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mip Trends The Metaverse

in partnership with The Metaverse OVERVIEW

The 2020s media buzzword is ‘metaverse’. Or is it ‘Mediaverse’? ‘Multiverse’? Whichever…what does it mean and is there a place for television?

Dubit Trends asked kids 2-15 in five countries to list their favourite things at that moment. They named over 1,600 distinct brands. That’s kids’ ‘Mediaverse’ and it’s evolving into a global, immersive ‘Metaverse’ – a space to play, watch, socialize, learn, shop and more. Most important, in the metaverse kids are co-creating the worlds and narratives.

To forecast where we’re going, we need to understand young people’s current relationship with brands, including their desire to engage across all platforms. Everything competes with everything and they decide where they can best fulfil their needs in the moment: or video; tablet, or TV; alone or social; consuming or creating.

Dubit’s Adam Woodgate explores where the youth audience is , where they’re headed, and how to be ‘Metaverse ready’. mip Trends 2 The Metaverse Metaverse… Mediaverse… Multiverse - are you ready, what does it all mean and when ‘Kids Mediaverse’ we get there will there be a place for television? When we launched Dubit Trends - a 20-country continuous touchpoint survey of 2-15 year olds’ use of media, According to David Baszucki, CEO and Founder of Roblox, “The metaverse is arguably as big a shift in entertainment and technology - key objective was to understand their passion for brands and content, online communications as the telephone or the .” and how they consume those specific brands. So we ask them to tell us their favourites across different You will most likely have heard a lot of ‘noise’ about the Metaverse right now - the pandemic with its lock- platforms: , apps, social, TV, movies, books, etc. downs and stay home orders seems to have surfaced a new buzzword to describe the evolving direction of children and their online behaviours. Isn’t the Metaverse just the latest in a long line of terms that basically mean the extension of brands onto additional or emerging platforms? After all, before now we’ve had ‘Trans- media’ and ‘360 commissioning’. ‘Transmedia’ was defined as telling a single story or creating a story universe across multiple platforms and formats, with each expression uniquely adapted to the specific technology. ‘360 commissioning’ was a demand from broadcasters that new programming should be ‘multi-platform,’ in order to reach children wherever they turned. By definition, ‘360 commissioning’ was driven from the perspective of content crea- tors, as opposed to satisfying the ways children wanted and expected to engage with their favourite stories and characters. With the metaverse, the roles are reversed: it’s the audience - children and teens - taking the medium into their own hands and co-creating the narrative. To understand where we are going, we need to understand kids’ relationship with brands.

CONTENTS > ‘Kids Mediaverse’ > Age is fundamental in brand engagement > What is the Metaverse? > What does a Metaverse mean for children and teens? > Getting ready for the Metaverse > Why is it coming to the fore now? > Children and the Metaverse The number of different brands mentioned in our most recent study can be seen in the table above. It’s amaz- ing how many different (unique) brands are mentioned. Kids in the US stated the highest number of brands, > Roblox - Proto-Metaverse: by contrast French children named the fewest number. > How brands originating in television can find their place in the Metaverse In order to get a measure overall popularity, we de-duplicate any brands named on multiple platforms (e.g., games, books, movies, etc.), so only count that brand once. This reveals the ‘long tail’ of kids’ content. Right > How Media Owners and Content Creators Can Be Metaverse Ready now more than 1,600 distinct brands make up what Dubit has long been calling the ‘Kids’ Mediaverse’. mip Trends 3 The Metaverse Fat Head, Long Tail

The Most Popular Brands and Content FX LG Up Kik TF1 KSI Rio Sky Fox Ella Ted Spy IM+ Cox TV7 Sad 300 TVZ All4 SBT TBS TNT Bull Dell Pan Filly PES Imo Star Star Olaf KFC Bolt PBS Max Uno Lost Hop UFC Line Kika ABC MTV Zara BBC Pink Glee Glee FIFA Nike Hike Acer Thor CITV MLB Halo Antz Doki CNN Dots Sky 1 Sky Hulk Hulk Asus Movi MAC Vans HBO Dark Xuxa Lush Sims H&M Jaws NCIS Suits Ebay Saga Knex Luna Wow Siren Ludo Ludo Koda Trolls Hilda Ninja Babe Viber Heidi Mom Fitbit Flash Zorro Rider Levi's Tetris Vudu Hotel Larva IMVU Forza Pepsi Sonic Risen News iCarly Zelda Olivia ESPN Kapla Gucci Pixels Brave Monk Lollos LEGO ABC's Fargo Blippi Goofy Turbo Ozark Annie Apple CBBC Zoom Jessie Gmail ASICS Focus Globo Arrow Zoella Taken Trotro Pingu Fedez Babar Skype Boing Lassie Lenka VTech Anitta Vtube Direct Eliana Magic Snake Taboo VChat Duplo Carlos Yahoo MASH Home Maths Drone Tango Itunes Bones Sirene Mulan Merlin Nestlé Tinder Pepee Carros Lillifee Avatar House Target Netflix Limbo Wall-E Steam Vimeo Sisters X-Men Rugby Arthur adidas ABCya Twitch Martin Tarzan V Tech Kinder Titanic Haboo Noddy Dexter Family Planes Herbie Sprout Riviera Sky The K2 Chicco Galileo 1 (One) Estrela Caillou Lucifer Bumbi Moana Roblox Tok Tik Pinball Violeta Fallout Nascar Jordan Xiaomi Starfall Digger Agar.io Naruto G.I. Joe Heroes Cricket Woody Deezer Tut Tut Tut History Angela Barney Grimm Twister Bunk'd Utopya Tekken Chaves Le iene Le Nick Jr. Nick Nutella Perfect Amiibo Billions S.W.A.T Tumblr Triple 9 Triple Pocoyo Frisbee Vikings Empire Rambo Monica George Crayola iPhone Hockey Ice Age Ice 911/9-1-1 Friends No: 309 Terraria Snoopy Boliche Matilda BabyTV My Boo Victoria Live PD Live Fly Bird Gormiti FGTeeV Huawei Destiny The 100 Scream Hitman Discord Now TV Now ZapZap Lacoste My cafe Sudoku Dumbo Our Girl Aladdin Married Segway Super 4 Konami Doctors 44 gatti Unikitty Ninjago Ninjago Nenuco Disney+ Minions Go Wild Téléfoot Godzilla Unicorn ITV Hub ITV Twilight Isidingo Fortnite Magisto Episode Garfield The Boy Big Fish Hotmail Solitaire Outlook Zoey Tencent Shazam Seinfeld WeChat Survivor Nativity! Sky Uno Sky ZooMoo Telecine Hollister Sim City Gotham Hay Day Hay Bowling Red Ball Miranda Pinypon Google+ Tom Tom Tangled Tangled No reply Madden Pacman Floogals Smiggle Ratched Textnow Schleich Kickin' It Kickin' New Girl New Pandora Popcorn T'choupi Casualty Stargate Cadbury YouTube Fun Run Fun The Wall Justified Tiny Pop Tiny Yu-gi-oh Manifest BT SportBT Warcraft Lab Rats Beyoncé Geomag Sherlock Boxtrolls Famiglia Cocoricó Zombies Free Fire Free Animoto LinkedIn Babybus Ant-Man L'Eredità Too Cute Too Slither io Hercules Clarence Digimon Fishdom Star Trek Chef Top Mr. Bean Mr. Top Gear Top Wee Pee Zootopia This is us Kidoodle Pica-Pau Motorola Fall Guys Fall PBS Kids PBS Iron Man Iron Unicorns Play Kids Play Pinterest Story Toy GameOn Little Mix Little Mermaid Soy Luna Soy Dinosaur PJ Masks PJ Leapfrog Bakugan Black-ish Mad Max Stadyum Meccano Nick App Nick Supergirl Fruit app Fruit Hoarders Superdry Playstore Farmville Jeopardy Showbox Play-Doh The Cops Slugterra Stair Run Monsters The Rock Supreme Freeform The Walk Two Dots Two Tweenies Riverdale Let's Play Let's Supercell Duolingo Berschka Chopped Tiger Ball Tiger Oddbods Flow freeFlow Gameloft Gameloft Avengers Toys R Us Toys Lego City Lego iMessage GroupMe La pimpa CBeebies Mad Men Charmed Telegram Nintendo Encrenca Bigheads Gigglebiz HBO Max Free The Mask Dino Dan Smallville Ourworld FaceTime Daredevil Squishies The Cube The Flash Lady Bug Manicraft Bible app Scalextric Hollyoaks Minecraft Township Kai Cobra 1, 2 oder 3 iTV Player iTV Labyrinth The Voice Max Steel Alex & Co. Alex Station 19 The Deep Putlocker Mixed-ish Discovery Newzoids Newzoids The Lorax Blindspot Formula 1 Formula Superstar JoJo Siwa LazyTown Gameboy Wrestling Affari tuoi Affari RTL NOW RTL Mr. Robot Mr. Pokemon Deadpool Real Steel Real All Access Adopt Me Adopt Periscope Dr. Panda Dr. Peter Pan Peter Forever 21 Forever Sago Mini Pinocchio Teen Teen MX Player Roseanne Starbucks Ant & Dec Kindi Kids Kindi Monopoly Milkshake KakaoTalk Apple TV+ Deadly 60 Deadly Go Jetters CSI Miami CSI Dinosaurs Mermaids Quotidien Coca-Cola Art Attack Cinderella Baby Jake Baby Toca Boca Toca Band Kids Holby City Holby Cake Boss Cake Zoolander Fong Pink Hair Salon Imaginext Disney XD Disney DuckTales Battleship Outlander Stick Hero Stick Showtime The Office Hello Kitty The Aliens Katy Perry Katy Motocross Peppa Sam & Cat Boss Baby Vampirina Kid Karate Gold Rush Winx Smash Hit YouTubers Viva Video Viva Panasonic Killing Eve Killing Instagram Baby Alive Baby The Chase Inside Out Beat Bee Movie Jessie Doll LiveSports Fantástico Koh-Lanta TV Cultura TV Gacha Life Gacha Sky Whale Sky The Forest Tinker Bell Tinker Fox War game War Battlefield FloopaLoo Fruit Octonauts Baby Born Baby Lalaloopsy Blue Peter 8 Ball Pool Fruit Slash Fruit Çark?felek Milkshake! Red Dwarf Turbo Gossip Girl Little Tikes Little Cage Luke Full House Full The Lodge VLC player VLC John Cena Total Zorra Piano Tiles Piano Among Us Raw WWE Homeland The Orville Lilo&Stitch Rush Hour Billie Eilish First Dates First WhatsApp Maleficent Grylls Bear Tic Tac Toe Tac Tic Care Care Westworld Interstellar Click jogos Click Lightsaber Dance Idol Dance Shameless Ratatouille Doraemon 4 ristoranti Epic Movie Top Eleven Top Star Stable Nature Cat Nature Chiquititas Knives Out Knives Mini World Overwatch Superstore Superstore Gogglebox Textra SMS Textra Coin Dozer Coin Bingo Blitz Twirlywoos Tiao Yi Tiao Yi Tiao Happyland DC Comics Ride Along Lady Night Enchanted Megamind Terminator Kara Sevda Kara Wild Kratts Wild South Park Lady Oscar Grown Ups Grown Shark Tank Shark The Rookie Motu Patlu Spiderman Cambiame The Middle Plague Inc. Just Dance The Hobbit Family Guy Family Island Love Grand Tour Grand Pawn Stars Pawn Bodyguard Dragonball Petz Twisty Tomodachi God of War Brawl Stars Brawl The Croods EastEnders Helix Jump Num noms Wordscape Cara a Cara Cara Yasak Elma Yasak Odd Squad 90 minutes The Smurfs Hatchimals Guess Who PAW Wentworth Taylor Swift Taylor Flappy Bird Flappy The Fosters Soda Crush Felipe Neto Felipe Angry Gran MasterChef Cocomelon Action Man Crack Trivia Taskmaster Dad's Army Ed Sheeran Ed Call Happy Kinemaster Ketchup TV Ketchup Island River Let's Dance Let's ABC Mouse Super Why! Newsround Mega Bloks Transporter Marble Run Marble Houseparty Big Brother Jam Cookie Hey Arnold! Hey A Bug's Life Crazy Gears Crazy Mia and Me Disney Disney Google Talk BBC iPlayer Best Fiends Point Break Point Max & Ruby Fort Boyard Fort McDonald's Angry Birds Angry Birds VeggieTales Clementoni Stuart Little Tagesschau Video Show Video (dolls) Bratz Hoverboard Neighbours Sailor Moon Ailem Aslan Hago game Air Buddies Emmerdale Bubble Pop Motel Bates Harry Styles Risk (game) Fisher-Price Magna Tiles Coin Master Coin Locke & Key Locke Robin Hood Blue's Clues Blue's Shark Tale = Tale Shark Bad Piggies Gravity The Daltons Dragon City Dragon Animal Jam Real Real Candy Community Blue Bloods Trollhunters & Iggle Piggle Boomerang Boomerang The Martian Mighty Loud House Loud Tela Quente Tela Secret Story Secret The Exorcist Fidget cube Fidget Burger Quiz Burger Line of Duty Temple Scruff-a-Luv Castle Clash Castle Scooby-Doo Balloon Pop Kylie Jenner Kylie I soliti ignoti Snow White Snow Talking Tom Talking Lionel Messi The Witcher LEGO Movie LEGO Doctor Who Doctor Supernanny The Gruffalo Crossy Road Crossy TV Globinho TV Drew Nancy Harry Potter Jogo Aberto Drama Total Alphablocks Madagascar Magformers Home alone Luccas Neto Luccas Polly Law & Order Law Les Zouzous Les que Cola Vai Supa Strikas Supa Family Feud Family Sugar Crush The Dictator Kindle/Nook Tumble Austin & Ally Austin The Wiggles The X Factor Chess Titans 2 Broke Girls 2 Broke Money Marsupilami Beanie Boos Beanie Willy Wonka Willy James Bond Color Switch Color Outer Banks Outer Traffic Racer Traffic & Molly Mike San Andreas Hearthstone Little People Little Chicago Fire Zig & Sharko Hey Duggee Hey Short Circuit Fuller House Fuller Peter Rabbit Peter The Connors Game of Life Chicago P.D. Daily Motion The Blacklist Virgin Clash Royale Mamma Mia Prison Break Prison Robocar Poli On My Block Catchphrase trucks Tonka Michael Kors Michael Pixel Gun 3D Pixel Springwatch Totally Spies! Totally / Putty set train Brio Bubble Saga Fancy Nancy Fancy Kim Bubble Blast Build-A-Bear Zoboomafoo Hoodwinked Miracle Nikki Miracle Bomberman Gilmore Llama Pitch Perfect Pitch Pânico na TV Pânico The Outsider Drake & Josh Drake Me contro Te Me contro Horrid Henry Horrid in space Lost Lego Friends Lego Boom Beach Patati Patatá Patati Oscar's Oasis Postman Pat Postman The IT Crowd Homescapes Perguntados Disney's Cars Disney's Finding DoryFinding Dragon Tales Dragon Supernatural 4 Pics 1 Word 4 Pics Hungry birds Black Beauty Black Beauty Salon Beauty Justin Bieber Elmo's World Elmo's Descendants Harley Quinn Harley The Originals The Bachelor Land Dragon The Muppets Angelo Rules Bebê Reborn Chicks White Apex Legend Apex Ninja Warrior Cut the Rope Cut Chicago Med Baby Reborn Reborn Baby Lindenstraße Open Season Age of Ultron Age Nouvelle Star Nouvelle Monsters Inc. Monsters Planet Çocuk Polar Express Polar YouTube Kids YouTube Wars Storage Goosebumps Super Wings! Sarah & Duck Sarah Caduta libera Caduta Emily in Numberjacks Head football Head Shooter Fireman Sam Fireman Minesweeper Puss in Boots Forged in fire Forged Files Forensic Tipping Point Tipping Chuggington Thunderbirds Hell's Kitchen Rovazzi Fabio Schitt's Creek Schitt's The Mentalist The Interview Cartoon Time Cartoon The Avengers The 5th Wave Cidade Alerta Doodle Jump Disney Junior Disney Willy il coyote Willy Banana Kong Bo on the Go! Breaking Bad Breaking Connect Smashy Road Smashy Moranguinho A Tarde É Sua A Tarde Any Avengers Any Creed / Rocky Creed The Lion Gummy Drop Gummy Kinectic Sand Kinectic Mary Poppins (Beanie) Boos (Beanie) Criminal Case Criminal Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Sofia the First The Revenant Tunes Looney Street Fighter Street Critters Calico Bits and Bobs Hungry Shark Cleo y Cuquin Maya the Bee Maya Enola Holmes Korean shows Korean Little Princess Little Forrest Gump Forrest Clash of Clans High Monster Duck Dynasty Duck Face Changer Face (Blast) Peggle Bob's Burgers Bob's Go, Diego, Go! Diego, Go, Handy Manny Clash of Lords Young Justice Young Reading Eggs Reading Swashbuckler The Next Step The Next American One Direction Guess my age Guess my Fast & Furious Fast Gods of Egypt How It's Made How Minnie Mouse Os Trapalhões LEGO Ninjago LEGO Pup Academy Disney Dirty Grandpa The Iron My Little Black Panther Black Powerdirector Globo Esporte Mickey Mouse Mickey Food Network Food Animal Planet Geordie Shore Geordie evolution Cow Les Marseillais Les Silent Witness Combate Pipa Princess Bride Princess Tom Dragon Mania Dragon Sex Education Sex Raven's Home Raven's Justin's House Yoyo (unspec.) Yoyo Cooking Fever Cooking Four Fantastic Cupcake Wars Cupcake Counter Strike Counter Selena Gomez Topsy and Tim Topsy Tú sí que vales Tú Ariana Grande Ariana The Voice Kids The Voice Equestria Girls Equestria Legend online Legend Discovery Kids Discovery Game Shakers Junior Express Finding Nemo Finding iPad/iPad Mini iPad/iPad King of the hill King Fallout Shelter Fallout Under Armour Big Time Baby Annabell Baby Donald Trump Dinosaur Train The Goldbergs Little Einsteins Little Lopez Jennifer Fidget spinner Fidget blinders Peaky / Anime/manga Bare We Woozle Goozle Woozle Monica's Gang School of Rock School Daddy's Home 13 reasons 21 Jump Street 101 Dalmatians 101 Waterloo Road Waterloo Buzz Lightyear Kylian Mbappé Kylian Justice Wreck-It Ralph Wreck-It Kally's mashup Kally's Emma Watson Jonas Brothers American Dad! American Despicable me My Pet and Me My Pet House Hunters Garden Scapes Garden That '70s Show Uncle Modern Family Modern House of Cards Jane the Virgin Muppet babies Lego Star Wars Lego Mortal Kombat The Owl House Diamond Dash Go! Titans Teen Minds Criminal Attack on Titan Attack Calvin Klein/CK Calvin After Ever Power Bubble Popper Les minikeums Les Cooking Mama Cooking FurReal friendsFurReal The Incredibles The Lion Guard Young Sheldon Young lightning Black Yüksek Sosyete Yüksek Monster Trucks Monster Melissa & Doug Nanny McPhee Nanny Doc McStuffins the Woods Into Walk Manga / Anime Shawn Mendes Shawn Subway Surfers Subway Sound of Music Bejeweled Jornal Nacional Jornal Shane the Chef David Need for Domingo Legal Sunday Brunch Sunday Curious George Curious Fu Kung Jetpack Joyride Jetpack The Good Place Over the hedge Over Grey's Anatomy Grey's Papa Pear Saga Pear Papa Super Y League Bubble Shooter Hogan's Heroes Disney Geometry Dash Carinha de anjo Carinha Moshi Monsters Catch Deadliest Eddie the Eagle Eddie Google Chrome That's So Raven That's So Raven (cars) Matchbox K.C. Undercover K.C. American Eagle American Bing (Cbeebies) The Parent Trap The Parent C'est mon choix Assassin's creed Assassin's Vicky the Viking Vicky The Book of Life Sessão da Tarde Steven Adventure Le storie di Gipo storie Le Animal crossing Mermaids Mako Charlie and Lola Charlie Stack the States Stack Barbie Dress Up Dress Barbie Oui (Noddy) Little Baby Bum Baby Little Sturm der Liebe Sturm Comedy Family Fortunes Family Message Roblox A Praça É Nossa A Praça Downton Abbey Downton Chip and Potato Rockstar Games Rockstar The Golden Girls Hunter × Hunter Hunter Sleeping Beauty Cicciobello (doll) Cicciobello Team Made in Chelsea MovieStarPlanet MovieStarPlanet Home and Away Pet Littlest Kingdom Hello Neighbour Sanford and Son Sanford Zombie tsunami Zombie Millie Inbetween Girl Meets World Girl Crash Wonder Google Hangout Striscia la notizia Striscia The Worst Witch The Worst Now You See Me You Now Operation Ouch! Operation Gran Jojo & Gran AlphaBetty Saga AlphaBetty Pet Rescue Saga Pet America Captain Sniper American be single to How The Jungle Book Sanjay Baby Shark (any) Shark Baby Star Wars Rebels Star Wars The Mandalorian Fantastic Mr. Fox Mr. Fantastic Seviyor Sevmiyor Seviyor The Wizard of Oz The Wizard Matching games Matching Apple and Onion Invasion Rabbids The Good Doctor Band of Brothers Sword Art Online Sword Die Pfefferkörner Forge of Empires Forge Focus (Diversion) Focus The Bachelorette Cartoon Little Women: LA Women: Little Gavin and Stacey Gavin The Little Rascals The Little Shaun the Sheep Les petits diables Les Grand Theft Auto Grand Hill Climb Racing Horrible Histories Horrible My Wife and Kids My Wife The Pink Panther The Pink Lord of the Rings Lord Paddington (any) Paddington Science of Stupid Science Winnie-the-Pooh The Price Is Right The Price Monster Legends Monster American Pickers American iPod / iPod / iPod iPod The Transformers Monument valley Total Dramarama Total Beamdog Games Beamdog Phineas Wheel of Fortune The Maze Runner The Maze Ryan Toys Review Toys Ryan Dora Backyard Science Backyard World of Warcraft World Football Manager Football Person of Interest Person Land Before Time Land Before sports) (news, Sky Yahoo Messenger Yahoo Coronation Street Coronation Death in Paradise Death London has fallen London Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano The X Factor Italia The X Factor Shin-chan Crayon Converse/All Stars Converse/All Butterbean's Café Butterbean's Angeles Los NCIS: Disney Princesses Disney High School Story High School Naked and AfraidNaked Mrs. Brown's Boys Brown's Mrs. Milo Murphy's law Milo Murphy's Ghost Adventures The Last Dinosaur Craig of the Creek Craig Une saison au zoo Twenty One Pilots Twenty The Cat in the Hat The Cat My talking Angela My talking CSI (Any mention) (Any CSI Temptation Island Temptation Programa Raul Gil Raul Programa Hotel Transylvania Hotel Smartwatch/Fitbit Fresh Off the Boat Fresh Impractical Jokers Impractical Tale e Quale Show Tale Good Luck Candy /Doll American Sylvanian Families Sylvanian Clash of the Titans Alpha and Omega Farm Heroes Saga Heroes Farm Caldeirão do Huck Caldeirão The Walking Dead The Walking Stickman Warriors Stickman Daddy's Little Girls Daddy's Little Plants vs. Zombies Plants vs. of the NorthNorm Chapolin Colorado Sapientino (game) NCIS: New Orleans New NCIS: Paper.io/Paper.io 2 Paper.io/Paper.io Once Upon a Time Once Where's My Perry? Where's to Back Google Messenger The Amazing Race 10 Cloverfield Lane 10 Cloverfield Dumb Ways to Die to Dumb Ways 50 Shades of Black Last Man Standing Lady and the Tram CBeebies Playtime The Bourne Trilogy The Bourne The Little Mermaid The Little Where is My Water Where Britain's Britain's Funko / Funko Pop / Funko Funko The Peanuts Movie The Peanuts Mission Impossible Stick man (various) Stick Words with friendsWords 's Got Talent France's League of Legends League Bible / Jesus movie Gnomeo and Juliet Sid the Science Cabbage Patch Kid Patch Cabbage Galinha Pintadinha The Good Dinosaur Bubble Witch Saga Bubble Witch Pippi Longstocking Pippi Baby Looney Baby Adobe (Photoshop) Adobe Largados e Pelados Largados Paranormal activity Paranormal Dennis the Menace The Hunger Games Superhero movie(s) Superhero Babilônia (Babylon) Disney (any Disney) (any Disney The Powerpuff Frozen (any Frozen) (any Frozen RuPaul's Drag Race Drag RuPaul's Insidious: Chapter 3 Insidious: Chapter Blossom Blast Saga Saturday Night Live Saturday Danone / Danonino Hitman/Hitman GO Monsters University Monsters Two and a Half Men Two Brooklyn -NineBrooklyn The House of Magic Asphalt (combined) Asphalt Friday Night Dinner Friday Wallace and Gromit Wallace The Addams Family The Addams Come Dine with Me Come CSR Racing/Classics CSR In the Night Garden Toon Blast/Toy Blast Blast/Toy Toon KiKANiNCHEN Kika/ Esporte Espetacular Esporte The Vampire Diaries The Vampire Barbie Dreamhouse Barbie Paperissima (Sprint) Paperissima The Cleveland Show The Cleveland Lightning McQueen The Legend of The Legend in Alice Malhação (Workout) High School Musical High School Captain Underpants Captain Big Hero 6 / Baymax Big Hero Bob Hearts Abishola The Legend of Zelda The Legend I Am a Singer/Singer Cbeebies Stortytime America's Got Talent America's Toot Toot Drivers/Set Toot Toot Sonic the Hedgehog The Divergent Series The Divergent Little Mix The Search Little Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum Castelo H2O: Just Add Water H2O: Just Add Skylanders Ariel / Little Mermaid / Little Ariel Catfish: The TV Show The TV Catfish: The Fault in our stars The Fault The Furchester Hotel The Furchester The Big Bang Theory The Real Housewives The Real Diary of a Wimpy Kid Diary of a Wimpy Jackie Chan (movies) Jackie Beach Buggy Racing Beach Celebrity Big Brother Celebrity The Carbonaro Effect The Carbonaro Hot Wheels: Race Off Hot Wheels: Race Teen Beach Movie 1/2 Movie Beach Teen Parks and Recreation Parks Facebook Messenger Facebook Samsung messenger A Million Little Things A Million Little Night at the Museum Beauty and the Beast Beauty Oculus (any mention) Oculus (any Strawberry (Jungle Run) Rayman VR Google Cardboard VR HP (Hewlett-Packard) Google (any mention) Google (any The Brothers Grimsby The Brothers Miracles fromMiracles Heaven Nemo/ Finding Nemo Nemo/ Finding Domingo Espetacular The Magic School Bus The Magic School Nina and the Neurons The Secret Life of Pets Life The Secret League Soccer League Dream Un medico in famiglia Un medico The Dumping Ground The Fairly OddParents The Fairly Greenhouse Life The Suite ) Prime Amazon The Last Kids on EarthThe Last Kids Domingão do Faustão Malcolm in the Middle Malcolm Cauchemar en cuisine Cauchemar Everybody Hates Chris Hates Everybody American Horror Story Horror American The Last Witch Hunter The Last Witch The Last Man on Earth Strictly Come Dancing Come Strictly Haunting of Bly Manor Dancing with the Stars Fear the Walking Dead the Walking Fear Foxtrot Tango Whiskey Programa Silvio Santos Programa Married... with Children Married... Good Bye Deutschland Good Bye How I Met Your Mother I Met Your How / Spirit/Spirit Parents mode d'emploi Parents American Ninja Warrior American Pinkalicious & Peterrific Pinkalicious Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Tomb Croft: Lara Teen Mom/Teen Mom 2 Mom/Teen Teen Waffle the Wonder the Wonder Waffle Andy's Wild Adventures Andy's Wild Movie theaters/ Cinema theaters/ Movie Walking with Dinosaurs Walking Have I Got News for You for I Got News Have Barack/Michelle Obama Barack/Michelle Mr. Peabody & Sherman Peabody Mr. Pirates Match of the Day/MOTD Match Bill Nye the Science Guy the Science Bill Nye Sonic Dash/Sonic Forces Sonic Dash/Sonic Clifford the Big Red Dog Clifford The Chronicles of Narnia The Chronicles Savasci/Savasçi (Warrior) Savasci/Savasçi Straight Outta Compton Outta Straight Star vs. the Forces of Evil the Forces Star vs. Detetives do Prédio Azul do Prédio Detetives Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Honey, Sheriff Callie's Wild West Wild Callie's Sheriff (Franchise) Park Jurassic Disney (Magic Kingdom) Disney Buffy the Vampire Slayer Buffy the Vampire Is the New Orange The Fast and the Furious The Fast Penguins of Madagascar Penguins Battle Bakugan of Waverly Wizards Samsung (any Samsung) Samsung (any How to train your dragon your train to How Sítio do Picapau Amarelo Sítio do Picapau The Story of Tracy Beaker of Tracy The Story SpongeBob SquarePants Vendredi, tout est permis tout Vendredi, (S1 or S2) Things (S1 Stranger Alvin and the Chipmunks Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Grizzy Barney / Barney & Friends / Barney Barney The Great British Bake Off Bake British The Great Cash register/Counting till register/Counting Cash The Princess and the Frog The Princess The Graham Norton Show Norton The Graham Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z Ball/Dragon Dragon Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn Dicky Ricky, Nicky, The Spiderwick Chronicles The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Prince The Fresh The Simpsons Tapped Out The Simpsons Tapped The Rescuers Down Under Down The Rescuers L.O.L Surprise! (L.O.L. Surprise! Dolls) L.O.L DanTDM/Daniel Middleton Rubik's Cube / Rubik's race Rubik's Cube Roller skates/blades/inliner The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Ellen DeGeneres Everybody Loves Raymond Loves Everybody Hora do Faro/ Rodrigo Faro Rodrigo do Faro/ Hora Sabrina the Teenage Witch the Teenage Sabrina Oggy and the Cockroaches Maman & Ich (Mère et Fille) (Mère Maman & Ich Chi ha incastrato Peter Pan Peter Chi ha incastrato Messenger Kids (Facebook) Messenger Kids Microsoft messenger (MSN) Microsoft Bendy and the ink machine Russell Howard's Good New Russell Howard's Teach Your Monster to Read to Monster Your Teach StoryBots/Ask the StoryBots StoryBots/Ask Who wants to be millionaire to Who wants Andy's Dinosaur Adventures Mais Você (Ana Maria Braga) (Ana Maria Mais Você Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Daniel Tiger's Jon Snow (Game of Thrones) Jon Snow The Penguins of Madagascar The Penguins MLB ( League Baseball) MLB (Major League All Creatures Great and Small Great All Creatures Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage La casa de papel/Money Heist La casa de papel/Money A series of unfortunate events of unfortunate A series How to Get Away with Murder Get Away to How Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF) Nights at Freddy's Five Our Generation (dolls/camper) Our Generation Mr. Bean (the ) (the animated Bean Mr. Something Special/Mr Tumble (Detective Conan) Closed (Detective Case Trucktown / Kamyon Kasabas? / Kamyon Trucktown Jorel's Brother (Irmão do Jorel) (Irmão Brother Jorel's The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) Is Essex The Only Way Beats by Dre/Beats Electronics Dre/Beats by Beats Minika Kid / Minika / Minika Go / Minika / Minika Kid Minika Man vs. Wild (À Prova de Tudo) (À Prova Wild Man vs. Donald Duck/Scrooge McDuck Donald Duck/Scrooge Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom Ben and Holly's Little Guardians of the Galaxy / Groot of the Galaxy Guardians National Football League (NFL) League National Football Marvel (any mention/franchise)Marvel (any The Amazing World of Gumball The Amazing World Casos de Família (Family Cases) (Family de Família Casos Mickey and the Roadster Racers and the Roadster Mickey Adventures of the Gummi Bears Adventures Australian Football League (AFL) League Football Australian and the Monster Machines and the Monster Blaze The Nightmare before Christmas before The Nightmare Good Morning show/Buongiorno Good Morning America's Funniest Home Videos Funniest America's Design Home: House Renovation Final Fantasy / III / Record Keeper / III Record Fantasy Final Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Special Victims & Order: Law Maggie & Bianca Fashion Friends Maggie & Bianca Fashion Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Prejudice Pride The Great Australian Spelling Bee Australian The Great Keeping Up with the Kardashians Keeping Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Chocolate Charlie Charlie / All Dogs Go to Heaven 1/2 Heaven / All Dogs Go to Charlie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Cloudy with a Chance Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs the Love For O'Grady: Paul Bloons TD/Bloons Tower Defense 5 Defense Tower Bloons TD/Bloons Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Thomas the Tank Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and the Age Kipo The Blue Planet / The Blue Planet 2 Memory/Brain Training (game) app Training Memory/Brain I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! I'm a Celebrity...Get Il banco dei pugni (Hardcore Pawn) dei pugni (Hardcore Il banco Les Marseillais vs le Reste du monde le Reste vs Marseillais Les 100 Things to Do Before High School Do Before 100 Things to The Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice The Apprentice/Celebrity Junior MasterChef/Masterchef Junior Junior MasterChef/Masterchef Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon) Your Train to (How Toothless The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Adventures The Grim Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRockstars) Stars Rock Tables Times National Basketball Association (NBA) Association National Basketball Inspector Barnaby/Midsomer murders Barnaby/Midsomer Inspector Bom Dia & Companhia/ Bom Dia & Cia Bom Dia & Companhia/ Spinning top / Spinner / Fidget spinner / Spinner / Fidget Spinning top Das ('s got talent) (Germany's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Entertainment Wrestling World Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir of Ladybug & Cat Tales Miraculous: Call of Duty: Black Ops/Modern Warfare Ops/Modern Black of Duty: Call Ancient Aliens (Alienígenas do Passado) Alarm for Cobra 11 – The Motorway Police 11 – The Motorway Cobra for Alarm EA / Electronic ArtsEA / Electronic (EA Games, EA Sports) Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - The Curse & Gromit Wallace France UK US

Source: Dubit Trends. BQ1-12. Name three [toys, apps, games, films, books, TV shows/series, brands] you really like right now? (Base: 2-15 years old | BR 1003 | FR 1010 | IT 1029 | UK 1159 | US 1592)

Dubit Trends/MIP TV/MIP Trends 1

The above chart covers Brazil, France, Italy, the UK and the US, with the most popular brands on the left-hand Whilst there are differences in the top 5 brands across the countries, there are also similarities: side. On the right-hand side, we find not only the niche brands, but also those that are emerging. It was here • They all have ‘global’ presence; that we first noticed growing interest in the likes of TikTok, Fortnite and most recently Among Us. • Toy brands dominate the top two places on the list; The top Mediaverse brands vary by country, but over time popularity scores for the ‘mega-brands’ have • LEGO is number one in four of the countries, and where it’s not number one it’s ranked number four; grown larger, and the top 5 brands in each country now account for at least a quarter of all mentions, if not • The only brands originating in television are ones for preschool children; and more - 32% in the UK. • Minecraft and Roblox are ranked third and fourth in the UK and US, third and fifth respectively in Brazil, but have yet to reach the top 5 in France and Italy. The highest-passion Mediaverse brands are those kids want to experience across as many platforms as pos- sible. In the pre-digital days, these tended to be consumer products, but digital changed .

mip Trends 4 The Metaverse Children Consume Their Favourite Brands On Brands Originating In Games Lack The ‘Audience Multiple Platforms Reach’ That Video Delivers LEGO Barbie PAW Patrol Peppa Pig Minecraft Roblox Fortnite Pokemon

Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Brazil France Italy UK US Watch on a TV show/series Watch online Watch on DVD As a movie/film As a video/computer game As a gaming app Watch on a TV show/series Watch online Watch on DVD As a movie/film As a video/computer game As a gaming app An app that isn't a game A book A magazine A toy A board game Music An app that isn't a game A book A magazine A toy A board game Music Event (e.g. exhibition, live show) Theme Park Website Clothing/footwear Event (e.g. exhibition, live show) Theme Park Attraction Website Clothing/footwear

Source: Dubit Trends. BQ14. We are going to show you a selection of toys, games, apps, TV shows and books – for each one we’d like you to tell us how you use or play/your child uses or plays with them? Source: Dubit Trends. BQ14. We are going to show you a selection of toys, games, apps, TV shows and books – for each one we’d like you to tell us how you use or play/your child uses or plays with them? (Base: 2-15 years old | BR 1003 | FR 1010 | IT 1029 | UK 1159 | US 1592) (Base: 2-15 years old | BR 1003 | FR 1010 | IT 1029 | UK 1159 | US 1592)

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The chart shows the consumption across platforms of four very popular children’s brands, two originating in The primary platforms for engaging with Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite are as a game, whether using an toy and two in television. The majority of 2-15 year olds in the UK still play with LEGO as a toy, but the com- app, console or PC. The countless number of videos posted by YouTubers related to the three game brands pany has grown its reach beyond bricks through successful brand extensions: movies, TV series, games and is no substitute for the lack of a TV series based on the brand. Whilst Minecraft does look to be getting some theme parks. The key takeaway from the chart is that whilst toy is the primary touchpoint in all five traction with toys, the audience for these games peaks at an age when children are generally moving away countries, LEGO fans want to immerse themselves in the brand. from toys, so they’re only likely to have limited success. Another example to look at would be Peppa Pig - a brand that’s been around for less than 20 years - has Pokemon, which traces its roots back to ‘Game Freak’ magazine in the early 1980s, has been around more successfully extended onto other platforms, allowing preschoolers to experience their favourite little pig in than twice as long as the other three. Although primarily consumed as a game, the brand has engaged 8-10 lots of different ways. year olds in particular with a presence on television since 1997; 23 animated and 1 live-action movie; as well Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite and Pokemon also appear among children’s top 5 brands. Do they engender the as trading cards and a range of toys. same desire for broad engagement? Actually, a very different picture emerges.

mip Trends 5 The Metaverse Age is fundamental in brand engagement It’s not just distribution on platforms that affects how children engage with different brands. The age at which they are first introduced is also a factor.

Everything about Fortnite is designed to keep players coming back, to maximise engagement. It was the first game brand to schedule children in an unscheduled world: when schools were open, you would likely hear children say “make sure you finish your homework so we can all meet on Fortnite at 6:00.” It copied linear television with seasons and cliffhanger endings. If you’re knocked out of the game, there’s a Preschoolers are generally first introduced to brands by parents and typically consist of made-for pre- new one starting momentarily. Even the famous ‘black hole’ of October 2019 had players clicking ‘refresh’ as schoolers properties (Peppa Pig and PAW Patrol) or heritage brands that parents grew up with (LEGO and they anxiously awaited the game’s return. Barbie). Console and PC games tend to be too complex for young children, so the market for preschool is Fortnite didn’t stop there in copying successful entertainment formats. It was the first game brand to dominated by properties more focussed on apps like Toca Boca, Dr Panda and Angry Birds. present a music concert in 2019 with Marshmello and again in 2020 with Travis Scott. In February 2021, it It’s not until around the age of six or seven that that regular use of Minecraft or Roblox (and a little later on hosted a film festival of shorts at the Big Screen within Fortnite’s no-combat Party Royale mode. With all Fortnite) begins. The chart below reveals Minecraft achieves the highest use, and that to date, the three game these entertainment options in one platform, it’s no wonder Fortnite (together with Roblox and Minecraft) are brands have gained most traction in the UK and the US. often cited as fore-runners of the “Metaverse.”

mip Trends 6 The Metaverse What is the Metaverse? What does a Metaverse mean for children and teens? Matthew Ball, the former head of strategy at Amazon Studios, suggests that that we need to reinvent In order to answer this question, we need to understand how they spend their time across the week on entertainment for a generation that’s never been without touchscreen, mobile, interactive media. “Today’s different activities related to media and entertainment . generation thinks very differently because they’re ‘wired’ for interaction, for creation, to participation, for marketplaces, to be a click away for communicating with their friends for shared experiences anywhere.” Right now there is no true Metaverse, nor even a universally agreed-upon definition. It can be thought of as a persistent online world that offers participants a wide range of experiences and avenues for self-expression, such work, play, creation, shopping, learning and socialising. You can see in that definition why Roblox, Fort- nite and Minecraft are described in some circles as representing its beginning. Ball identifies seven commonly-recognised characteristics of a Metaverse: 1. always on; 2. experienced live and in real-time; 3. able to host any size audience; 4. having a fully functioning economy; 5. spanning platforms as well as digital and physical spaces; 6. allowing digital assets to be carried across platforms; and 7. with experiences and content created by individual users and huge corporations alike. David Baszucki - CEO and Founder of Roblox, cites ‘8 key tenets of the Metaverse’ that reflect players’ desired experience. These are: 1. Identity - my avatar reflects my real or imagined self and is present and consistent wherever I go; 2. Friends - I can socialise and play with real-world friends and also befriend and interact with others in-world; 3. Immersion - the Metaverse removes me from my day-to-day, into a fully-formed alternative world; 4. Anywhere - I can create and play from anywhere, across all types of devices; 5. Variety - content and experiences are both deep and wide, accommodating diverse and curious users; 6. Low friction - onboarding and transitions are easy, to encourage trying new things; 7. Economy - I can goods or services entirely within the Metaverse, and those who provide them are paid for their efforts; and In Dubit Trends, we ask respondents to tell us how much time they spend doing various activities on different 8. Trust and Civility - the Metaverse is welcoming, equitable, diverse and kind - and fully respects devices. The above chart shows the average time per week 2-15 year olds spend doing nine different activ- GDPR, COPPA and other youth safety regulations. ities, regardless of screen. Watching video (including linear TV, home recordings, streaming services of all kinds, and YouTube) accounts for between 40-45% of media time. Games used to be a solid second, but the Right now, not even the biggest of the tech companies - Apple, Amazon, Microsoft - have all the resources pandemic has increased share of time on dynamic and learning-related activities to equal gaming at 14%. So necessary to build a true Metaverse. It will take massive server space, immersive programming; ongoing around 70% of kids’ time on devices is spent on these top 3 activities. development of content to simulate a boundless, borderless world where you can take on almost any task or adventure; and of course intense moderation. That said, it’s time to start thinking about the brands in your portfolio that appeal to and are used by children, and the impact the Metaverse will have on them.

mip Trends 7 The Metaverse Getting ready for the Metaverse Over the last two decades, the media environment has become increasingly fragmented across multiple devices and platforms. In the mid-1980s, the UK only had 4 broadcast television channels. Now, there are hundreds of linear channels; dozens of subscription, premium, broadcaster and ad-funded streaming video platforms; YouTube and other video streaming sites. All these are what we once simply called ‘television’. The The chart shows that children’s top reason for engaging with a brand is because they like the characters. Our internet and app stores are awash with games and other content, ready to be downloaded with a tap or click. Dubit Trends ‘Radar’ finds over 300 character led brands unofficially represented in Roblox. Many, like Drag- Living in a world with more options than can possibly be consumed means content discovery has onBall Z, Star Wars, Fortnite and Minecraft have over 100 million plays. As the so-called ‘proto-Metaverse’, become incredibly difficult. In Dubit’s Trends studies, in excess of 60% of 2-15 year olds said they’re often Roblox satisfies many of the kids’ other motivations children give, including stimulating the imagination, facil- or sometimes frustrated looking for something new to play, watch or listen to. itating learning, satisfying a passion, supporting creativity, and sharing a with friends. At present, content discovery is like being given a paper map and told to find a specific location and the best way to get there. A Metaverse will be more like navigation software, with places and routes connected Why is it coming to the fore now? beneath the surface by prompts, algorithms and AI to guide the route and recommend other places Internet use can be a solitary experience. It’s used to keep in contact but you don’t feel ‘together’. By contrast, of interest. Alternatively, it may be more like a ‘tesser’ or Harry Potter-esque ‘apparation’, enabling instant the Metaverse satisfies a human need to be social.We are entering a new stage of digital media where the transport from place to place. virtual worlds of games expand to become our mainstream hubs for social interaction and entertainment. At Dubit we talk about Emotional Scheduling - the idea that children choose activities or engage with brands The numbers of children using Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite had been increasing before the outbreak of at different times of the day based on their moods and needs. Content options in a Metaverse would suit the pandemic. Digital ‘came to the rescue’ to support learning, entertainment and social connection when many kids’ motivations given for engaging with a brand, with the difference that different needs can all be families were placed under restrictions. Still, children were sometimes frustrated that their various online satisfied in a single immersive space. activities existed in fragmented and silo-ed platforms. mip Trends 8 The Metaverse Children and the Metaverse only one option - Nickelodeon. Now, children have to chase brands across services to see if they have access, Children are adept at ‘hacking’ brands and technologies to meet their needs. They’ve done this with tele- and they’re often left disappointed. vision, tablets and , and they’re doing the same with smart speakers and digital assistants. Children would benefit from a place of ‘convergence’ (as opposed to fragmentation) - a coherent, They’ve adopted brands that were never intended for their use - Facebook to post pictures and connect with connected, easy-to-navigate world of entertainment, play, creation and learning that includes their family, WhatsApp to chat with friends, and YouTube to watch ‘how-to’ videos. favourite brands and content.

As with any medium, there will be parts of the Metaverse suitable for children and ‘neighbourhoods’ that are For children, everything competes with everything, and everything is competing for the roughly 6 hours per distinctly adults only. During the pandemic, though, ’down on the corner’ pivoted to ‘up on the server’ with day - what could be described as children’s discretionary time. Reed Hastings, CEO of says, “we children and teens accelerating their adoption of 13+/16+ platforms. They turned to Zoom to chat with grand- compete with Fortnite, and we lose.” It’s no longer a case of choosing between Cartoon Network and Nick- ma and used Discord to enhance their social gaming. They’re building the Metaverse piece by piece, solving elodeon. Children decide where they can best get what they need at that moment with the time they have with tech for the challenges in their lives. to spare. That might be a game or a video; on a tablet, smartphone or the television; and something they Children’s frustrations around discovery have already been noted, but one effect of media fragmenta- consume or something they create. tion is that access to their favourite brands may be impeded by the proliferation of direct-to-consumer With young people leading the way, the Metaverse will have massive responsibility for safety, following both platforms. Twenty years ago when a child wanted to watch SpongeBob SquarePants or Rugrats, there was the letter and spirit of laws, regulations and terms of service. Communication and social play being inherent mip Trends 9 The Metaverse to immersive worlds, this creates a design and development challenge to have foolproof identifiers, persis- tent throughout the Metaverse, carrying a player’s permissions (including age) to enable access to appropri- ate areas and levelling modes of connection and communication.

Roblox - Proto-Metaverse: Based on the definitions above, we can see the seeds of the Metaverse in Roblox. Obviously, Roblox isn’t ‘television’ – the primary focus of this article. But, nor is Roblox a ‘game’ per se. It’s a platform with over 20 million multiplayer games and experiences, perhaps most analogous to YouTube, as the platform is populated largely with user-generated, multiplayer 3D worlds. If we want to consider what ‘television’ will be in the metaverse, Roblox is a good place to start. The platform is host to live events that bring gamers out of their play, where they become…’viewers’. The 2021 Bloxy Awards ceremony, honouring the developer community while fundraising for important caus- es, drew two million viewers in the first 24 hours. Last year Roblox also hosted one of the world’s biggest concerts of all time with L’il Nas X, streamed by 33 million Roblox accounts. Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player 2” sequel launched with a combination book tour and treasure hunt on the platform. For audiences that have – throughout their lives – interacted with media, multi-tasked video and other activities, and socialised while viewing, Roblox may be the model for how we’ll watch TV in the future. Ignore it at your peril. Though it launched in September 2006, it wasn’t until April 2018 that we started to see sizeable growth for Roblox, in Dubit Trends. Since then, daily use amongst 2-15 year olds in the US has doubled and in the UK is up over 60% - worldwide, it has 32 million daily active users.

As television viewing has fragmented, platforms like Roblox have become the community that TV once was. In particular, the pandemic spiked its popularity as social gaming replaced meet-ups in person. Young people tell us that Roblox has been ‘a lifeline’ helping keep in touch with extended family and friends, whilst also making new friends. In a Roblox-commissioned survey of its users, 62% said conversations with their real-life friends were among their top activities when they got together on the platform.

mip Trends 10 The Metaverse How brands originating in television can find their place in the Metaverse Before any single platform becomes dominant it’s likely that television in the Metaverse will consist of es- Immersive worlds like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft are capable of attracting huge audiences for appoint- tablished, familiar channels (like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon), deep content brands (like Harry Potter ment-to-view events. An audience of 10.7 million players showed up for the Marshmello concert in Fortnite, or LEGO), streaming services (like Netflix and YouTube) and stand-alone properties originating as video (e.g. which broke the game’s concurrent player count by about 2.5 million players. Over 12.3 million concurrent Peppa Pig, Scooby Doo or Power Rangers). players participated live in Travis Scott’s “Astronomical” virtual performance. Nate Nanzer, Fortnite’s Head of The Metaverse offers a great opportunity to leverage affection for many of the brands that originated on TV, Global Partnerships, expects any of the three platforms to be part of future band promotional tours. that to date have only achieved limited success as game brand extensions. Owners of brands like Scooby Will watching television take place in the Metaverse? To some extent there are early iterations of a Doo, SpongeBob SquarePants, Loud House, Teen Titans Go!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Amazing video Metaverse: World of Gumball will be able to offer a fully-interactive experience where fans can watch, play, create, learn, interact and even make transactions. • Forward thinking, legacy distribution platforms like Sky are aggregating content from linear broad- Television may not be entirely the same ‘lean back’ experience in the Metaverse, but young audiences casters, own channels, subscription streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, Catch-up services want an opportunity to be involved in the story. Virtual, immersive worlds enable audience participation like BBC iPlayer and All4, YouTube and YouTube Kids in interactive stories, creating the sense of truly being part of the action. was Netflix’ first foray • Multi-channel Networks (MCNs) such as WildBrain Spark, Moonbug and YouTube offer countless into interactive media; since then, they’ve launched several interactive shows including a choose-your-adven- ‘channels’ of content contained in a single platform ture animated TV series based on Minecraft. • Direct to consumer services like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+ offer deep libraries of Moving closer to the ‘gaming’ side of interactive media, Rival Peak launched in 2020 with a massive game- content like reality show starring 12 Artificial Intelligence characters - a sort of Big Brother meets Animal Crossing. In Could the legacy operators take the next step and offer non-video based interactive experiences through their this quasi-reality show, the characters are contestants in a Survivor-type competition where the audience can platforms? 25 years ago a set-top box simply gave you access to scores of TV channels, but it wasn’t long influence the outcome by completing tasks and helping their favourite characters win. before innovations were introduced, such as near on-demand (box office movies starting every 15 minutes), pausing live TV, and interactive services. The current main menu is a mixture of tiles representing TV series, How Media Owners and Content Creators Can Be Metaverse Ready content genres, timely themes and channels. No doubt this is a starting point from which things will evolve. Children and teens are spending more time than ever on screens and in digital spaces. All the evi- It’s conceivable that, not only to protect the long-term viability of their business, and broaden the appeal to dence suggests that this trend will continue to do so. In order to play games with friends, interact with younger audiences that a ‘games’ section is added to the main menu and tiles for Roblox, Minecraft and stories, to ‘attend’ concerts, take part in film festivals, to learn, to create and to be social. It may not all be Fortnite, amongst others start appearing. fully immersive, but it will be deeply engaging. The age at which games like Roblox and Minecraft typically ‘kick-in’ is around 7 years, so for MCNs targeting It’s inevitable that the spaces described as being like a Metaverse will evolve and develop over time. It’s younger audiences, whilst games have a place (e.g. Hopster offers video and games in a single app), the also likely that the Metaverse may not be uniform across all ages of children - even in the US, we know that non-video opportunity might be limited. However, for YouTube with its long established links to games, game children are not engaging with brands like Roblox and Minecraft until they reach around the age of 7. The rate walkthroughs, how-to (beat the monster, complete level 2, etc.), and its countless game-playing YouTubers, of progress will vary by country; children in the US are the earliest of ‘Early Adopters’, but parents in France, the YouTube Gaming app seems a very natural progression. Germany and other countries are more protective of their children’s online presence. Direct-to-consumer services present something of a conundrum. Netflix not only commissions its own shows, but acts as a portal for other producers’ content, which not so long ago included a library of Disney productions. As content owners have recognised the value of a direct-to-consumer relationship (with their own fans and the wider audience), they have started to reframe established relationships with distributors. Some media owners are creating a ‘multiverse’ offer, for example ViacomCBS acquired PlutoTV, which originally launched in 2013 as an ad-supported streaming service offering in excess of 100 TV channels and 1,000 movies; whilst also offering CBS All-Access rebranded as Paramount+, its subscription based over- the-top streaming service. NBCUniversal, with its US AVOD platform ‘Peacock’ looks likely to be joined by another subscription streaming service - likely to be under the ‘Universal’ brand. mip Trends 11 The Metaverse In developing your plan, you need to imagine what your brands and properties would look like in a Metaverse: 1. Content development • How do you make it familiar to new entrants? • How do you make it easy to navigate? • How to you build ‘time spent using/playing’? • How do you ensure the audience doesn’t fatigue? • How do you ensure there is a reason for the audience to keep coming back? 2. Monetisation • What is the pricing strategy? • What is the transactional medium? 3.Distribution • What is the relationship with existing partners - does it allow flexibility? • What is the starting point for a user? • Where would fans engage with your brands and properties? 4. Marketing and Messaging Matthew Ball’s assertion of the need to reinvent entertainment for the touchscreen generation seems to hit • How to you promote your presence to the audience (old and new)? a chord when you consider that for children born after the launch of the iPad in April 2010, just watching a • How do you create ‘playground chatter’? TV show may seem mundane compared with socialising in Among Us, winning a Fortnite Battle Royale, or • How do you make it ‘shareable’? completing a Roblox ‘obby’. Even when they’re not playing a game, they’re often watching someone else play, on Twitch or YouTube. As noted previously, ‘everything competes with everything’ for today’s children and teens. Video and games, Over-crowded app stores and millions of hours of video on social and streaming services, mean the Metaverse digital and physical, the brands that live at the ‘fat head’ and those niche brands at the end of the ‘long-tail’, will be the platform to launch and incubate new brands and content. brand and user-generated, learning and play, accompanied and solo consumption – audiences select brands Instantly you have a direct line to the audience - no need to go through an intermediary. You can develop and and content based on how they feel and their needs in the moment. The Metaverse will reduce the friction expand the brand from a single point of contact based on direct audience feedback (number of plays, length of crossing from one platform to another. Big studios already supplement their traditional brand-building in of engagement, comments, etc). Build in a feedback loop to allow fans space to shape your development. co-creation spaces like Roblox, facilitating organic content influenced by real-time interactions. Conversely, Television was always a one-way medium - the only way fans could contribute was by writing to the produc- new storytellers are launching IP directly into this space. As viewers become players, and players become ers and showing the love of the show by being counted in the ratings. creators, a world of brands and brand fandom will be manufactured.

mip Trends 12 The Metaverse Metaverse… Mediaverse… Multiverse - are you ready, what does it all mean and when we get there will there be a place for television?

AUTHOR: Adam Woodgate – Senior Vice President Media Insights, Dubit Adam has 30 years media, marketing and insight, 15 years of which was spent in senior operational roles. Initially working with programme teams and audience research for London Weekend Tele- mip Trends vision. Then moved into creating content and senior programming roles for broadcasters. In 2001 he became Group Head of Research for Emap’s (now Bauer) broadcast properties. Following a period of time spent with , he went on to work for BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios). He joined Dubit in 2013 bringing his knowledge of programming, content creation and The Metaverse media research to the many client projects he’s managed. He heads up Dubit Trends - the global children’s media trends tracker, now covering 20 countries. He works closely with broadcasters, publishers, media buyers and content creators advising on strategy based on media consumption and emerging trends

in partnership with Adam Woodgate – contact details: Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdamMWoodgate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammwoodgate/

DUBIT Dubit is a global kids’ research agency and digital development studio, that helps create #1 products for global brands and innovative start-ups. We have gathered over 20 years of insight, experience of kids behaviours and their digital lives. With offices in Leeds, London, Washington, D.C. and Melbourne, Dubit have world class teams that deliver at every stage of the journey, from initial ideation, through design and development, to launch strategy. Dubit Website: https://www.dubitlimited.com/ Dubit Trends: https://www.dubitlimited.com/insights/trends