CANNES: “Kids and teens are on YouTube and while adults like to eat meals, kids prefer snacks. And they can snack the whole day,” said AwesomenessTV CEO and founder Brian Robbins in his media keynote, adding, “Deliver what they want, when they want, and also constantly refresh it.”

It was Robbins’ experience of the way his own kids consumed content that led to the launch of AwesomenessTV - a YouTube exclusive channel for kids and teens - last year. It was purchased in May this year by Jeffrey Katzenberg’s DreamWorks Animation.

Robbins said it was important to create videos that were funny, creative and yet relevant to kids and that uploading these videos on YouTube was the best form of engaging kids.

About the online blast, Robbins said: “What’s happening online today is similar to what happened on TV 25 years ago. We want to engage in two-way communication. Every producer should be aware of their target audience. We know who our viewers are and what they’re telling us.”

While AwesomenessTV boasts one million subscribers and 200 million video views, YouTube is just the beginning for Robbins. “We are going to have a presence everywhere. We are currently working on a mobile app and also PlayStation access. We have a big network in UK and also see opportunity in Brazil. We are looking at creating new audiences every time,” he said.

At the same time, Robbins sees great opportunity in starting something on YouTube and building an audience and then taking it to TV. “We are giving Dreamworks another platform to build its audience and also market its movies,” he said.

Comparing AwesomenessTV with say a Nickelodeon, Robbins said while Nick could produce only two pilots to ensure success, they could produce multiple pilots a day. Nickelodeon apart, Robbins argued that most channels today do not create enough fresh content. “One can see only four to five hours of fresh content on the channels. Mobile gives kids options to choose from,” he said.