Netflix has secured rights to stream YouTube content for kids and babies in what appears to be a multi-year licensing deal with a YouTube content creator. This signals a new strategy for the popular video streaming company, one that will most probably get implemented in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
So far, Netflix has only licensed a 46-minute HooplaKidz nursery rhyme compilation produced by BroadbandTV. The company is a Canada-based multi-platform video producer and has successfully created popular characters for its YouTube series called The Adventures of Annie & Ben.
The series' Annie and Ben star in the licensed compilation, singing nursery rhymes such as "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," "Wheels on the Bus" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
The HooplaKidz content is already airing as early as Oct. 1. While this recent strategy is clearly aimed to strengthen its children's programming, Netflix also seems to be targeting parents who use videos to babysit their kids so they can do some other tasks at home.
Based on the information available today, it appears Netflix is poised to expand the licensed content and possibly secure rights to stream some titles in the more than 10,000 original contents in HooplaKidz's library.
"Netflix is highly focused on kids and family verticals," BroadbandTV founder and CEO Shahrzad Rafati told Variety. "This is really the beginning of the relationship, for us to provide more licensed content and develop original shows for Netflix."
This latest bit of information comes at a time when Netflix has been reported to have a significantly diminished library. A previous Tech Times report, for example, cited that there is at least 50 percent drop in the number of titles today at the online video streaming service compared to what was available back in 2012.
Netflix has been developing its own exclusive digital content, a strategy widely seen as a way to counter challenges in securing rights to films and television shows. Several producers of popular titles, for example, refuse to cooperate as negotiations tend to get bogged down by disagreements over pricing.
Aside from the production of original content, Netflix has been increasingly turning to independent and small video production outfits such as BroadbandTV. This certainly makes sense since the licensing costs are significantly lower. These producers have also demonstrated that they have available content that meets the standards of quality befitting the Netflix brand. The company, for instance, has signed deals with independent film makers such as Cary Fukunaga. His film Beasts of No Nation, which starred Idris Elba, was exclusively released in the platform.
