Corus Entertainment’s TreehouseGO app recently climbed its way to the top of the iTunes Canada app store in the Kids category. The app is free to Treehouse TV subscribers and allows users to view Treehouse shows such as Little Charmers, Octonauts, Dora and Friends and Trucktown via live stream, on demand or download.

Launching apps of this nature became a strategic priority for Corus a little over a year ago, said Caitlin O’Donovan, VP digital, kids, Corus Entertainment. However, the quickly changing children’s content market meant that the timing only more recently became right for Corus to move ahead.

“We looked at it again and found a shift in the marketplace regarding the tech stacks that were available – there were a number of ‘out of the box’ creative solutions that were not available two years ago,” O’Donovan told Playback Daily.

 The availability of tech stacks such as Adobe Primetime were game-changers, said O’Donovan, and Corus set about creating a kids app that targeted younger users, rather than their parents.

“Kids watch, discover and approach content very differently to adults. A lot of the aggregator apps that the industry is pushed towards are typically adult interfaces with kids’ content pushed in. And when you’re looking at a pre-schooler demographic like the two- to six-year-old demo on Treehouse TV, they have such different ways of interacting with the technology,” said O’Donovan.

Corus has also had recent success with show-specific apps, with Nelvana’s Little Charmers: Sparkle Up app reaching number one on the iPad downloaded apps on iTunes in both Canada and the U.S.

The success of the TreehouseGO platform will be judged on a couple of criteria. Firstly – and most obviously – the download tally for the app is a top priority. Of equal importance though, said O’Donovan, is the usability of the app once it’s in the user’s hands. To better measure this second criterion – and to improve the effectiveness of future apps – Corus is gathering data on where users are ending up within the app, how long they are using it, and what decisions they are making throughout their experience. O’Donovan was also quick to note that the TreehouseGO app is still a work-in-progress, with Corus planning to add games and additional features to it.

Prior to the app’s launch, there were two primary concerns. The first was authentication: the app developers were wary of the universal problem that users (parents) may not remember their login details when requested to re-input their passwords by their cable or satellite provider. The second concern was that the app’s code might be too heavy. In that, it might contain too much animation or small features (such as, in this case, chirping birds or scrubbing ducks) which can cause performance issues and interfere with store downloads.

Ultimately, none of these proved to be a problem and going forward Corus will take further risks with future app development, said O’Donovan. Corus’ next focus is on video discovery recommendation, she added.

“Especially when you get into the older demos (six- to 12-year-olds) there’s a lot that can be done with associated content, and getting users interested in games or other video experiences. That’s an area we’re going to be pushing. Answering the question of how the relevant, related content is floating to the surface for the right person.”

Corus plans to roll out more apps in the coming weeks and months.