Moshi Monsters to develop online TV channel for children
The pre-teen social network has revealed plans to move into online television with a free iPlayer-style service.
As reported by the Guardian, the channel is set to launch later this year into a potentially lucrative online space.
Moshi Monsters currently boasts around 38m registered users worldwide, catering for children aged between six and 11.
The website began in 2008 and invites children to adopt a monster, play games and communicate with each other. The online TV player, Moshi TV, will include cartoons of popular Moshi characters.
Michael Acton Smith, founder of parent company Mind Candy, said there was a widespread demand among children for a safe, socially powered video website entirely for them. "That's how kids want to enjoy media. They don't want to sit and be broadcast to – they want to interact and share and comment," he said.
"We're flipping traditional TV on its head and letting the kids decide what's popular by voting things up and making them more discoverable."
He added: "The internet is a winner-takes-all market. Facebook has won social, LinkedIn has won business and Zynga has won social gaming. But no one has gone deep in the kids' space, even though it's a multibillion offline industry. We want to be the top player so we're expanding rapidly."