With its newest show PJ Masks bringing in big audiences in the States on Disney Junior and across global markets, Entertainment One Family continues its winning streak producing, distributing and licensing family content. Olivier Dumont, managing director of eOne Family and eOne Licensing, spoke with CynKids about the biggest opportunities in the kids media market, the magic behind the company’s latest hit and what’s ahead for the company.
Where are the biggest programming opportunities in kids media?
It’s definitely the on-demand side which is creating a lot of opportunities for content makers around the world, whether it’s in the SVOD or AVOD space and Netflix, Amazon and now YouTube is also doing originals. They are definitely shaping the market, and the traditional players are creating their own platforms too.
How is the US market different?
It’s one of the biggest markets in the world yet it is where kids have the fewest viewing options in the sense that you have Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon and Sprout, and PBS – and that’s it in terms of broadcasters. But when you look at international markets, kids have a lot more options with terrestrial broadcasters, cable networks. The US has a much smaller offering, therefore the opportunities for exposure are more limited. And Disney, Nick and Cartoon make their own content, which leaves very few slots for content developed internationally. The international networks that get the biggest ratings, they are not fully integrated, they don’t have their own studio or production studios, and that leaves a lot more space for third-party content. As a result, the US is most competitive market.
What’s the magic behind PJ Masks, which has been adopted so quickly in so many markets?
The show is extremely aspirational and was designed that way. We wanted kids to think of themselves as PJ Masks, that the three main characters could be them. It’s based on a series of books that was only published in France up to now. The characters were superheroes in the books, you never saw them as bring real kids turning into superheroes. The first thing in development, we made sure we saw kids being real kids and turning into superheroes; hence the kids in the audience can see themselves in daily life and at night they transform.
What’s ahead for eOne Family?
We are strong in preschool, and the shows we do are always gender-neutral, although when it comes to licensing Papa apparel is more girls-focused and PJ Masks will have a slight boys skew. Our biggest opportunity is for shows for a slightly older audience in the boys action-adventure space, and the girls 6-9 space. Our strategy is to do few brands but put our entire weight behind them. We are not in the volume business at all, we don’t want them cannibalizing each other. Our content strategy is to look for properties that complement what we have.
