Moonbug continues to expand touchpoints for Blippi and his best friend Meekah as the franchise hits impressive milestones.
Moonbug, a part of Candle Media, has announced that Blippi, the second largest global brand in its portfolio, is poised to inspire curiosity in even more kids as it expands across every dimension of its business. Building on a double-digit year-over-year growth of the brand’s viewing on YouTube, the brand has ambitious plans across content formats, consumer products and live experiences. The YouTube show is also expanding its lineup of guest stars.
“We’re beyond excited about Blippi’s growth explosion this year. We love being able to inspire curiosity in kids everywhere and with our fans’ support, we’re expanding all the ways Blippi and his best friend Meekah show up for kids and families,” said Katelynn Heil, general manager of Blippi for Moonbug. “This is truly a grassroots brand and we can’t wait for our fans to go on the Ultimate Road Trip with the new Blippi and Meekah podcast this summer or head out on field trips with their new Meekah doll.”
New formats will include:
- Blippi and Meekah’s Road Trip Podcast: all-new, first-ever, audio-only episodes which include visiting a Monster Truck Rally, a Rainforest and the Prehistoric Dinosaur Era. The 20-episode audio series will be available starting this summer.
- Surprise Hometown Episodes: The winner of the first Blippi in my Hometown contest, 3-year-old Layla of Clarksville, TN, featured as a guest star in an episode that has been viewed over 40m times, making it the single most viewed episode of 2022. This year, the brand will expand the contest by including fans from Canada as well as launching Blippi in My Classroom. Winners will be featured in episodes in 2023.
- Moonbug Radio, which launched this month on Sirius XM, allows parents and their kids to enjoy Moonbug’s full library of children’s content together on a continuous, dedicated music channel (channel 307).
The brand will be supported by new consumer products:
- My Friend Meekah: a 16-inch plush from Jazwares with more than 17 different fun sounds, such as “Thanks for being my friend,” when you squeeze her tummy. Meekah is dressed in her iconic purple and yellow shirt with a matching yellow headband and her iconic jam pack.
- The motorized Blippi Dump Truck from Jazwares features Construction Worker Blippi and five construction accessories. Sounds and phrases include: “I had so much fun with you today.”
- Halloween Costumes by Disguise: Joining the Blippi costume, which was the No.1 searched for costume on Halloweencostumes.com of 2022, a new youth sized Meekah Halloween costume is available in sizes 2T, 3T and 4T.
This year, Blippi and Meekah have begun hosting more guest stars. Recent guests include Olympic gold medalist, Shawn Johnson East; author and engineer, Emily Calandrelli and later this summer the duo visit their friend, Ms. Rachel, who shows them around the Big City.
The franchise has hit several notable milestones; the new spin-off series Meekah surpassed 100m million views on YouTube and has also been a consistent Top 10 kids show on Netflix in 2023, and the Meekah YouTube channel has reached over one million subscribers since it launched less than a year and a half ago.
As a 2023 Telly Award Winner, Blippi won bronze for Best Online Children’s Programming and Blippi Wonders won bronze for Best Animation Series. Blippi The Musical, the franchise’s first Live Show, was nominated for a prestigious Olivier Award for 2022’s Best Family Show in the UK and toured to cities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following two years of successful touring in North America.meanwhile, Blippi The Wonderful World Tour is currently on a 90 city tour across the US and Canada expanding further internationally next year.
