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Hopster's new app for Apple TV.
Hopster’s new app for Apple TV.
Hopster’s new app for Apple TV.

Children's TV service Hopster skips and jumps onto Apple TV

This article is more than 8 years old

British firm taking on YouTube and Netflix will offer some shows for free while charging parents £3.99 a month for an unlimited subscription

Children’s streaming TV service Hopster started life as an iPad app, but now it’s making the leap to larger screens through the Apple TV set-top box.

The British startup has launched on the device in the UK, using the same £3.99-a-month subscription model as the iOS version, with subscribers able to use both.

The Apple TV version offers shows from Hopster’s licensed catalogue, including pre-school shows like Thomas & Friends, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom and Pingu.

Missing, at least for now, are the educational games that are offered alongside the shows in Hopster’s iOS app, with Apple TV still a device more for watching video rather than interacting with more complex apps.

Hopster is trying to make it easier for viewers of its big-screen version to find shows, with a “Discover” mode grouping programmes into categories like The World Around Me and Animals.

“We’re using the simplicity of Apple TV to curate our shows in a unique way to help kids discover all of Hopster’s amazing content,” said chief executive Nick Walters. “Since it’s all under one subscription, they can hop from the big screen to the small screen seamlessly when they feel like getting active with our fun learning games.”

Hopster’s existing app has been downloaded by more than 285,000 people in the UK since its launch in late 2013, but the Apple TV version is not its first expansion onto bigger screens.

In December 2014, the company launched an app for Samsung’s range of connected TVs, securing a “U” rating from the British Board of Film Classification to emphasise its suitability for 2-6 year-old children.

Hopster is also expanding globally, having recently announced plans to launch its iOS app in more than 100 countries, and is working on an Android version for imminent release.

The startup faces tough competition from companies like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon, but has been pitching its independent underdog status as an advantage when striking licensing deals with television producers.

“Does anyone, as a parent or as a content owner, want to be in a place where you only have one or two massive content warehouses doing all your video on demand? Or do you think there is room for people who offer something a bit different?” Walters told the Guardian in April.

Other underdogs trying to offer that something different include Latin American service PlayKids, which has expanded to 27 countries and recently raised $40m in funding, while citing stats from analytics firm Distimo claiming it was the top-grossing iOS children’s app globally in 2014.

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