Kids TV orders halved as streamers lean on old favourites
Subscription streamers are ordering less than half as many new children's shows as they did four years ago.
First-run orders for kids TV on SVOD services, meaning paid subscription streamers, fell from 196 in the 12 months to the first half of 2022 to 88 in the 12 months to the first half of 2026. That is a small recovery, up 22% from 72 on the 2025 comparative measure, according to figures presented in Cannes.
The snapshot came from Cyrine Amor, senior research manager at Ampere Analysis, speaking on Saturday at MipJunior in Cannes. MipJunior is the kids and family prologue to Mipcom, described by organisers as the world's showcase for kids programming. Mipcom, described as the world's biggest annual TV market, was due to follow from Monday, 12-15 October at the Palais des Festivals, according to Mipcom.
Public broadcasters are now doing the heaviest lifting on new orders. Public service broadcasters including the BBC and Germany's ARD made 371 first-run commissions for kids content, meaning brand-new shows ordered for first showing, in the 12 months to the first half of 2026. That made them the biggest source of such orders, ahead of the streamers, as reported by Variety.
Library age was another theme. The share of hours counted as new, meaning first released in the previous five years, fell on major subscription platforms between July 2022 and July 2024. On Amazon Prime Video it dropped from 22% to 11%, on Disney from 23% to 13%, and on Netflix from 48% to 36%. Older shows keep working hard. Long-tail viewing, meaning catalogue titles watched steadily over time rather than new hits, accounts for 90% of views and 75% of titles on streaming services, according to Ampere Analysis' PlumResearch.
The sheer volume of choice is vast. SVOD operators stream 240,000 hours of content a year globally, including 4,000 hours on Netflix. Free ad-supported services, known as AVOD, offer 140,000 hours a year globally, including 24,000 hours on Tubi alone. YouTube is larger still for kids, with 250 kids channels each holding more than 10 million subscribers and 300,000 hours of kids content across videos, shorts and livestreams, of which 80% was described as pre-school channels.
For children themselves, television faces a rival in play. For Gen Alpha, video games or game apps are the first choice when bored, seeking immersion or wanting to take their mind off things, with streaming services or YouTube the first choice for only two need states.
For families, this means the next favourite may be an old episode rather than a new launch, and the team behind a new series faces fewer slots on subscription platforms.
