David Farnor | On 21, Jul 2015

Hopster has expended its Apple TV reach into 100 new countries.

The kids entertainment subscription service first launched on Apple’s set top box in May 2015, but is now rolling out to more territories. It is already live in Australia, the Middle East, South East Asia, and India.

Hopster offers users hundreds of hand-picked episodes of the best preschool shows from around the world and features a special Discover! mode, which groups episodes according to Hopster’s curriculum categories, along with seasonal themes and specials.

To support its global expansion and growth, Hopster is bolstering its technical team. New CTO Chris Brooke will be responsible for expanding the in-house engineering team and continuing to build a best-in-class technical architecture. Brooke joins from Quib.ly, a curated community for parents to ask questions and get answers about raising happy, healthy children in a global age. MADE.com CTO Jonathan Howell also joines Hopster on the company’s board as an advisor, bringing with him vast experience in scaling consumer products and building experiences people love.

In the UK, which is Hopster’s core market, users will be excited to see the return of two family favourites The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, and for the first time ever, Room on the Broom, produced by Magic Light Pictures.

The announcement of Hopster’s expansion follows the launch of a rival service from Amazon, as well as a continued drive from VOD services, such as Netflix, Amazon and Sky, to boost their family content.

“The kids VOD space is really heating up, and we’re excited to be leading the charge with everything that’s happening at Hopster HQ,” comments Nick Walters, Hopster founder and CEO, who highlights the importance of Apple devices in the platform’s growing popularity. Indeed, since launching in the UK in 2013, Hopster is regularly the top grossing kids’ app in the UK and has topped the kids’ charts in 12 countries.

“Providing a brilliant experience across Apple’s mobile devices has been essential to our growth, and bringing it to life on Apple TV offers even better value to Apple families – especially as everything is included in one easy subscription,” he adds. “Adding Jonathan and Chris to the team ensures we’ll continue to build on what we started – providing entertaining and educational content that delights kids and parents alike, all across the globe.”

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