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With orders for new shows, specials and movies from some of Cartoon Network’s biggest franchises, including Ben 10, Teen Titans Go!, and The Amazing World of Gumball – HBO Max leans heavily on children’s and family content with the goal of competing against top players like Netflix and Disney Plus.
Central to WarnerMedia’s plans to make HBO Max a go-to streaming service for families, like Disney Plus and Netflix have done, is the “unveiling” of Cartoon Network as WarnerMedia’s primary family brand. The new series and specials commissioned for HBO Max will join a library of shows and movies spanning 3,000 hours of content. Branding is important – and difficult – but it’s what works for a studio like Disney. Disney Plus is built around its biggest franchises, including Pixar, which makes it an easy sell for families. By building on Cartoon Network, which already has a dedicated hub on the HBO Max homepage, and producing more content, WarnerMedia is probably hoping some families will spend more time on HBO Max instead of Disney. More.
Children’s content is a popular commodity, and it’s not hard to see why. An August 2020 Morning Consult study found that YouTube and Netflix were among the top two platforms kids ages 5 to 12 spend time on. About 65% of kids choose YouTube as their preferred entertainment source, while 55% choose Netflix. At the same time, cable networks like Nickelodeon are losing much of their audience – recording an almost 50% drop in their audience between 2015 and 2020, according to Forbes. While the number of cable viewers is declining, the amount of time children spend on screens is very high. They get it straight from streaming platforms and apps like YouTube or TikTok.
Another study found that around 55% of households are interested in two subscription-based streaming services (think two premium subscription services like Netflix and HBO Max). If businesses are trying to figure out how to scale their streaming platforms and then keep those subscribers, it’s crucial to give families everything they need in one place. Streaming platforms should be something for everyone when everyone is looking for something. This is especially true at this time when people are stuck at home looking to entertain themselves and their family members.
For HBO Max, a platform most associated with adult TV shows and movies, it is more difficult to get the “family” message across. AT&T CEO John Stankey told a virtual audience during a the Wall Street newspaper conference that part of the new job of Casey Bloys, head of content for HBO and HBO Max, was to find a way to allocate content spending, which “will hit the whole family.” While HBO commissions shows focused on teens, like Euphoria and the next one Generation, Cartoon Network (and shows like Sesame Street) will likely have a bigger presence on HBO Max.
WarnerMedia isn’t the only company trying to figure this out, either. Today, Apple announced a multi-year agreement with Skydance Animation, which will include feature films and shows aimed at families. YouTube announced that its YouTube Kids app has more than 35 million viewers per week and that it gives parents more power of personalization to let kids watch even more in the app. Netflix has a Tim Burton series Wednesday Addams that will likely find an audience between teens and teens. Finally, next week, ViacomCBS will unveil its streaming service Paramount Plus, including how Nickelodeon and family content fit into the company’s strategy.
WarnerMedia also has the right tools to be a leader when it comes to kids and families. Cartoon Network is a treasure trove of intellectual property. Add to Sesame Street, Looney toons, and the streaming rights for the Studio Ghibli collection in the United States, and there’s plenty for kids and families to watch. This is in addition to Warner Bros. movies, HBO shows and more. The only problem WarnerMedia still faces with HBO Max is getting this message across. Again, families know what they’re getting with Netflix and Disney Plus – what they’re getting with HBO Max isn’t always so obvious.
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