NEW YORK – Corus Entertainment officially launched TreehouseDirect today – a web storefront that will let consumers buy Nelvana content by the episode or by full seasons.
Corus owns TV producer Nelvana.
“This initiative builds on Corus Entertainment’s focus on creating exciting entertainment for children and families, allowing us to be everywhere they access content,” said John Cassaday, Corus Entertainment president and CEO in a press release. “TreehouseDirect offers our audiences the flexibility to customize and personalize their experiences with our brands.”
“Our plan is to be a global first-mover with this service, rolling out in Canada initially, followed by other English-speaking countries and eventually expanding to other languages," said Doug Murphy, executive vice-president of business development for Nelvana. "Backed by the parent-approved Treehouse brand and stocked with family-friendly programming from Nelvana, we are offering parents a safe, trusted place to explore new viewing platforms.”
The self-contained storefront site www.TreehouseDirect.com, powered by software from Toronto-based ExtendMedia, will go live this June with a link from the TreehouseTV.com network web site. Links will allow parents to jump from a show page on the Treehouse site to the TreehouseDirect downloads for that particular show. ExtendMedia’s OpenCASE content service management platform allows Corus to secure and distribute content, and scale its TreehouseDirect offering to support rapidly expanded use as consumer demand takes off.
However, Corus has several video on demand deals with Canadian and American cable operators and TreehouseDirect has that covered, says the company.
The storefront will initially offer Nelvana-animated preschool favorites Max & Ruby, Franklin, Miss Spider, Timothy Goes to School, Little Bear, Babar, The Berenstain Bears and Rolie Polie Olie. Pricing will reflect the value of content ownership—once you’ve downloaded an episode, it’s yours—over single-use, or time-restricted rentals to protect the company’s cable video-on-demand partnerships. New episodes and series will be added to the site’s inventory once the full season has aired on broadcast and specials will be added shortly following the TV airdate.
TreehouseDirect will be Viiv-verified by Intel, which means customers will be able to move a downloaded TV show from device to device,. The service will also support the launch of new Corus Entertainment series through promotions and sneak peeks as part of the company’s integrated multiplatform launch strategy, says the release.
"Corus’ forward-looking plans for TreehouseDirect include: potential partnerships with content aggregators, Internet portals, BDUs and telcos; the inclusion of additional online product sales like music, games and consumer products; and applying the model to other Corus Entertainment brands such as YTV, W Network and CMT Canada."
