than half (58%) also said their kids’ self-esteem and social skills improved, and 63% noticed a change for the better in academic performance.

One of Frasier’s top tips for podcast creators: Keep content short (five to 10 minutes max) so it’s playable in those moments when kids have time to listen in the car or between classes. “Audio is more versatile and can be played in many different scenarios that video can’t, so make sure your content experience is native to the platform you are posting on.”