Even MORE on KidsWB

With its Kids’ WB! Saturday morning slot on The CW slated to get the axe this fall, Warner Bros. has been working quietly on a new platform for its library of animated programming. The result is KidsWB.com, a premium ad-supported website that launched yesterday and targets kids six to 12 with a wide array of free entertainment offerings based on characters and properties from the Warner Bros. Animation, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics vaults.

Leading the charge is Sam Ades, KidsWB.com GM and VP of digital animation for Warner Bros. Television Group. With more than 100 games, thousands of streaming videos, customization elements on most apps and a robust cache of prizes and rewards for virtually every activity on the site, Ades is confident it will attract a sizeable audience.

The company is devoting resources to commissioning big-name industry talent to produce original made-for-digital programming under its Studio 2.0 banner. In the kids pipeline are shorts based on Plastic Man and The Wizard of Oz. The site will also house a special KidsWBJr. area for preschoolers with age-appropriate video, games, activities and downloads and two planned virtual worlds for older kids - DC HeroZone featuring the comic brand’s top superheroes, and Warner Zone.

Comcast is the site’s inaugural distribution partner, offering free streaming and VOD programming on its Fancast.com hub. Shows that play into this deal include The Flinstones, The Jetson, Smurfs, Batman: the Animated Series and Josie and the Pussycats. AOL will also feature a KidsWB.com broadband channel, streaming a different assortment of toons selected from the catalogue.

Mattel and McDonald’s are on-board as the platform’s first advertisers, with Mattel holding the rights to launch ad and promo partnerships for DC HeroZone, which will showcase a range of products it produces for the superhero franchise. Remaining ad inventory on the site will be handled by WBTVG’s digital media sales team, directed by EVP of media sales Michael Teichler.

KidScreen Magazine - Warner moves toon content online to KidsWB.com

Wowza… yeah… so I was WAAAAAAAAAAAY off yesterday with my thoughts about the cross platform approach to KidsWB. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY off.

Hmm. So, KidsWB (old Tworks) is no longer a virtual world? It’s just a platform - like Kabillion or Nick.com(ish)? Interesting.

I wonder how well this will do with older cartoon programs & less TV/Saturday Morning support? Will cartoons that appeal more to the parental set be able to compete with newer, shinier brands?? Or is there a lasting glimmer in older cartoons like Flintstones and Jetsons that can transcend generations?

I guess if I were in a grocery store with my kids and they were acting like hellions, I might just pop my phone in front of them so they can watch streaming Bugs Bunny… instead of most of the content available on the web.

And so… are DC HeroZone and Warner Zone (apparently they dig the zone) going to add to the bigger list of Virtual Worlds… but only for teens? Sounds like it. And do they mean that KidsWB.com is DEFINITELY NOT a virtual world (as had been mentioned in regards to its previous moniker)?

I tend to be “thick” some times… so maybe I’m just missing something. I look forward to more press statements regarding Warner Bros’s plans. In the mean time, if anyone has any commentary about this– bring it on, yo

Wow– and info keeps pouring in (thankfully, I hate being confused).  Here’s a tidbit.  Click this link to actually see the entire post (thanks to Virtual World News to always bringin’ it to the table, Rad):

What about virtual worlds?

“The areas I’m most excited about are the highly immersive, ever-expanding virtual worlds: The Warner Zone and The DC HeroZone,” said Ades. “These are the worlds where the kids really take control in open-ended exploration and gameplay—and, again, earning points for everything they do.”

After emphasizing concerns for safety and COPPA compliance, Ades showed a video demo  promising that “the best is yet to come. Prepare to enter the KidsWB virtual worlds.”

Displayed were avatar creation tools with Daphne from Scooby Doo, Taz, and Tweety. It looks as if The Warner Zone will be a fairly colorful, friendly environment. The DC HeroZone, though, is “melodramatic, where heroes and villains face off” in what is described as “the all new Batman virtual world.”

That’s not to say it won’t be appropriate for kids–I’m certainly not going to make that  judgment after a 10-second clip–but it does look like it might skew slightly older.

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So long TWORKS, hello KIDSWB

In September, Warner Bros. announced plans for a large virtual world to tie interactive content and its extensive video library together in the form of T-Works aimed at competing with Disney and Club Penguin. Warner Bros. announced today that it had changed the name of the platform to KidsWB.com. The site, aimed at kids 6-12, is being billed as a “premium, ad-supported destination built around youth-oriented, immersive entertainment.” For now it seems like that means streaming video of WB properties and casual games. According to PaidContent, though, KidsWB will see a virtual world by the end of this year that features classic Loony Tunes characters as well as new characters created just for the site. McDonald’s and Mattel have already signed on for the ad-supported site.

Virtual Worlds News: Warner Bros. Launches T-Works as KidsWB.com, Virtual World Still Coming

I sigh sadly. I actually liked T-Works better. Ah well.

Here’s some possible rational as to why KidsWB is a better choice: They don’t want to compete with Cartoon Network’s rip roarin’ FusionFall (which I’m still uber-psyched about despite the continued push back on time– ooo the suspense) nearly as much as the Club Penguin crowd. T-Works has an older, edgier tween/teen boy feel to it (at least to me… I envision Taz when I hear it. Taz, Marvin Martian, etc, all remind me of 8th Grade and Freshman year, as well as Great America theme parks and lick & stick tattoos… anyone else?).

KidsWB is so much more kidsy, it’s got a young, donut hole Saturday Morning cartoons vibe (my dad used to take me for donut holes on Saturday Morning– I was an early riser on Sats. LOVED my cartoons). –Hmm… it couldn’t be because KidsWB HAS a Saturday morning cartoon line-up, could it? BINGO. (update: apparently this is getting axed this fall?  Weird)

Syncin’ it, they’re syncin’ it.

Me thinks there will be multiplatformness… and immediate competition with Neopets 2.0 (tv, MMO, virtual environment, plushy, cross-media IP, etc).

KidsWB– multibrand (Bugs, Batman, Scoobs, etc) under one uberbrand (WB) distributed in Saturday Morning cartoon block, and a virtual world where you can be ONE with your favorite multibrand cartoons.

The only question is… will it succeed where Nicktropolis’s multi-brand in one world kinda (forgive me gods that be at Nick) didn’t?

What do I mean? Nicktropolis has sections where you can make a unique character in the visual styles of Spongebob, then make another in Danny Phantom’s world, etc. Sadly, this method doesn’t feel cohesive, and it takes away from any encompassing citizenship in Nicktropolis (where you again have another character representation of yourself). Part of community is recognizing others. How do you get used to the visual representation of a cool new friend if they’re always changing on you? Plus… how fun is it to travel in a virtual world where the main characters are NPC’s who feel more like animatronic musicians at Chucky Cheese, then a favorite friend from an animated series? It’s a tough line to walk. That’s why MMO’s have rocked for the brands with pre-created characters and story lines (Pirates of the Caribbean, FusionFall, Fosters), and vague cast-o-characters, new brands have worked for virtual worlds (like Club Penguin, Neopets).

But who knows– this project has been in development for a while now… perhaps they’ve found the magical combination that proves me & history wrong? (Notice: me first, history second… apparently I have a chip on my shoulder today, lol).

Anyway– here’s my older post regarding T-Works and the “big dogs” (its’ on of my faves)

UPDATE: Yeah… so the plot thickens, I was wrong, AND more VW’s to the list??????

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