Fuelled by a string of major content deals inked last year with the likes of Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment, a new SVOD service called YOU Kids On Demand is launching in China for cable and IPTV.

YOU Kids comes from YOU On Demand, a multiplatform entertainment and VOD operator in China that streams Hollywood and Chinese-produced titles.

The service will offer premium kids programming from Sesame, HIT and Nelvana Enterprises, as well as preschool-skewing educational content. Episodes will either be subtitled or dubbed in simplified Chinese, based on whether or not the show’s intended age group has the ability to read.

Launching with Nanjing Cable, which reaches three million two-way cable subscribers, YOU Kids plans to expand to other cable and IPTV networks in additional regions in the coming weeks and months.

The market for children’s entertainment and education has great potential in China. According to Huidian Research, there are close to 180 million children under the age of eight and more than 20 million newborns there, one in three of whom are living in urban areas.