Cartoon characters from the youngsters’s present “Bluey” are displayed through the Model Licensing Europe occasion at ExCel, in London, Oct. 4, 2023.
John Keeble | Getty Photographs Information | Getty Photographs
Within the battle amongst streaming companies to seize and preserve subscribers, children’ reveals like “CoComelon” and “Bluey” have gotten highly effective instruments to assist win the battle.
Retaining prospects has confirmed to be one of many largest hurdles within the build-out of streaming. When Netflix reported subscriber losses in 2022, it despatched a ripple impact via the business and media firms started leaning into promoting and different enterprise fashions to deal with profitability.
In the meantime, firms like Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have been vocal concerning the want for high quality content material to drive subscriber development. Kids’s programming presents a singular worth proposition for the streaming equation: it is cheaper and has extra longevity than different types of content material.
“Children’ content material drives an enormous quantity of engagement as a result of children watch it again and again and again and again. They by no means tire of it,” stated Kevin Mayer, co-CEO of Candle Media, which owns Moonbug, the distributor of hit children’ reveals corresponding to “CoComelon” and “Blippi.”
Mayer stated decreasing churn — business jargon for buyer losses — is essentially the most substantial consider bettering streaming companies’ economics, much more so than gaining new subscribers or producing income from these prospects.
“If you happen to churn, you lose subscribers, your high line diminishes. You need to spend advertising {dollars} to replenish, both to re-market to misplaced subscribers or to seek out new ones,” stated Mayer.
Children are inclined to repeat watching reveals and films, and it reveals within the knowledge. When there was initially just one season of “CoComelon” on Netflix, children watched the identical episodes a number of instances, stated Brian Fuhrer, senior vice chairman of product technique and thought management at Nielsen.
The 154 episodes of animated Australian hit sequence “Bluey,” which streams on Disney+, had greater than 25 billion minutes seen within the first half of 2025, in line with a Nielsen report launched in July.
Children’ movies usually have been driving each the field workplace and have been lots of the high streamed titles this 12 months, in line with Nielsen. Disney’s “Moana” is essentially the most streamed film in historical past and the sequel, “Moana 2,” had 7.2 billion viewing minutes because it was launched on Disney+ in March, per Nielsen.
Stay sports activities and hit TV sequence are sometimes credited with drawing the most important audiences and driving short-term subscriber additions for streamers, however companies that characteristic robust portfolios of kids’s content material supply dad and mom a purpose to stay with subscriptions long term, business analysts and specialists instructed CNBC.
A fourth-quarter video tendencies report from TiVo discovered that of almost 4,500 survey respondents within the U.S. and Canada, these with youngsters use 13.6 companies in contrast with 8.2 for these with out. Total, the report from the fourth quarter of 2024 discovered that respondents had on common 9.9 companies, down from 11.1 within the prior 12 months. TiVo’s report discovered that folks have been dropping streaming apps on account of lack of utilization quite than increased pricing.
In the meantime, children being house from faculty through the summer time has helped to spike each streaming and TV utilization in June, in line with a latest Nielsen report. Complete TV utilization amongst 6- to 17-year-olds was up 27% in contrast with the prior month, and streaming accounted for 66% of their whole time spent with TV in June.
The technique for media firms varies in the case of utilizing youngsters’s content material as a retention instrument. Disney, Paramount International and Netflix are among the many streaming companies with deep libraries of children content material. WBD, nevertheless, has stepped again from the style, most notably with its resolution to relinquish the streaming rights to “Sesame Road.”
The brand new season of the enduring youngsters’s present will probably be launched on Netflix later this 12 months, with two extra seasons to comply with. In the meantime, new “Sesame Road” episodes may also be obtainable on PBS KIDS and its YouTube channel.
Netflix has reported children’ and household content material represents 15% of the corporate’s whole viewing.
A part of the broader media technique has additionally come to imply becoming a member of forces with the normal media business’s largest competitor — Alphabet‘s YouTube.
YouTube rising
Child Cowboy episodic nonetheless.
Courtesy: Nickelodeon
Even Netflix, the streaming juggernaut that upended the media business, is confronted with the fact that social media platform YouTube is dominating streaming on the TV display.
YouTube persistently pulls the very best TV viewership amongst all streaming platforms, in line with Nielsen. As of June, YouTube accounted for 12.8% of general streaming on the TV, surpassing Netflix and Disney+, Nielsen reported. In whole, streaming viewership surpassed broadcast and cable TV.
“I’d say YouTube is a part of everyone’s media technique,” stated Andy Heyward, a longtime media government within the children’ tv business and CEO of Kartoon Studios. “Extra children are consuming YouTube than anything. However there’s a lot stuff on there that you’ve got be very, very distinctive to rise above.”
YouTube technique was once an afterthought for a lot of media firms, however that is since modified, in line with Alexia Raven, who spearheaded generational analysis as a former government at Warner Bros. Discovery and has since co-founded the analysis and technique agency Maverix Insights.
“If you happen to’re not on YouTube, it is like you do not exist for teenagers,” Raven stated. “That is the place the eyeballs are.”
In response, conventional media firms are more and more working “as shut companions” with YouTube — creating and curating YouTube channels with clips from particular content material and TV networks, and even creating reveals only for the platform, stated Katie Kurtz, the worldwide head of youth and studying at YouTube.
“I believe we actually know that some companions consider YouTube because the engine of discoverability. They need to be certain that they’re assembly customers the place they’re, and so they’re on YouTube as a method of connecting with audiences,” stated Kurtz.
The content material Disney produces for YouTube serves to enrich its long-form sequence on Disney+ and gas deeper engagement with its characters and tales, a Disney spokesperson instructed CNBC.
Paramount credit its library of children programming as serving to to determine Paramount+ as one of many fastest-growing streaming companies, in line with a spokesperson — a lot of which comes from cable TV community Nickelodeon. Franchises like “Paw Patrol,” “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Dora the Explorer” have been notably profitable.
Nonetheless even with that depth in children’ programming, Paramount earlier this 12 months launched the unique animated sequence, “Child Cowboy,” completely on YouTube.
“We additionally know that quite a lot of our companions usually are not actually simply constructing giant YouTube channels. They’re additionally enthusiastic about constructing a extremely nice subsequent era of characters, and a few of that entails being YouTube first,” stated Kurtz, calling out “Child Cowboy” for instance.
CoComelon crossover
CoComelon.
Courtesy: Netflix
In the meantime, conventional media firms are additionally trying to YouTube for brand spanking new types of content material so as to add to their platform. In recent times, content material makers who began out on YouTube have signed licensing offers with high streaming companies.
“We need to be in enterprise with one of the best creatives on the planet, regardless the place they arrive from,” stated Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos throughout Thursday’s earnings name with buyers.
“CoComelon” specifically stands out.
The animated sequence originated on YouTube and nonetheless reaches a lot of its viewers there, however when Netflix acquired a subset of its content material in 2020, it was a lift for Netflix’s viewership.
It has appeared in Nielsen’s high 10 checklist of acquired titles a complete of 179 instances, with 155 consecutive appearances on the rankings. Nonetheless, it was final featured on the checklist in September 2024.
Regardless of its slowdown in viewership, “CoComelon” managed to nab a brand new subscription streaming house with Disney+ this 12 months, in line with individuals acquainted with the matter who declined to talk publicly on the personal negotiations. Disney outbid Netflix for the rights to this system starting in 2027 and Netflix avoided submitting the next bid, the individuals stated. Netflix declined to resume its “CoComelon” license on account of a decline in viewership, one of many individuals stated.
Netflix noticed the hours spent viewing “CoComelon” decline almost 60% from early 2023 — when it began releasing engagement knowledge — to late 2024.
A Disney spokesperson stated that “CoComelon” continues to be a high vacation spot for preschool-aged youngsters, including the present suits seamlessly into its preschool ecosystem and helps engagement and retention with its younger audiences, which is a key driver of platform well being.
Regardless of letting go of “CoComelon,” Netflix continues to be investing in children content material. Earlier this 12 months, Netflix added “Ms. Rachel” content material, which is programming from a YouTube creator of toddler and preschooler content material of the identical title whose channel has almost 16 million subscribers.
The sequence has been in Netflix’s high 10 most watched “reveals” globally for 17 weeks, in line with the corporate.
“There are some creators on YouTube like Ms. Rachel which might be an amazing match,” Sarandos stated on Thursday’s name. “If you happen to simply noticed on the engagement report, she’s had 53 million views within the first half of 2025 on Netflix. So she clearly works on Netflix.”
