PlayKids SVOD service to add ABC Kids’ content

Rebecca Hawkes
| 02 August 2016

Thomas & Friends, Sesame Street and Mister Maker will be added to preschool children’s streaming service PlayKids for users Down Under on 4 August, following a rights deal with ABC Commercial.

Thomas the Tank EngineThe video-on-demand (SVOD) service will also offer subscribers in Australia and New Zealand select series of Fireman Sam, the first season of The Wiggles’ Ready Steady Wiggle, and episodes from Octonauts as part of the agreement. ABC Kids series Joe & Jack, Q Pootle 5, Toby’s Travelling Circus, Peg + Cat, Cloudbabies, Mike The Knight and Dinosaur Train will also feature on the PlayKids app.

“ABC Commercial is excited to partner with PlayKids to bring local little ones and their parents more inspiring, imaginative ABC Kids content. With the likes of The Wiggles, Fireman Sam, Thomas & Friends and more ABC series now available on the service, we’re confident Australian and New Zealand parents will always be able to find educational and entertaining programming for their children to enjoy,” said Jessica Ellis, head of ABC video entertainment & distribution.

PlayKids launched in Brazil in 2013. Since then it has been downloaded by over 17 million families across 102 countries around the world, and now offers more than 2,000 episodes of ad-free children’s TV shows.

“Since we launched PlayKids, we’ve seen an unprecedented global appreciation for our vision: 'edutaining' services that delight children and please parents. It’s why we’ve been the number one global grossing kids app overall for two years straight,” said Flavio Stecca, CEO, PlayKids.