Pocket.watch tunes into kids podcasts

Seeing a white space for both kids podcasts and more spooky content, the company is launching its first audio series The Claw.
November 26, 2019

Digital media company Pocket.watch is turning up the volume on kids’ podcasts for the first time with a seven-episode horror anthology series The Claw launching on Amazon-owned audio hosting platform Audible.

Released on Nov. 21, the podcast targets eight- to 14-year-olds and is the company’s first audio series and its first time partnering with Audible.

The kids audio space has been erupting this year with new players and content and Pocket.watch wants to take advantage of this by growing its reach in this category, says Pocket.watch’s chief content officer Albie Hecht. Last month, Spotify launched its standalone app Spotify Kids, and Sony Music UK launched its kids-focused label Magic Star. Meanwhile, New York-headquartered telecom Pinna heard a demand in the children’s audio market and launched its namesake app in January including more than 1,000 children’s audio shows, podcast eps, audiobooks and pieces of music for three to eights.

“We’re getting into audio shows for three reasons,” says Hecht. “Kids are going to the audio space, we want to be a leader in the markets where kids are, and we also want to experiment in launching IPs on as many places as we can.”

Created by Pocket.watch and American bestselling YA writer Patrick Carman (Thirteen Days to MidnightSkeleton Creek)The Claw is about a collector of rare urban-legend style artifacts who tells the scary story of how he got a different artifact in every episode.

“Audio is a market that is just now coming into focus for kids,” says Hecht.  “There’s a white space for kids horror experiences, especially audio experiences. At the same time, Patrick Carman helped us create something that’s safe-scary, meaning we take listeners to the edge of their seat with sound effects and scares and then tie in the humor so it’s not too much.”

The Claw‘s 15-20 minute eps feature the company’s influencer partners, including popular YouTubers MarMar (3.41 million subscribers), CaptainSparklez (10.7 million subscribers), and the Onyx Family (2.49 million subscribers). Being able to leverage these large audiences for the marketing will give Pocket.watch an advantage to reach more ears, says Hecht.

Even though the show launched less than a week ago, Pocket.watch plans to continue experimenting with more audio programming in the future and is considering dabbling in unscripted series.

About The Author
News editor for Kidscreen. Ryan covers tech, talent and general kids entertainment news, with a passion for kids rap content and video games. Have a story that's of interest to Kidscreen readers? Contact Ryan at rtuchow@brunico.com

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