‘CoCoMelon’ Outfit Moonbug Plots European Expansion & Launches Channel For Older Kids

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Moonbug Entertainment, the owner of the lucrative CoComelon franchise, is plotting European expansion and has launched its first channel for older children.

The Candle Media-owned outfit has kickstarted a Blippi & Friends 24/7 linear channel in the MENA region. The new network is the first 24/7 linear offering to be named after the Blippi IP and will feature a number of spin-offs targeted at 4-8 year olds as opposed to Moonbug’s pre-school heartland.

These include Meekah and the feature-length special Big Dino Adventure, while Blippi – an educational human with a distinctive bow tie who has various cartoon friends – will feature in numerous interstitials.

Nicolas Eglau, who runs EMEA, APAC and global distribution for Moonbug, said the channel was inspired by the huge success of slightly older-skewing versions of CoComelon that have performed well on Netflix recently. “We wanted to do something new and innovative and just thought we should name the channel after one of our most successful IPs,” he told Deadline. “This content has the ability to deliver values in a playful and fun way, so we take it very seriously.” Eglau’s team frequently discusses the potential to move further into the older kids space and he said they are “observing the market” but would need any big plays to be known IP. “The way we want to grow is to work with existing successful brands so if we moved into an older segment then it would be acquisitions,” he added.