Toca Boca to shut down SVoD app

Spin Master-owned app producer Toca Boca is to close down its SVoD app Toca TV, just under a year after it was launched.

Bjorn Jeffery

The video platform for kids, which features original content produced by Toca Boca and costs US$4.99 a month, will be discontinued as of March 31.

The app was launched in Canada, Australia and New Zealand in June last year and was later made available around the world via Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

Former Sesame Workshop executive J Milligan, who joined the Swedish app company in 2015 to oversee its original content, will continue at the firm, a spokeswoman for Toca Boca told C21.

In a statement on the Toca Boca website, company co-founder and CEO Björn Jeffery said Toca TV was being closed because “subscriptions were lower than anticipated.”

Subscribers who signed on for future months will be able to receive a refund through the App Store or Google Play.

“We continue to believe in the relevance of shortform video in kids’ lives. We will be exploring new ways to bring more of our original video content to fans in the future,” Jeffery added.

Toca Boca, which was founded in Stockholm in 2010 and has released more than 30 children’s apps, was acquired by Canadian toyco and Paw Patrol producer Spin Master in April 2016.