Disney’s Dana Walden on New Ways to Reach Kids, Streaming Growth, International Expansion and What’s Next for ‘Shogun’

variety.com:

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Disney is looking at new ways to engage young fans, Dana Walden told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Tuesday.

Walden, the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment at the Walt Disney Co., told media analyst Ben Swinburne that the company is aiming to target kids and young families on the social media platforms where they consume a lot of content — especially YouTube. “They’re clearly on YouTube,” Walden said. “And we have a meaningful and great partnership with YouTube.

We produce thousands of videos based on our series specifically for YouTube. Disney Junior, I think, has 22 million subscribers.

We do that because we know that’s where kids like to consume content. Along with Disney+, we want to keep them engaged. We want to keep incubating IP on a platform that’s important to creators and kids.” To that end, Walden hinted at “the work we’re doing now, although I have nothing specific to announce on the technology side, are features that will specifically address how kids are interacting with content right now in a very contemporary way… looking holistically at that kids audience, we know we have the stories that they love.