Disney’s 2016 animated family film Moana was the most-streamed movie of 2023 and sequel Moana 2 last month had a blockbuster opening box office weekend. YouTube kids video sensation Ms. Rachel was among the platform’s most-watched channels on CTV in 2024 and is poised to be the top new toy license after the holiday season. Children’s programs CocoMelon and Peppa Pig topped Netflix’s most-watched acquired TV shows in the first half of the year. And toy brand Mattel this year launched its own free streaming channels with Barbie and Hot Wheels.
This year kids and family content has been on the radar for many streaming platforms, where it’s becoming a strategic asset with the potential to both drive viewership and engagement and reduce churn. And for those with ad-supported offerings, co-viewing of family programming is shown to aid attention, helping to bolster brand affinity and boost ads engagement as younger members of the household spur conversation.
While global production of original children’s titles has slowed, several streamers – both paid subscription and free ad-supported or FAST services – are expanding the category in their respective libraries through acquired or licensed content. Amazon currently leads the pack in terms of distributing the largest proportion of available kids programming globally, although quantity isn’t everything. And in a busy content acquisition market, one firm sees those with strong existing IP and good ideas as best positioned.
Here’s a look at some of the happenings, drivers, benefits and current status of streamers’ focus on kids and family programming over the past year and ahead.
Children help reduce churn as kids content drives viewership
A September study from Ampere Analysis showed households with children are less at risk of churning from an SVOD service than those without.
With churn an industry-wide issue, the results represent one reason streamers could be wise to offer programming both parents and kids can enjoy, and related viewership is part of the impetus for streamers scooping up children’s titles.
For subscription streaming specifically, Ampere found the average percentage of OTT subscribers at risk for churning is 35% among households without children, compared to 28% for households with children. The trend also holds for free ad-supported TV options, where Ampere data shared with StreamTV Insider shows 45% of those in households without children are risk for churn from free TV services, compared to 39% for those with children.
Olivia Dean, research manager at Ampere Analysis, told StreamTV Insider that the reason these households are less likely to churn is because children & family content makes up a large percentage of viewing activity on SVOD platforms.
For example, Ampere data shared with STV Insider shows Children & Family content was the second-most watched category on Netflix in the U.S. in 2023 by hours. The category garnered 13.8 billion viewing hours and accounted for 15% of Netflix’s total viewing globally last year. It was second only to the Crime & Thriller category (18.9 billion hours) and ahead of Comedy (13.2 billion hours).
“This makes streaming services an important part of entertaining children in the home, in addition to parents’ own amusement, which means that people with children are less likely to cancel than those without as they are enjoying this ‘extra benefit’,” Dean noted.
Separately, BB Media in December released a comparative analysis of Netflix and Disney+ in Latin America, determining kids content subscription strategies play a crucial role for the two platforms, although the reason to subscribe differs. For Disney+, family-oriented programming is the main reason to subscribe, whereas Netflix users instead see the category as one of several factors.
The study emphasized that kids content “drives family choices and influences platform loyalty across both services.” For example, both platforms show high engagement with kids content, with the vast majority of the services’ viewers in Latin America tuning into children’s content at least several times a week.
“Kids content continues to be a central driver of subscriptions for both platforms, each using different tactics to appeal to family audiences. Disney+ is widely viewed as a leader in kids’ content, boasting an extensive catalog even post-Star+ merger,” wrote BB Media analyst Juliana Tartara in the analysis. “Conversely, Netflix, though it offers fewer titles in this category [in Latin America], delivers high functionality in its kids’ profiles, with families engaging frequently with its kids’ programming. To retain family audiences, both platforms must continuously adapt to meet the needs of this essential user base.”
Others have been building out content discovery features with kids appeal – such as Paramount+ using generative AI to populate content collection hubs for older kids based on programming themes that resonate with children age 6-13.
Originals slowdown means advantage for existing IP
Despite a decline in original productions, several SVODs and free ad-supported streaming services are expanding the amount of children’s content in the libraries through acquistions and licensing.
Ampere sees opportunity for those that can fund children’s titles in a busy acquisition market and for owners of beloved and recognizable IP, as many programs lean on renewals based on existing ideas. And licensed titles of popular kids shows are already performing well on major platforms.
Per Ampere, titles in the Children & Family category were the third most-affected by the worldwide slowdown in original commissions between 2022 and 2023, during which the number of titles announced fell by 15% globally.
Original VOD children’s titles declined 18% between 2022 and 2023, but non-original or acquired titles available to stream grew by 4% in the same period.
“Those who can find independent funding, especially for titles based on existing intellectual property with reliable audience appeal, will have an advantage in a busy acquisitions market,” said Dean in a statement.
In terms of appeal of existing IP, the report noted that 50% of all children’s titles announced in the first half of 2024 were renewals.
Licensed popular children’s programming drove engagement for Netflix in the first half of the year.
Based on its 1H 2024 data dump, Variety reported that the No. 1 licensed TV show on the SVOD for the first six months of the year was preschool-aged series CoComelon, generating an aggregate of 124.5 million views, followed by British animated children’s series Peppa Pig in the No. 2 spot, which had 117.4 million views over six seasons. And three of Netflix’s top 10 movies for the first half of 2024 were licensed animated family films, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie at 80 million views, Minions at 73 million views and The Baby Boss at 64 million.
Not to be left out of the mix, creators of kids content on user-generated video giant YouTube also drove viewership on the platform in 2024.
Viewers globally streamed more than 1 billion hours daily of YouTube content on TVs in 2024, the company announced this week. And kids content is contributing, as the December disclosure noted families continued to watch YouTube together on CTV this year, where the video platform said the channel of popular kids content star Ms. Rachel “had one of the highest watchtimes on TVs across YouTube channels in the last year.”
Prime Video leads for globally distributing children’s streaming programming
While Disney is probably best-known for and the name most synonymous with kids and family programming, it may surprise some that it doesn’t have the largest global children’s SVOD content library – a crown that goes to Amazon Prime Video.
According to Gracenote’s State of Play report, 11.6% of the programs distributed by global SVOD services fall within the children’s category.
Among the five global SVOD providers tracked in the Gracenote report - Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+ - Disney did, perhaps unsurprisingly, has a much higher proportion of children’s and animated titles, distributing 153% more shows and movies within the children genre than average across the five global providers.
Prime Video, meanwhile, distributes the greatest amount of content, but in terms of categories, offers proportionally less children’s and animated content than others, per Gracenote.
Although less of its catalog mix is made up of children’s content, Prime Video distributes the most streaming programming in this category (over 50% of that available to global SVOD audiences), more of which is available to audiences outside of the U.S. That’s compared to Disney+, which holds the lead for distributing the largest share (about 38%) of available children’s programming to U.S. streaming audiences. On an individual episode-level globally, Netflix offers more children’s programs than Disney, per Gracenote.
Busy market for acquired children & family titles, AVODs boost library volume
Even though it’s already got a large library, Prime Video has been working to add more children and family content to the mix. Prime Video was among top acquirers of titles in the category during the month of September 2024. And since September 2023 grew its children & family title count in the U.S. by 57% year over year to reach 2,911 as of the end of Q3, according to Ampere data shared with STV Insider.
Per Ampere, NBCUniversal’s Peacock added the most non-original kids titles in September for its AVOD service with 707 (Ampere separated out Peacock SVOD, which added an additional 50 titles that month). Prime Video was next, adding 445 non-original kids and family titles.
SVODs aren’t the only services looking to acquire children’s titles and expand catalogs. Alongside Prime Video, several FAST and AVOD services ranked among the top acquirers of licensed children’s programs by titles during the month.
Overall, free streaming AVOD and BVOD (broadcast video on-demand) platforms added the highest volume of non-original children’s titles to their catalogs. September saw 1,946 non-original kids and family titles added across free AVOD/BVOD services and 815 newly added to SVODs.
A handful of leading free streaming or FAST and AVOD platforms each added more than 100 acquired kids and family titles in September, including Paramount’s Pluto TV (added 368 non-original children titles), Roku (233 titles), Fox’s Tubi (147 titles), Dish’s Sling Freestream (137) and Plex (122). For those curious, Netflix – which already has a more robust library - was much farther down on the list, adding 14 new acquired family and kids titles that month.
Despite a 2023 slowdown in commissioning new original kids content, platforms - particularly BVOD/AVOD - have been increasing their number of titles in the category overall in the U.S. from September 2023 to September 2024 last based on Ampere data.
According to the firm, the total number of children and family titles (both original and non-original) available on AVOD/BVOD grew from a little more than 16,000 in September 2023 to 22,185 distinct titles available across platforms a year later. Overall, SVOD grew from 11,640 to 13,195 children and family titles over the same period.
As for which platform has the largest kids and family library by individual title volume, Tubi is by and far the leader at 6,977 titles as of September, up 10% yoy according to Ampere. It’s followed by Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV, Roku, Plex, Amazon’s Freevee (RIP), Netflix, Disney+ and Peacock.
Some have held steady at the title volume of kids and family programming on their platform – such as Netflix, which at a total of 1,737 as of September 2024 remained flat for number of titles compared to the year prior. Others, however, added content at a fast pace, most notably Pluto TV, which grew the category 211% yoy to reach 2,762 titles. And Roku increased titles in the children and family category by 40% since September 2023 to reach 2,528. NBCU’s Peacock SVOD was up 27% yoy to over 1,500 titles.
Disney+, meanwhile, grew its number of children and family titles by 9% yoy for a total of 1,728 as of the end of Q3, per Ampere. Paramount+ was notable in that it was one of the few platforms that decreased the number of titles in the category, dropping 14% yoy to 680 as of September 2024. Titles in the children & family library for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max grew 8% yoy, but at 629, is smaller for the category by volume among other leading major SVODs mentioned.
Volume isn’t everything
Of course, volume isn’t everything. Disney – perhaps the brand and media company most known-for and synonymous with family and children’s programming - doesn’t have the largest kids content library. But as mentioned, beloved and well-known IP and franchises are key and Disney overrepresents in terms of proportion of shows and movies its library offers in the children’s content category.
The power of Disney was most recently evidenced by the 2016 original film Moana, which recently surpassed 1 billion hours streamed on Disney+. While marking success when it first debuted, the movie wasn’t an absolute blockbuster in theaters but found a long-tail following as viewers streamed at home in recent years. Per Nielsen, Moana ranked as “the most-streamed movie of 2023 on any platform in the U.S.,” Disney CEO Bob Iger disclosed during the company’s most recent quarterly earnings release. And that pent up streaming viewership catapulted the release of the Moana 2 sequel to help break box office records when it premiered over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Again, Ampere's Dean emphasized that in the current market, “those with strong ideas, or existing IP are in a good position.” And services increasingly don’t have an exclusive grip on children and family titles.
By way of example, the researcher pointed to a recent collaboration between animation studio Ardman and Mattel to co-develop a stop-motion animated TV series Pingu based on the toy giant’s young penguin character, which Dean believes “will undoubtedly sell well across platforms.”
In terms of leaning on existing IP, Mattel is an endemic kids brand that this year leaned into streaming not just via advertising but content itself. In addition to the planned series, that includes the launch of its own FAST channel “Barbie and Friends,” followed by the debut of a “Hot Wheels Action” channel in September – the second of three to go live on Samsung TV Plus as part of the FAST’s continued effort to broaden its own selection of kids programming.
And while it’s got an arsenal of existing IP, Disney isn’t above licensing popular children’s content. Gracenote’s State of Play showed that for the first week in January and June hit kids series Bluey on Disney+ ranked second for top 10 U.S. licensed streaming titles by minutes viewed.
Even though Ampere separates out SVOD and free AVOD platforms, most SVODs – including Netflix and Prime Video and Disney+ have also incorporated ads plans into their streaming offering.
There’s opportunity and benefit for brands that advertise around or align with kids and family programming as well, where co-viewing among families is often involved, which in turn can mean engagement for brands and revenue for streaming platforms.
Co-viewing family content strengthens ad engagement
Kids might not, in a traditional sense, be known for purchasing power but their influence on household viewing choices, paired with a natural tendency to converse and inquire, means the content category provides an opportunity to connect not only to the programming but with brands and ads served around it.
A study over the summer commissioned by AVOD streamer Future Today showed boosts in ad engagement and brand trust around kids and family programming, as co-viewing with households’ younger members helps drive parent attention and engagement with ads compared to solo viewing.
Future Today has stake in the game for family content with its HappyKids app, for which the study focused on. HappyKids touts a library of more than 110,000 kid-friendly titles, reaching 50 million-plus users.
The results speak to engagement with kids content, with 62% reporting viewing kids content via streaming services and apps “a few times a day.” And it found that found a whopping 91% of parents that watch HappyKids believe brands that advertise on kids and family content are more trustworthy than those advertising around other types of content.
In an interview with StreamTV Insider, Future Today co-founder Vikrant Mathur described anecdotally how ad breaks tend to be different when parents are sitting down with kids to watch TV shows or movies versus solo or adult-only TV time.
When watching by themselves or other adults, commercials often mean a bathroom, snack or phone break. But when kids are in the mix, the content on screen – including ads – becomes more of a talking point. Kids often ask questions, have opinions or otherwise engage with what they’re seeing on screen, leading to conversations with parents that ultimately help to further solidify brand awareness and recall.
It's not just something Mathur saw with his own family viewing experience, but one supported by the study results.
Most notable is that 92% of parents and 87% of kids were found to be net engaged when adult-focused ads appear during co-viewing around kids content.
While Mathur’s instinct was that other families were having the same experience, the robust response was a bit surprising, and to him, one of the most impactful metrics to see.
“I thought that it would be high, but I just did not think that it would be so high,” he commented.
For Future Today, part of the programming strategy direction it’s taking is not only to boost lineups with children’s content that’s made just for kids, but titles that can appeal to the family at large.
“We’re saying it’s great to have all this content that kids can enjoy by themselves, but can we start to create those meaningful connections and bonds within the household by really providing content that’s premium, family-friendly, made for television, very high-quality long-form, that not only entertains, but perhaps even educates,” Mathur said.
Pester power
Beyond connecting over content, kids also play into so-called “pester power,” where results found around 9 in 10 children discuss ads they’ve seen, while 92% at least sometimes ask to buy items from an ad they’ve seen.
Asked what they do when they see an ad running against family content with kids on the AVOD platform, 54% of adult respondents said they discuss the product with friends, family and peers, 45% purchase the product, 37% said it drives an in-store visit to find the product, and 38% they look up the product for more information.
Advertisers may also like kids content because the family-friendly nature tends to lend itself to a brand safe environment. It’s not right for all types of advertisers (a beer commercial in the middle of Blippi might not make for the best impression), but Mathur pointed to certain verticals that while not endemic, are a particularly good fit for kids programming, such as restaurants and travel brands. The study highlighted this as over a third of families in the U.S. dine out 1-2 times per week and 65% said they’re looking to take a vacation in the next six months.
Parents might hold the wallet, but Mathur described how older children often have a decent amount of input when it comes to decisions on family activities like where to eat out or travel for vacation, citing success with campaigns in non-endemic advertising verticals like QSR.
And the study found more than half of parents are most comfortable co-viewing ads with children related to each category of retail (56%), restaurants and food (55%) and travel (54%).
“Families are talking about brands they see while consuming content, which leads to high purchase power within the family unit,” added Jennifer D’Alessandro, head of Ad Sales and Marketing at Future Today, in a statement.
While advertising around children’s programming has its own considerations and hurdles, such as regulatory constraints and potentially the need for new methodologies, Mathur cited contextual ad targeting methods based on content as one potential solution.
With plenty of benefits to be had, streamers may do well to appeal to households with younger members through expanded children and family programming options. After all, it’s for the kids.
Article updated to correct the spelling of Future Today co-founder Vikrant Mathur's last name on second reference throughout.