Kid-Safe Online Videos

Can this be profitable? Will parents pay another subscription fee as Josh Solt is suggesting? I’m skeptical. With every cable provider providing a free on-demand kids channel, and cable being a major source of high-speed internet access, so many kid-specific game sites, if I’m the parent I’m thinking, meh, I don’t know that I need to spend that extra money. I do think a kid-content aggregator will be appreciated and visited. I’m just not convinced the rest of the plan will work. Your thoughts – am I just destined to be a cheap-skate parent?

From MediaWeek:

As more and more children spend their free time online, a digital media entrepreneur is looking to establish a Web video destination that has been curated and screened especially for kids.

Josh Solt, COO of the Los Angeles, Calif.-based startup Earlier Media, has launched Kideos.com, a new video hub featuring content from Disney, Nickelodeon, PBS and other kids purveyors—grouped both by content categories and age groups, such as 0-2, 5-6 and 9-10. According to Solt, the site is putting a premium on kids’ safety, as all content on Kideos.com has been screened by a Video Advisory Council, a collection of parents and educators who serve as consultants for the company. Plus, parents can customize their kids viewing experience by limiting access to certain content aimed at different age groups, for example.

Currently, Kideos.com does not license any content; instead it mostly embeds clips from sites like YouTube. Many of the clips on the site from traditional media companies—such as this clip from Nickelodeon’s iCarly—appear to have been recorded and posted online by fans (not necessarily with Nickelodeon’s permission).

But Solt said that Kideos.com is simply aggregating kids content that is already available on the Web, and that the company will make an effort to respect all copyright laws. Business-wise, Kideos.com is free to users, and advertising is not necessarily part of the long term plan (currently the site does carry some text ads from Google).

Instead, according to Solt, Kideos.com will be used to draw a kids audience that can eventually be funneled to several yet-to-be launched kids sites that will be subscription- and e-commerce-based. “This helps us establish a presence in this market,” he said. A market that is growing fast, particularly when it comes to Web-based entertainment for kids, according to Nielsen.

Solt said that in the next few months, Earlier Media plans to introduce several new Web brands centered on video content, gaming and education. “We think parents are going to want and be willing to pay for this content.”