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YouTube’s biggest child star is getting his own show on Amazon

YouTube’s biggest child star is getting his own show on Amazon

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Ryan Kaji’s empire continues to grow

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Ryan Kaji, the nine-year-old star of YouTube’s popular Ryan’s World channel, is expanding his empire with a new show on Amazon Kids Plus. This marks the first time that a YouTube creator has partnered with Amazon for an original series. The show will debut on November 27th.

Super Spy Ryan is a 30-minute live-action / animation hybrid series that follows Kaji as he’s transported to an animated world and tasked with recovering the Golden Console from a “nefarious hamster” named Packrat, according to a press release. The live-action sequences will feature Kaji and his family, who also appear frequently on his YouTube channel. The channel currently boasts close to 30 million subscribers.

“Bringing Super Spy Ryan as the first original on Amazon Kids Plus is a dream come true for us,” Shion Kaji, Ryan’s father, said in a statement.

Amazon Kids Plus is a subscription package that costs $3 a month and gives kids an assortment of videos, books, games, and other entertainment items. The package also includes original content, and Amazon, like other companies, is looking to YouTube creators as a way to try to get kids to spend more time on its platform.

For Kaji and his family, expanding onto one of the world’s biggest websites is just another step in growing their business. Kaji currently has a show deal with Nickelodeon — a part of ViacomCBS’s plans to try to make Nickelodeon relevant again. His team also launched a Ryan and Friends OTT channel in September.

Other popular YouTube kids channels are in the process of expanding to streamers and networks. Cocomelon is now on Netflix, thanks to deals made by its parent company, Moonbug, and HBO Max is partnering with YouTubers for original series. For streamers and networks, it makes sense: kids already know these characters and can watch new programming featuring their favorite YouTube channels on more secure platforms. Amazon will likely hope to bring over some of the audience from Ryan’s World and keep them on the site with other Amazon Kids Plus offerings.