Netflix spends many billions of dollars a year on content, but it doesn’t usually spend its money on content companies.
Netflix has made a rare acquisition, to help it make more kids’ stuff
The streaming company has bought StoryBots, a kids’ brand made by the guys who made JibJab.
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
Here’s an exception: The streaming service has bought StoryBots, a media brand focused on educational kids’ shows.
StoryBots had been owned by Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, two brothers who also founded the JibJab video company during the first web boom. They launched StoryBots in 2012, and now Netflix says they will “significantly expand the universe of the beloved StoryBots, building on the characters that kids across the globe now know and love.”
I can’t verify that kids across the globe know and love StoryBots. You can check it out for yourself here, though you’ll need to sign up for an account, and StoryBots would like you to eventually buy a subscription, too. There’s an option where you can insert your kids’ faces into the videos (just like the old JibJab videos).
Netflix didn’t disclose a price for the deal, but it’s reasonable to assume it’s a fairly small sum by Netflix standards, because Netflix has yet to spend very much money buying other people’s companies.
In fact, Netflix almost never buys other people’s companies, period. Prior to StoryBots, the only other acquisitions it has made have been Millarworld, a comic book publisher, and ABQ Studios, a production facility in New Mexico.
Both of those deals came in the last couple years. The Millarworld deal is just about to start generating content for Netflix, via upcoming series like Jupiter’s Legacy.
The ABQ deal reportedly cost Netflix a mere $30 million, and it’s reasonable to assume that StoryBots did not have a gigantic price tag, either. Instead, Netflix has been spending its money on stuff it can show its 150 million subscribers, or on high-priced talent with a track record for making that stuff.
Netflix has spent a reported $400 million, for instance, on deals to bring producers Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy over from ABC and Fox, respectively.
The StoryBots deal comes shortly after Disney announced plans to launch its family-oriented streaming service in November. I wouldn’t read too much into that: Kids’ stuff has been an ongoing focus for Netflix, for years. Recent investments include a new animation facility in Hollywood, and Netflix has also been using kids’ content to experiment with new formats like “branching narratives” — that is, choose-your-own-adventure-style interactive shows.
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