NEW YORK – Nickelodeon has named Michael H. Levine, Ph.D. to the role of Senior Vice President, Learning and Impact, for Noggin, the network’s direct-to-consumer interactive learning service for preschoolers. The announcement was made by Kristen Kane, Executive Vice President, Noggin, to whom Dr. Levine will report. An early learning and social policy expert, Dr. Levine will focus on deepening Noggin’s value to children and families through content and interactive experiences developed for learning and impact. Levine officially starts in new new position this week.
“Michael brings to Noggin extensive experience in child development and digital media as well as a deep commitment to improving the lives of young children,” said Kane. “He is widely respected as a staunch advocate for children and their families, as well as a field builder for innovation and impact in children’s media. We are so proud to have him focused on making Noggin a destination for joyful learning for our fast-growing subscriber base.”
Noggin subscriptions have grown by triple digits year over year from 2018 to 2019, and the ad-free service currently features over 1,500 iconic, full-length library episodes, short-form videos, Spanish-language videos, music videos featuring preschoolers’ favorite characters, and more. New to the Noggin this month are Blue’s Clues & You! play-along videos which build on the interactivity of the brand-new series and allow users to explore the stories in an immersive way, engaging with live-action host Josh and the animated characters, by tapping, touching or swiping to navigate through enhanced learning experiences.
Based in New York, Dr. Levine previously spent 12 years at Sesame Workshop where he served as Chief Knowledge Officer, a member of the senior executive team responsible for driving organization-wide learning, educational partnerships, knowledge exchange, and policy leadership. He is also the Founding Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a pioneering thought leader in the digital media and learning field.
Prior to that, Dr. Levine was Vice President for Asia Society, managing interactive media and educational initiatives to promote knowledge and understanding of other world regions, languages and cultures. He conceived and directed a national campaign, “I Am Your Child,” with entertainment, policy, philanthropic and practice leaders, which led to major state and national investments in health care, early learning and parenting education. He also previously oversaw Carnegie Corporation’s groundbreaking work in early childhood development and educational media, and was a senior advisor to the New York City Schools Chancellor, where he directed dropout prevention, afterschool and homeless programs.
Noggin has been going through a redesign in the last few months. In May, Viacom reported in its Q2 financial results that Noggin had reached 2.5 million subscribers globally. The company didn’t give an update on its subscribers in its Q3 report, but this summer Nick revamped the Noggin website and logo and launched new features to make it easier for kids to discover content. Prior to its Q2 announcement, the subscription service made a move into incorporating more kids education into the platform by acquiring early childhood learning tech platform Sparkler and brought on its co-founder Kristen Kane as Noggin’s new EVP, in April.
Noggin is currently available for iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Fire tablet and Roku devices, as well as on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels and The Roku Channel. With over 30 series to date, including current titles like PAW Patrol, Blue’s Clues & You!, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Peppa Pig, and Bubble Guppies, Noggin’s lineup also features classic favorites such as Dora the Explorer and Team Umizoomi.
In 2018, the kidnet added the first two seasons of animated series Paw Patrol and a Spanish-language hub featuring full-length episodes of different series.
Noggin is currently available in the U.S., Latin America and Brazil.
From Kidscreen:
Noggin’s new SVP’s education plans for the whole family
Former Sesame Workshop exec Michael Levine breaks down his plans to differentiate Nick's preschool SVOD service from other VOD platforms with new content and features.
Michael Levine has been of building up his experience and knowledge of educational equity for about three decades. And now, after 12 years driving educational partnerships and company policy at Sesame Workshop as its first chief knowledge officer, the early learning and social policy expert is helping Nickelodeon’s preschool SVOD service Noggin grow its value with kids and families.
Levine—who has a PhD in social policy from Massachusetts-based Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management—is also the founder and CEO of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center nonprofit, which is focused on helping kids learn through digital media. He’s also worked as the VP of the non-profit Asia Society and managed interactive media and educational initiatives to promote knowledge of other world regions and cultures in US public schools.
He’s written policy papers on how parents and government bodies can better increase children’s education and quality of life. One such paper, the 1994 piece “Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children,” caught the attention of producer/director Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride, Misery) who then recruited Levine to lead the I am Your Child campaign, which pushed for research into early brain development.
More recently, he’s been weighing in on the screen-time debate: in his view, it’s not just kids’ usage of screens, but how they spend their time, that matters. Video chatting with relatives, eBooks and educational games can be beneficial for preschoolers for example, he says. Levine is now taking all of his experience in studying kids’ learning to grow the platform’s value for kids and families with new content and features.
“I’ve worked with vulnerable kids finding out what they need to know and I’ve worked with the entertainment industry to do R&D about how digital media producers could advance children’s learning potential,” says Levine. “In the past five or six years I’ve been thinking about how to combine legacy brands and new brands together to create a robust education on a digital platform. Other companies have created educational content that’s good for kids, but I intend to make sure Noggin’s is also personalized and joyful.”
The ad-free service already features more than 1,500 full-length library episodes, short-form videos, Spanish-language and music videos from brands such as Peppa Pig and Dora the Explorer. But to differentiate itself from content-driven SVODs, the service is growing its focus on education for kids two and up. To jump-start this shift, Levine will take a leading role in the newly created role of SVP, learning and impact last week.
“We’re going to create a new Noggin,” says Levine. “We’re going to be adding a much more coherent and intentional educational framework with more research-based activities, while keeping it character-led and fitting within the playful learning category.”
Jumping into the new role, Levine is building a curriculum-based team to research early learning.
Motivated by research that digital media platforms like Noggin can bring multiple generations within a family together, Levine plans to start engaging parents with resources and educational content that teaches them how to be better caregivers. The team has also noted the impact stress can have on kids and families, and the platform will add content around wellness and mindfulness to help teach kids about improving their bodies and dealing with anxiety.
Building on its recently launched efforts to grow the platform’s personalization features—which Noggin’s EVP Kristen Kane first told Kidscreen about last month—Noggin will also work on building in features like having characters interact with users, as well as making a dashboard that tracks kids’ educational growth, says Levine. The SVOD service will also look into launching activities and content that can target younger kids and moving into next year Noggin will begin experimenting with books to see how kids engage with them.
Levine reports to Noggin EVP Kristen Kane, and is focused on growing its value for kids and families with new content and interactive features.
Levine’s hire is the most recent effort the service has made to refresh itself. In May, Viacom reported in its Q2 financial results that Noggin had reached 2.5 million subscribers globally. Prior to its Q2 announcement, the subscription service incorporated more kids education by acquiring early childhood learning tech platform Sparkler and brought on its co-founder Kristen Kane as Noggin’s new EVP in April.
Noggin is looking to build up partnerships to expand the service and the team is going to be attending market events, including Kidscreen Summit, to help bolster its growth, Levine adds.
“We’re looking for content creator partners and also educational partners to help us grow what we hope will be the best in class digital learning platform for kids,” says Levine. “Welcome anyone who wants to refresh an important learning platform to make sure every kid gets a decent start in life.”
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More Nick: Nickelodeon Embarks on New Direction with its Biggest, Most Wide-Ranging Content Slate Ever!
Originally published: Friday, November 08, 2019.
Source: Multichannel News; H/T: TVKIDS; Additional source: Kidscreen.
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