Moshi Monsters Launching ‘YouTube Meets Nickelodeon’ Online TV Channel
It has already dominated kids’ magazines and social networking. Now Moshi Monsters is set to take on the world of children’s TV, with a new… Read more »
Community Writing Site Wattpad Raises $3.5 Million In First Round Funding
Wattpad, an online writing community that lets users share and collaborate on stories across platforms including mobile apps, has closed a $… Read more »
A New Transmedia Initiative For Kids
photo: Flickr / iboy
Last September, Rick Richter, the former president of Simon & Schuster (NYSE: CBS) Children’s, launched Ruckus Media Group, a kids’ book app… Read more »
Buy Sony’s New E-Reader, Get…A Coupon For One Harry Potter E-Book
photo: Sony
Sony (NYSE: SNE) has officially announced its new e-reader, the details of which leaked out earlier this week. It’s called the Reader WiFi a… Read more »
Teen Writing Site Figment Launches Contest With MTV
A couple of months after securing $1 million in funding, Figment, the community writing site for teens, is launching a toleration-themed wri… Read more »
Pottermore: A First Look Inside Harry Potter’s Digital World
From flying letters to a 4,500-word discourse on wand woods, early access to J. K. Rowling’s move into the digital arena, Pottermore, reveal… Read more »
Kids’ Book App Publisher iStoryTime Raises $2 Million
The Smurfs, Transformers and Kung Fu Panda have some more funding coming to them: iStoryTime, which develops kids’ picture books for mobile… Read more »
Twilight-Themed Pottermore Parody Gets 300,000 Hits In Three Days
Twimore.com, a Twilight-themed parody site that riffs on J. K. Rowling’s Pottermore.com, has been visited over 300,000 times since its launc… Read more »
How I Got Early Access To Pottermore.com
photo: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
It’s the sixth day of the contest to get early access to Pottermore.com, J. K. Rowling’s exclusive, interactive Harry Potter e-bookstore, wh… Read more »
Pottermore: Please Stop Selling Beta Accounts On eBay
With at least 25 Pottermore beta accounts now for sale on eBay (NSDQ: EBAY), the site has posted a notice: Cut it out! Read more »
Contest For Early Pottermore Access Leads To Massive Traffic & eBay Action
photo: Pottermore
Harry Potter e-books site Pottermore.com officially launches in October, but a “Magical Quill” contest that grants one million winners acces… Read more »
Kindle And Nook Target The Back-To-School Set
photo: Flickr / jimmiehomeschoolmom
Toys ‘R’ Us is a popular place to buy things like Lego kits, Crayola markers and Barbie tricycles. But the chain’s latest addition skews mor… Read more »
Pottermore Teams Up With Google
When you get the chance to include “Pottermore” and “Google” in the same headline, you take it, even though the news they’re announcing is k… Read more »
Harry Potter iPad App Hits It Big Despite Hefty Price
photo: Harry Potter Film Wizardry
Would you pay $12.99 for a Harry Potter book app? Probably, if you’re one of the people who helped shatter records for the midnight screenin… Read more »
A New Batch Of Digital Picture Books Comes To Tablets
photo: HarperCollins
Tablets and color e-readers offer a brighter palette for kids’ e-books–and an opportunity for publishers. HarperCollins is the latest to lo… Read more »
Three Ways Pottermore.com Could Change Book Publishing
After a suspenseful buildup, J. K. Rowling has announced that Pottermore.com will be an e-bookstore, exclusively selling Harry Potter e-book… Read more »
Alternate Theory Being Floated: New Harry Potter Site Will Be For Gaming
We wrote yesterday about Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s mysterious new (yet to be launched) website Pottermore–and the reasons it could… Read more »
New Kindle Series Uses Digital Tricks To Entice Tweens To Read The Classics
photo: Booksurfers
A new digital-only series aims to get kids to read the classics by integrating them into modern adventure books. Booksurfers, a new adventur… Read more »
Teen Writing Site Figment Gets New Funding, Moves Into Book Publishing
photo: Corbis / Blend Images / LWA / Dann Tardif
Figment, a site started by two Conde Nast veterans that is trying to capitalize on the absence of viable communities for book readers online… Read more »
TeePee Games Gets Strategic Backing From Turner Broadcasting Europe
TeePee Games, a games portal still in beta, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Turner Broadcasting Europe, the European wing… Read more »
More Changes At Disney Online; Luckett Leaving, Maigret To Lead Innovation
So far the top jobs in the *Disney* Online re-org have gone to Disney (NYSE: DIS) newcomers — Mark Walker to head Disney.com, Brooke Chaffi… Read more »
Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards To Stream Live From The ‘Orange Carpet’
While many major awards shows have seen ratings declines the last few years, Nickelodeon’s annual Kids Choice Awards seems to only get bigge… Read more »
Disney Interactive Cuts Staff By Another 2 Percent In Second Layoff Round
In January, Disney (NYSE: DIS) Interactive Media Group quietly laid off around 200 staffers on the video games side following a review by ne… Read more »
Disney Digital Hires Brooke Chaffin As SVP, Women & Family
The new management at Disney (NYSE: DIS) Interactive Media Group has made its first high-profile hire, luring Brooke Chaffin, president of A… Read more »
Tween Fashion Site FashionPlaytes Raises $4 Million
photo: Corbis / Rick Gomez
FashionPlaytes, a teen fashion site that lets its users design their own clothes, has raised $4 million. On the site, users choose a basic g… Read more »
Disney, Verizon FiOS Extend Carriage Deal; Includes Mobile, Digital Access
With the recent Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) deal as a template, Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Verizon FiOS TV have agreed to extend and expand di… Read more »
AOL Partners With Jonas Brothers On Entertainment Video Network Cambio
Last week, AOL (NYSE: AOL) began talking up its plans for a stripped down “super network” content strategy. This week, the company is unveil… Read more »
Netflix CEO Hastings Buys E-Learning Provider Dreambox
photo: AP Images
When he’s not thinking about managing DVD distribution deals with movie studios, Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings is thinking about ma… Read more »
Disney Aims Premium iPhone Apps At Kids, Sports Fans
In addition to the ABC (NYSE: DIS) Player hitting the iPad App Store, its parent Disney has a number of special items for the iPad’s release… Read more »
Kid-Friendly Web Browser KidZui Raises $4 Million
Kid-friendly web browser KidZui — which claims “hundreds of thousands of users” — has added $4 million in additional funding. Kidzui’s bro… Read more »
THQ Inks Multi-Game Licensing Deals With DreamWorks; Hires New Licensing Head
THQ has secured new licensing deals with DreamWorks Animation, giving the company the rights to develop and publish new games based on the s… Read more »
Layoffs Hit Online Game And Toy-Maker Smith & Tinker
Guess it’s a bit harder to launch the next Webkinz than the backers of web-based toy-maker Smith & Tinker thought. The company raised $29 mi… Read more »
Betawave CEO Matt Freeman Shifts To Vice Chair In Reorg
Matt Freeman (pictured, left) is relinquishing his CEO post at OTCBB-traded kids/mom-focused ad network Betawave to take on the role of vice… Read more »
College Admissions Site MyFit Raises $1 Million
MyFit has raised $1 million in a round led by VC firm New Enterprise Associates. The site takes the information a student enters (like GPA o… Read more »
EU Concludes 18-Month Investigation Into Ringtone Scams; Nine Companies Fined
photo: Flickr
The EU has concluded an 18-month long investigation into 301 websites selling ringtones and wallpapers, which has resulted in Italian author… Read more »
Disney Releases Free iPhone App; Includes Streaming Radio, Some Video
*Disney* is rolling out a free iPhone app that includes live access to Radio Disney (NYSE: DIS), video clips from its TV shows, games and pe… Read more »
Nickelodeon Acquires Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Franchise For $60 Million
photo: pinguino
MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon has acquired the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) franchise, for $60 million. The bulk of the payout goes to Th… Read more »
KidZui Aims For Kids, Parents With iPhone Video App
Kid-friendly web browser KidZui is going mobile with the launch of the ZuiTube iPhone app. The free app aggregates over 60,000 videos — fro… Read more »
Teen Fashion Site Suddenly Darling Launches With ‘Wholesome’ Content, Sponsorships In Mind
photo: Pop on the Pop
Young pop stars like Miley Cyrus (pictured) and Vanessa Hudgens are pushing the envelope when it comes to sexy clothes, videos and even MySp… Read more »
Fox’s IGN Acquires Family-Friendly Game Site, What They Play
Fox’s IGN Entertainment has acquired What They Play, a gaming info site geared toward bridging the gap between parents and their game-playin… Read more »
