This story appears in the October 2020 issue of Television Asia Plus.

In July, the California-based digital media studio pocket.watch appointed Anshuman Misra as the company’s newest Managing Director who currently leads the company’s second international office located in Singapore. The company is aggressively expanding its operations outside of the United States, and in February, the company opened its London office as they expand to the EMEA and the UAE.

Television Asia Plus (TVA): What are some of your plans as the newly-appointed APAC managing director at pocket.watch and with your extensive background in the media industry, how do you plan to achieve this?

Anshuman Misra (AM): Pocket.watch content and it’s superstar creators have a kids following never seen before on any medium. My job is to propagate this content and premium content made especially for platforms outside of YouTube onto OTT, traditional TV, and others in the Asia Pacific. The quality of content and the intensely personal connection that kids feel for the creators, makes the content very desirable to platform operators.

In addition, I will be seeking advertising and sponsorship opportunities in the marketplace. With our creators notching up over 8 billion views a month on YouTube and growing their presence on other platforms, advertising sales becomes a significant part of our business and is addressed by our advertising division Clockwork.

TVA: How do you plan to capture the Asian market with pockwet.watch’s expansion into the Asia Pacific?

AM: Kids’ content consumption has evolved in the past few years. Traditional kids shows have given way to real-life creators online that kids can relate to and consider as friends. Pocket.watch has understood this move in kids’ viewing habits and is creating content with these superstar creators to super-serve its kids audience on any platform. 

pocket.watch has had proven success in launching several of the world’s most popular kid YouTube creator franchises, like Ryan’s World, Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, and HobbyKids Adventures, with sustainable, highly successful global projects. As the studio behind global franchises from the YouTube stars and characters loved by Generation Alpha, the pocket.watch team has already done an excellent job drumming up overwhelming excitement from partners in this region for what’s to come.

TVA: What other areas of children’s entertainment is pocket.watch planning to explore?

AM: Pocket.watch continues to be everywhere that kids are—from TV to consumer products to mobile gaming—so nothing is off-limits. If Generation Alpha is there, that’s where pocket.watch and their creator-led franchises will be!

TVA: In terms of content production, does Pocket.watch have plans on producing long-form content?

AM: Yes, out of the Ryan’s World franchise, pocket.watch developed the hit kids TV series Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, which is currently expanding to international markets. As the top television show for preschoolers in the U.S., and on the heels of the show’s Emmy nomination for Outstanding Preschool Children’s Series, the episodic TV series has been picked up for a 10-episode fourth season by Nickelodeon.

Since its launch in April 2019, Ryan’s Mystery Playdate has reached over 33 million total viewers across American channels Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. The series also ranks No. 1 in its time slot on Treehouse in Canada, across all 11 Canadian kids networks measured, and saw a +45 percent audience increase in April 2020. Similarly, it ranks No. 1 on Treehouse VOD. We’re hoping to translate this to other markets, like the Asia Pacific. 

TVA: Do you have plans to sign on, develop, and groom in-house influencer talents?

AM: Yes, pocket.watch recently welcomed Kids Diana Show to the pocket.watch creator family with the launch of the Love, Diana lifestyle and entertainment brand. The franchise stars Diana from the YouTube channel Kids Diana Show, the second-largest YouTube channel in the world. 

The franchise expands on Diana’s success by introducing the channel’s massive audience to original content in new formats such as animation; new platforms including OTT and gaming; and through a consumer product line, including toys and apparel available in-store and online for the 2020 holiday season.

Production of 40 episodes of the new series Love, Diana, a live-action and animated hybrid, has already begun. Each episode of Love, Diana will include a positive lesson about friendship, leadership, family, imagination, and, most importantly, the power of play. The series will launch Fall 2020 on YouTube and pocket.watch’s OTT network which includes Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, PlutoTV, Xumo, and Samsung TV Plus. 

Additionally, there will be a Love, Diana lifestyle product line, targeted to children between ages 2-7, that will encompass the core characteristics of imagination, playfulness, creativity, empowerment, and friendship that Diana’s audience knows and loves. Pocket.watch has signed a robust and broad range of licensees, with nine already signed on for launch. The Love, Diana program will see a global retail launch in time for holiday 2020, straddling three continents and shaping up to be one of the largest consumer products launch ever for a YouTube creator brand.

pocket.watch is also extending the Love, Diana brand into mobile gaming on the heels of their p.w Games division’s success with Tag with Ryan which has garnered 12 million downloads and over 450,000 daily active users. The Love, Diana mobile game will feature a collection of fun minigames bursting with personality, vibrant colors, and imagination that will empower kids to design their very own “Princess of Play.” It will be available in the App Store and Google Play later in 2020