Kids SVoD services laugh with Hoho

Hoho Entertainment’s Cloudbabies

Two growing children’s subscription VoD services have acquired preschool titles from UK-based producer and distributor Hoho Entertainment.

Cloudbabies (52×10′) and Abadas (52×11′) will be available in multiple territories via Playkids and Hopster, including the US and the UK.

It comes after Brazil-based Playkids expanded into new territories recently after receiving US$15m in investment from Latin American mobile services provider Movile last year.

UK-based Hopster, meanwhile, last week sold a minority stake in the business to Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks to help grow its operations.

The app launched in more than 100 countries last year and reached the US in August.

Elsewhere, Hoho Rights, the sales arm of Hoho, has partnered with YouTube specialists X-Media Digital in Russia to launch Cloudbabies in the local language.

Cloudbabies follows the adventures of four childlike characters whose job is to look after the sky, while Abadas follows a young narrator who helps his pop-up box friends solve word problems.

Helen Howells, joint MD of Hoho Rights, said: “We have to embrace the ever-changing landscape of children’s content distribution. Working with companies such as Hopster, Playkids and X-Media, which are experts in the digital world, is a great way to introduce our shows to new audiences.”