How in the World Did 'Cocomelon' Become One of the Biggest Children's Shows?

Some children's shows are designed to keep little tykes glued to their TV screens while parents are left tearing their hair out, wondering just how in the world anyone could stomach the monotonous, repetitive nonsense that they're watching on their screen. Have you ever seen an episode of Peppa Pig? If I have to hear that little jingle followed by a snort and a giggle ever again, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. Some people feel the same way about Cocomelon, so why is it so popular?

If you've never heard of the children's video series, it's fairly easy to break down: Cocomelon a series of nursery rhymes that are loosely steeped in education and teaching kids different values. They're brightly animated with soft, rounded, recurring CGI characters who appear in the nursery rhymes.

If you've ever browsed through the kids content on YouTube, you've definitely come across it.

So what makes Cocomelon different from the throngs of "free" programming for children on YouTube that draws little ones to it more than others? There's a slew of reasons that range from its production, online presence, and distribution.

First let's start with series content: It's distinct. You're probably not going to confuse Cocomelon with any other video series on YouTube.

Sure, the CGI is on par with the old Beast Wars 3D cartoon, but it helps that the same animation style is used across all of its videos. In a market that's as saturated as children's content on YouTube, that's huge. Also, the nursery rhyme "bits" are timed perfectly for a YT attention span. The hypnotic songs more or less use the same sound mixing as all the others in the series, so that helps to further create a Cocomelon "brand" too.

There's also the fact that each video is accompanied by a little bit. Like the "Ole!" nursery rhyme, we see the Cocomelon family and animal characters playing a game of soccer. The baby attempts to score, but is rebuffed by a gloating wolf goalie (if this sounds like a weird fever dream, just know that it's par the course for Cocomelon.) At the end of the game, the baby manages to score on the wolf goalie and everyone cheers.

As rudimentary as it sounds, Cocomelon's consistency in its video uploads and repeated use of characters and a similar aesthetic puts it leaps and bounds ahead of other nursery rhyme compilations on YouTube.

Another thing that can't be ignored is the fact that it's free to stream. Parents who want to put something kid friendly on for their children can take any device that has access to YouTube and just play it for their little ones.

That's helped Cocomelon with its tremendous growth, and even more so is the production company's partnership with Netflix. The streaming giant, according to The Verge has been actively trying to secure more programming that is geared directly toward children, thus furthering the impetus for parents to keep their accounts or help influence their decision to bite the bullet and finally get a subscription of their own.

Walmart is now selling Cocomelon themed gear, which is nuts when you consider the fact that it started as a free-to-stream basic nursery rhyme video channel.

We've seen similar deals happen with other children-specific content. Ryan has become a kids celebrity with his toy unboxing videos and even has his own Nickelodeon TV show. Toys and other products sponsored by Ryan can be found in retail stores all across America.

There's also a scientific aspect of nursery rhymes that are worth considering, too. Dr. Victoria Leong, via the BBC, explained "that nursery rhymes are a particularly good way for...[mothers] to get in sync with their babies."

"Although it sounds odd to us, babies really love listening to motherese even more than adult speech. It holds their attention better and the speech sounds clearer to them. So we know the more motherese the baby hears, the better the language development," she said.

So while Cocomelon's nursery rhymes and aesthetic don't appeal to us, the producers behind the show are making all the right moves to ensure that their brand is becoming as prominent as possible.