Digital Natives Declare TV JustIsn’t CuttingIt (NAPSA)—It’s no secret that today’s youth is “connected”in virtually every way (hello, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and many, MANY more), but Generations Y and Z are choosing to lose connection in one very specific way. Millennials are chronic cord cutters as they say “Au Revoir!” to cable TV subscriptions, but many are being touted as “cord nevers” as numerousdigital natives choose to forgo the hassle previously known as non-fastforwardable television. This shift to solely digital viewing, specifically YouTube programming, should come as nosurprise, as some of today’s biggest off-line 5 Friends. 1 Garage.Lots of Fun! TALKING a Metil AND FRIENDS 9 2s stars, such as Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Rihanna, owe much of their success to the accessibility and popularity of YouTube as a digital media powerhouse. Their fame rose to new levels with the ability to reach millions by simply pushing the publish button. More than 400 hours of video are uploaded per minute, and almost one-third of the entire world population watches YouTube each day. Others, widely known as “YouTube Stars,” have created full-fledged brands through the use of the social media channel and are now making large-scale deals for multiple other mediums. YouTubers such as PewDiePie, The Shaytards, Lisbug, Carly Rae Jepsen and The Fine Brothers are now digital moguls to be reckoned with as their reach quickly surpasses levels that are not even possible with traditional media or cable TV. “Talking Tom and Friends”is a top-rated YouTubefavorite for digital natives One of the most popular shows on YouTube is “Talking Tom and Friends,” which chronicles the adventures, high jinks and inventions of Talking Tom and gang as they shoot their ownreality television show. Sounds like something that this new selfie-obsessed generation can relate to, doesn’t it? The series is based on a line of apps created by mobile leader Outfit7 Limited. Since the first Talking Tom and Friends app launched over six years ago, the suite of apps has skyrocketed in popularity worldwide. The animated series (currently in its first season and green-lit for a second season) has cemented a rock-solid audience with over 840 millionplus views on YouTube in only a year and a half since launch. Talking Tom and Friends is a toprated YouTubefavorite for GenY & Z. Armed with cameras, tech gear, loads of ideas and an unfailing sense of optimism, the series follows Tom and the gang as they make their own show from the (relative) comfort of Tom’s garageturned-app studio! Although their adventures and inventions never quite turn out the way they planned, the gang is unstoppable! New episodes premiere each week on the Talking Friends YouTube channel. The award-winning show features an all-star voice cast led by Golden Globe nominee Colin Hanks (“Life in Pieces,” “Fargo”), Tom Kenny (“SpongeBob SquarePants”) and YouTube force Lisa Schwartz, marking one of her first major roles outside the Lisbug channel. It’s a blend of slapstick comedy with modern-day story lines, bringing in lots of character use of technology, as one would expect from a show aboutdigital moguls. With daily streaming viewership hovering between two and three hours within this demographic, it’s no surprise that Talking Tom and the gang chose to park their garage on YouTube. A juggernaut on YouTube, Outfit7’s “Talking Tom and Friends” franchise continuesto break its own app download record, currently hitting the 5 billion download mark across its series of family-friendly apps! That’s over half of the entire world’s population, according to the U.S. Census! Find out whatall the fuss is about at www.youtube.com/ user/TalkingFriends and http:// talkingtomandfriends.com/animatedseries.
