I also took the opportunity to look at which animated series had their own magazines. A quick browse at WH Smiths showed me that nearly everything has a tie-in magazine these days, particularly CBeebies series, so this is something that I need to consider for my own pitch, to provide a secondary source of income towards the show budget.
In this first section are a few magazines aimed at older children (I'd say ages 7 - 11). The titles based on animated series include Ben 10, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, Pokémon and My Little Pony.
These aren't really relevant to me because they are outside my target audience. But I found it interesting that they were all based on old franchises: with the exception of Ben 10 (which first aired in 2005) and Disney Descendants (a recent film), everything on this shelf was around when I was a child in the 80s and 90s (the Beano, the Dandy and Lego even date back to when my grandad was a child!) I wonder if there is a tendency for children in that age group to stick with what they know rather than trying new things?
Muddled up in this section I found magazines for Hey Duggee and Go Jetters. Both of these seemed to contain a mixture of entertainment and educational content, like the programmes they are based on. (I didn't want to stand in the shop taking photos of the pages, that seemed a bit naughty! Maybe I can find some content online somewhere)
Basically what I've learned from this is that tie-in magazines are BIG BUSINESS for pre-school shows, much more so than they are for older ages. And particularly, it seems true for CBeebies programmes (I assume this is because they don't have any advertising, so revenue to pay for the shows has to come from other sources). I think it is therefore vital that the series I pitch can have some sort of tie-in magazine to reinforce the educational concepts seen in the programme.
In the next post, we will take a little look at the sort of activities we can find in these magazines.
In this first section are a few magazines aimed at older children (I'd say ages 7 - 11). The titles based on animated series include Ben 10, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, Pokémon and My Little Pony.
These aren't really relevant to me because they are outside my target audience. But I found it interesting that they were all based on old franchises: with the exception of Ben 10 (which first aired in 2005) and Disney Descendants (a recent film), everything on this shelf was around when I was a child in the 80s and 90s (the Beano, the Dandy and Lego even date back to when my grandad was a child!) I wonder if there is a tendency for children in that age group to stick with what they know rather than trying new things?
Muddled up in this section I found magazines for Hey Duggee and Go Jetters. Both of these seemed to contain a mixture of entertainment and educational content, like the programmes they are based on. (I didn't want to stand in the shop taking photos of the pages, that seemed a bit naughty! Maybe I can find some content online somewhere)
The problem with a lot of these magazines for little ones, is that they usually in a sealed bag with a toy, so I couldn't sneak a look at the pages! Nevertheless, on this shelf we find magazines based on Octonauts, Bing (which notably contains a calculator as a gift!) CBeebies' adaptation of Peter Rabbit, and the hideous-looking Disney Junior series Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First. There were also not one but two Peppa Pig magazines! There was also one based on Mr Men, but I think this was a direct adaptation of the books, because there hasn't been an animated version for about 10 years now.
In this section we find some magazines based on animated shows which aren't popular enough to warrant their own publications. Usually from a variety of different channels. And strangely, the same characters popped up in different magazines: -
- "Toy Box" contained PJ Masks, Thomas the Tank Engine, Charlie and Lola, Octonauts, and very bizzarely, Dangermouse!
- "Milkshake" contained a variety of programmes shown on Channel 5, including Paw Patrol, a disgusting-looking CGI Bob the Builder, slightly less nauseating CGI Noddy, Thomas again, Ben & Holly, Digby Dragon, and some I'd never heard of: Floogals, Rusty Rivets, Blaze, Poppy Cat, Wissper, Shimmer and Shine, and Blaze. And of course Peppa Pig.
- "Fun to Learn Friends" contained Paw Patrol again, creepy CGI Fireman Sam, Ben & Holly again, Clangers, The Gruffalo, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and then some unfamiliar ones such as Bubble Guppies, Kazoops and Boj. And, unsuprisingly, Peppa Pissing Pig.
- "Fun to Learn Favourites" contained much of the same as "Fun to Learn Friends", with the strange addition of Sooty, who as far as I know hasn't been on TV for a long time!
In the next post, we will take a little look at the sort of activities we can find in these magazines.
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