Pocket.watch today will announce its first partner – HobbyKidsTV, a family of 10 YouTube channels collectively pacing at 200 million monthly views. It’s the first of 12-15 partnerships with YouTube creators the just-launched digital-first media company focused on K2-11 plans to sign. The partnership gives Pocket.watch exclusive access to HobbyKidsTV’s library of 3,000-plus videos for packaging and distribution on Pocket.watch-branded offerings outside of YouTube.
“Their YouTube channels will still exist as their channels,” Jon Moonves, Pocket.watch chief strategy officer, tells Cynopsis. “HobbyKidsTV are brilliant at what they do and they are successful at what they do. We’re not going to mess with that. We are going to help support that and help them achieve great things off of their YouTube channel.”
Distribution on other platforms, original premium content, apps, toys, books, and even linear television are all in the mix as potential avenues for extending creators’ base outside of YT, depending on the needs of each brand, Moonves says. Sweetening the pot for creators, he says Pocket.watch provides its partners with equity partnership in Pocket.watch. “They will be part owners in the company, they will have a seat at the table.”
Pocket.watch is also ramping up its own YouTube presence. “We’re currently building up our inventory and have a goal of 1,000 videos by year end,” Moonves says. The company also is developing a premium content suite, and is in talks with a publisher to create a series of books and a book imprint, he says.
