In a move that should help fuel its growing userbase, Smart Healthy Green Living (SHG Living) has set up a dedicated kids & family section called “SHG Explorers” on its free OTT platform.

The hub went live over the weekend (May 23) with five titles in its nascent offerings at launch: the 2D-animated series The Adventures of Farmer Nick & Plant (a gardening show for kids created by educator Nick Cutsumpas) and four titles from Wind Sun Sky’s Future Chicken franchise, the recent microdrama-inspired Micro Mysteries (pictured) as well as Friends of Future Chicken, ChickenIn with Future Chicken and a batch of lyric videos.

Chief operations officer Christopher Mohs (who co-founded the platform with Sabine Schoenberg) tells Kidscreen that The Future Chicken Today Show is expected to land on the hub later this summer, and the team is now actively looking to acquire more eco-themed kids content to fill out the Explorers library. 

Focused on sustainability-forward content, SHG Living has been broadly focused on unscripted titles including home, garden, DIY and lifestyle shows. The service is available globally across major CTV platforms and FAST distribution partners.

Aligning with the streamer’s mission, the door is open to kids content that educates and explores themes like science, sustainability, environmentalism, gardening, healthy living and an appreciation for the outdoors. Mohs doesn’t have any specific preferences on formats, but he plans for the hub to include content aimed at multiple age groups, from preschool through middle school. Production teams interested in pitching shows can reach out to productions@shgliving.com.

Launched in 2020, the main SHG Living service has more than 15 million monthly active users, according to the company. “Our audiences really exploded this spring,” says Mohs, who notes that SHG Explorers has actually been in the pipeline for around a year (partly inspired by his friend Cutsumpas’ kids-focused gardening videos). “So naturally, it’s part of our overall growth strategy and mission to drive quality information around sustainable living.” 

“I have nieces and nephews that are preschool and early elementary aged [so] I had a thought in the back of my mind to carve out a home on SHG Living for children’s programming,” he adds. While the Farmer Nick pick-up happened organically, Mohs says the deal with Wind Sun Sky came together after Ashley Renne (a host on SHG Living) made an appearance on an episode of Friends of Future Chicken—a series where the titular bird and her egg sidekick interview IRL guests about nature-related topics.