The Daily Wire Launches ‘Bentkey,’ A New Family Entertainment Streaming Platform
The streaming industry largely remains an ongoing experiment. The idealism that “streaming is the future” still outpaces practical concerns, as many major streaming platforms—Netflix, Disney+, Hulu—all struggle to find financial sustainability. Nevertheless, the hypothetical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow has continued to inspire companies to jump into the fray and try their luck. One such newcomer is the family entertainment platform called Bentkey.
Bentkey is the creation of The Daily Wire, the popular conservative political media group founded in 2015 by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing. The app promises to provide “content that kids love and parents can trust.” Originally announced as Daily Wire Kids, the streaming service was later renamed Bentkey to differentiate itself from the more politically focused Daily Wire brand.
As with most new streaming services, Bentkey has launched with a relatively modest content library but the promise of future expansion. Included among the launch titles are its two flagship programs, A Wonderful Day with Mabel Maclay and Chip Chilla. A live-action imagining of the classic Snow White fairytale has also been announced, setting the stage to compete directly against Disney’s own live-action adaptation (starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot) set to release next year.
The so called “streaming wars” is cutthroat and unforgiving, as a rapidly increasing number of participants compete for a dwindling share of potential subscribers’ available attention and money. Despite the uphill battle, it is not hard to understand why The Daily Wire has confidence that their platform can grow into a viable and successful service.
As more movies and shows aimed at young viewers seem to focus on sexuality or include undesirable content such as profanity, there has been a schism between parents and Hollywood. The lackluster box office returns on many of the recent Disney films suggest that many parents no longer trust the legacy entertainment groups. With the creation of Bentkey, The Daily Wire is clearly hoping to slip into that void and establish itself as the new hub for children’s entertainment parents can trust.
Yet, there are valid concerns about an entertainment service belonging to a predominantly political media organization and questions as to whether its promises to combat the political and agenda-driven “woke” ideologies of Hollywood merely mean an inverted paradigm that swaps left-wing politics with right-wing politics. Only time will tell, but if the initial launch shows are an indication of the future direction of the streaming service, then it appears the platform will indeed remain apolitical and honor its commitment to provide children with wholesome entertainment that is absent of blatant ideological themes.
