Collective Digital Studio (CDS) and pioneering YouTube star Lucas Cruikshank, best known for his helium-voiced six-year-old character Fred Figglehorn, announced on Thursday that they have partnered to re-launch Fred as a tween and family entertainment channel. He will be appearing as himself and Fred in a new series launching on the channel in September, which will also feature fan submissions.

There will be a new group of kids enlisted to create content, along with opportunities for fans to upload theirs.

Cruikshank originally launched Fred on YouTube in April 2008, when he was a 14-year-old living in Columbus, Nebraska. By April 2009, it was the first channel to break the million-subscriber barrier. Its popularity led to a deal with Nickelodeon, which spawned a trio of Fred TV movies and a series, Fred: The Show. He also starred as an alien teenager adjusting to life on earth in another Nickelodeon series, Marvin Marvin, which lasted one season (2012-2013).

Partners for more than five years, CDS and Cruikshank are working together to program the channel, which currently has more than 2.3 million subscribers and more than one billion views.

CDS’ roster of YouTube talent includes Rhett & Link, Epic Meal Time, Hannah Hart and Freddie Wong (co-creator of Video Game High School). Its series The Annoying Orange debuted on the Cartoon Network in 2013, and it launched Epic Meal Time’s Epic Meal Empire on A&E’s FYI network in July.

From Stream Daily