Moshi Monsters, UK social networking homepage for kids, revealed plans to move into online tv with a free iPlayer-style service.
The home page, which started in 2008, invites children to adopt a monster, play games and communicate with each other. Online TV player, Moshi TV, will include caricatures of popular Moshi characters or "moshlings", as Lady Googoo, dustbin Beaver and 49 Pence and animations downloaded by users. Due to start later this year,
Moshi television has the advantage of tapping into an existing audience of almost 38 m registered users all over the world, mainly aged between six and 11.
Michael Acton Smith, founder of the parent company mind Candy, said there was a widespread demand among children after a safe, socially-powered video website completely for them. "this is how the children will enjoy media. They do not want to sit and broadcast to-they will interact, and share and comment on, "he said.
"We reverse the traditional television on its head, and let the children decide what is popular by voting things up and make them more visible."
Moshi employs 20 editors and officer safety, and insists it will go through each piece of downloaded content. Children will be able to upload their own animations and short films, but not recordings of themselves or other children.
Moshi Monsters is profitable: while signing up to the site is free, a subscription fee enables its members to gather more moshlings and merchandise alone is sales forecast to reach $ 100 m £ 62 m in 2011.
Acton Smith said Moshi TELEVISION was being spun as a new company, and expects to have recruited nearly 30 employees at the end of the year. Rather than charging children or running commercials, Moshi TV charge content owners to put their output on the Web site.
Though Moshi claims rapid growth in the United States, which now represents 35% of its total audience, it is still over an intensely competitive market. In the United Kingdom dominates the Penguin Club Disney-owned, with an estimated 1224 m monthly users in February, according to comScore. Moshimonsters.com recorded 927,000, Stardoll 754,000 and Habbo 481,000.
Acton Smith said the time and thought had been invested in creating a distinctive, edgy visual style of the Moshi Monsters, originally created by illustrator Vincent Bechet.
"Pixar is one of the companies we have been inspired by, and it enables hundreds of millions of dollars in each film," he said.
"Secondly, it is to achieve this social is key – children love to impress and communicate just as adults do, and we have built secure tools for them to do."
He added internet : is a winner takes the entire market. Facebook has won LinkedIn social, has won business and Zynga has won the social gaming. But no one has gone deep in kids ' space, although it is a multi million offline industry. We want to be the top player so we are rapidly growing. "
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