The major problem for so many kids content producers these days is getting their series financed. Many are now at Mipcom, the world’s biggest annual TV confab set to take place from Monday in Cannes, the same French Riviera city that hosts the legendary film festival.
Proceedings kicked off Saturday with MipJunior, the kids & family prolog to Mipcom proper.
In a brief but bracing scene-setting snapshot of the 2026 kids content market which helped kick off MipJunior proceedings, Ampere Analysis Senior Research Manager Cyrine Amor unveiled the plummet in streamer orders over just the last four years, and why.
Plunging Streamer Orders
The Ever Larger Competition
What’s happened? First, kids entertainment is now available across multiple newer platforms. SVOD operators stream 240,000 hours of annual content globally, Netflix alone 4,000 hours, Amor said at the presentation. Yet AVOD offers 140,000 hours a year around the world, just Tubi 24,000. And YouTube has 250 kids channels with over 10 million subs and a 300,000 hour total across videos, shorts and livestream of which 80% are pre-school channels.
Also, Streaming Audiences Are Focusing on Goldie-Oldies
Gen Alpha Prefers Video Games
Compounding matters, it’s not clear Gen Alpha is primarily interested in streaming services, even YouTube. Different need states are associated with distinct primary media services for Gen Z, said Amor, When it comes to four of six of them – “when I’m bored”; “want to be immersed”; “want to discover something new” and “want to take my mind off things” – Gen Z turns to streaming services. Yet Gen Alpha, born in the 2010s and early 202s, streaming services or You Tube are only first choice for two options. When Gen Alphas want to be immersed, or to take its mind of things or is bored, it will turn to video games or game apps.
The Bigger Picture
Here, though MipJunior kicks off blessed by early fall sun, the outlook is cloudy.
