Roku has inked an exclusive programming deal with the kids and family studio pocket.watch that will bring four children’s specials and one series to The Roku Channel later this year starring popular kid creators on YouTube.
The partnership first began on Thanksgiving Day with a special featuring YouTube star Ryan Kaji of Ryan’s World, who became popular for videos of unboxing gifts and has now amassed more than 34 million subscribers on the platform. The special, Ryan’s World Titan Universe Holiday Adventures, was promoted as part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The other three specials arriving to The Roku Channel later this year are Toys & Colors Kaleidoscope City, a live-action and animated special starring the YouTube creators known as Toys & Colors; Elemon, a STEM-focused anime special from the studio Toei Animation and the creators of Ryan’s World; Love, Diana, another animated and live-action special featuring the stars of the YouTube channel Kids Diana Show; and Jason Vlogs and the Do Crew, an original series with the Netherlands-based young creator known as Jason and his brother Alex focused on teaching viewers about problem-solving.
The Roku Channel has seen success with its kids and family channel, which also includes shows like Cocomelon, Sesame Street and My Little Pony. According to Roku, which will report its full fourth quarter earnings on Feb. 15, the kids and family channel was streamed by more households during Q4 2022 than any other standalone kids and family AVOD app on Roku.
“We’re delighted to work with pocket.watch to bring our viewers access to content starring some of today’s most beloved kids stars and creators,” Jennifer Vaux, the head of content acquisition for The Roku Channel, said in a statement. “Pocket.watch content is hugely popular with our audience, and we’re thrilled to be able to exclusively bring our users this type of in-demand programming.”
Pocket.watch has been an early partner of Roku’s, signing on as an inaugural launch partner when The Roku Channel when the kids and family app debuted in 2019.
“The Roku Channel is the rare ad-supported streaming service that has truly gone big with kids and families,” David Williams, pocket.watch svp and general manager of channels, sad. “We’re so proud to level up this partnership and demonstrate unmistakably the power of pocket.watch’s unique kid-creator content.”
