Moonbug Leisure is partnering with Sanrio on a significant ‘CoComelon‘-‘Good day Kitty‘ collaboration launching subsequent yr, Kevin Mayer introduced Wednesday on the APOS “Way forward for Storytelling” session.
“We’re doing a giant ‘CoComelon’ collaboration with Sanrio’s ‘Good day Kitty,’ beginning subsequent yr,” revealed Mayer, founder and co-CEO of Candle Media, Moonbug’s mum or dad firm. “I believe this might be a really, very joyous second for youths and youths all over the world, who each love ‘CoComelon’ and love ‘Good day Kitty.’”
The announcement got here as Mayer shared one other putting statistic: Moonbug’s music streams throughout all platforms final yr surpassed Taylor Swift‘s complete. “Final yr throughout Moonbug, we had extra music listens, extra music streams throughout all platforms, than Taylor Swift did,” he mentioned. “So youngsters are listening, and their dad and mom are listening to our music.”
The spectacular figures underscore the attain of Moonbug’s crown jewel, “CoComelon,” which has grown from 60 million YouTube subscribers when Candle acquired it 5 years in the past to 200 million in the present day. In January alone, “CoComelon” and Moonbug’s different properties generated 10 billion views.
Talking with moderator Vivek Couto, govt director and co-founder, Media Companions Asia, which organizes APOS, Mayer detailed how “CoComelon’s current migration from Netflix to Disney+ displays his multi-platform technique reasonably than broader business shifts. The property, initially developed by a South Korean couple in Los Angeles, began as YouTube content material earlier than increasing to conventional streaming.
“We all the time thought social media storytelling needs to be a central a part of storytelling, and YouTube is probably the most fertile space to get professionally produced IP within the social sphere,” Mayer mentioned.
Since launching on Netflix in 2021, “CoComelon” has been the platform’s primary present globally in mixture. The unique Netflix deployment merely repackaged YouTube seasons into hour-long episodes. Now, the franchise has expanded into video games, client merchandise licensing, and that chart-topping music enterprise.
Mayer, who spent 25 years at Disney earlier than co-founding Candle Media with backing from Blackstone, sees the transfer to Disney+ as a pure match. “Disney is a pure house for youths and household product,” he mentioned. “We wish to take our properties and strategically deploy them throughout all of the totally different streaming platforms.”
The chief addressed Hollywood’s nervousness over short-form content material and shifting viewing habits, significantly amongst youthful demographics. Whereas older audiences spend about 75% of their media time watching conventional movie and TV, Gen Z flips that equation, with solely 25-30% consumed on conventional platforms and the remainder on social media, short-form programming and video games.
“There was a really substantial shift in preferences, particularly in youthful audiences,” Mayer famous. “It’s a monotonic lower when it comes to utilization of conventional media throughout demographics.”
However Mayer isn’t writing off long-form content material. Past the “Good day Kitty” collaboration, Moonbug is creating a “CoComelon” film with Common set for 2027, which he calls “the apex of the ‘CoComelon’ story.”
On AI’s function in storytelling, Mayer positioned it as one other device within the inventive toolkit, evaluating it to CGI or online game engines. “It doesn’t substitute human creativity. It’s a device to assist inform higher tales,” he mentioned. “I believe audiences will see higher storytelling, higher graphics, and performed extra effectively due to AI.”
Wanting forward, Mayer mentioned, “We don’t create simply exhibits. We’ve created massive, long-lasting franchises which have a multi-platform functionality that may serve audiences throughout many contact factors.”
