As streaming services chase profitability, kids’ content is king

What's fascinating this is Kids' gramming "CoComelon" and "Bluey" is becoming an important tool in retaining ing customers as the services chase fitability

However, Kids tend to repeat watching shows and movies, and it shows in the data, said Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president of duct strategy and thought leadership at Nielsen (an important development)

Media companies are faced with the competition of YouTube, which Nielsen reports grabs a bigger of ing TV viewership, particularly among younger generations

Cartoon characters from the children's show "Bluey" are displayed during the Brand Licensing Europe event at ExCel, in London, Oct

John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesIn the battle among ing services to capture and keep rs, kids' shows "CoComelon" and "Bluey" are becoming powerful tools to help win the war

Retaining customers has ven to be one of the biggest hurdles in the build-out of ing

On the other hand, When Netflix reported r losses in 2022, it sent a ripple effect through the industry and media companies began leaning into advertising and other models to focus on fitability

Meanwhile, companies Warner Bros, in today's market environment

Discovery and Disney have been vocal the need for quality content to drive r growth

Children's gramming offers a unique value position for the ing equation: it's less expensive and has more longevity than other forms of content. "Kids' content drives a huge amount of engagement because kids watch it over and over and over and over, considering recent developments

They never tire of it," said Kevin Mayer, co-CEO of Candle Media, which owns Moonbug, the distributor of hit kids' shows such as "CoComelon" and "Blippi

Additionally, "Mayer said reducing churn — industry jargon for customer losses — is the most substantial factor in imving ing services' economics, even more so than gaining new rs or generating revenue from those customers, amid market uncertainty

Nevertheless, "If you churn, you lose rs, your top line diminishes, amid market uncertainty

Furthermore, You have to spend marketing dollars to replenish, either to re-market to lost rs or to find new ones," said Mayer

Moreover, However, Kids tend to repeat watching shows and movies, and it shows in the data (noteworthy indeed)

When there was initially only one season of "CoComelon" on Netflix, kids watched the same episodes multiple times, said Brian Fuhrer, senior vice president of duct strategy and thought leadership at Nielsen, in light of current trends

Market analysis shows 154 episodes of animated Australian hit series "Bluey," which s on Disney+, had more than 25 billion minutes viewed in the first half of 2025, according to a Nielsen report released in July, in light of current trends

Additionally, Kids' films in general have been driving both the box office and have been many of the top ed titles this year, according to Nielsen, given current economic conditions

Moreover, Disney's "Moana" is the most ed movie in history and the sequel, "Moana 2," had 7 (fascinating analysis). 2 billion viewing minutes since it was released on Disney+ in March, per Nielsen

Moreover, Sports and hit TV series are often credited with drawing the biggest audiences and driving short-term r additions for ers, but services that feature strong portfolios of children's content offer parents a reason to stick with subscriptions longer term, industry analysts and experts told CNBC

And Canada, those with children use 13

Furthermore, 6 services compared with 8, amid market uncertainty

However, 2 for those without, in this volatile climate

Furthermore, 9 services, down from 11

Additionally, 1 in the prior year, in light of current trends

TiVo's report found that people were dropping ing apps due to lack of usage rather than higher pricing

Meanwhile, Meanwhile, kids being from school during the summer has helped to spike both ing and TV usage in June, according to a recent Nielsen report

The data indicates that strategy for media companies varies when it comes to using children's content as a retention tool, considering recent developments

Disney, Paramount Global and Netflix are among the ing services with deep libraries of kids content

WBD, however, has stepped back from the genre, most notably with its decision to relinquish the ing rights to "Sesame Street. "The new season of the iconic children's show will be released on Netflix later this year, with two more seasons to

Meanwhile, new "Sesame Street" episodes will also be available on PBS KIDS and its YouTube channel

Netflix has reported kids' and family content represents 15% of the company's total viewing

Additionally, Meanwhile, Part of the broader media strategy has also come to mean joining forces with the traditional media industry's biggest competitor — Alphabet's YouTube, in today's market environment

YouTube risingKid Cowboy episodic still, in today's market environment

Courtesy: NickelodeonEven Netflix, the ing juggernaut that up the media industry, is faced with the reality that social media platform YouTube is dominating ing on the TV screen

At the same time, YouTube consistently pulls the highest TV viewership among all ing platforms, according to Nielsen

As of June, YouTube accounted for 12, amid market uncertainty

Additionally, 8% of overall ing on the TV, surpassing Netflix and Disney+, Nielsen reported (fascinating analysis)

In total, ing viewership surpassed broadcast and cable TV. "I would say YouTube is part of everybody's media strategy," said Andy Heyward, a longtime media executive in the kids' television industry and CEO of Kartoon Studios. "More kids are consuming YouTube than anything else (noteworthy indeed), considering recent developments

But there's so much stuff on there that you have be very, very unique to rise above, in today's market environment

Additionally, Moreover, " YouTube strategy used to be an afterthought for many media companies, but that's since changed, according to Alexia Raven, who spearheaded generational re as a former executive at Warner Bros

Discovery and has since co-founded the re and strategy firm Maverix Insights (quite telling), considering recent developments

Furthermore, "If you're not on YouTube, it's you don't exist for kids," Raven said. "That's where the eyeballs are. "In response, traditional media companies are increasingly working "as close partners" with YouTube -- creating and curating YouTube channels with clips from specific content and TV networks, and even creating shows just for the platform, said Katie Kurtz, the global head of youth and learning at YouTube, in today's market environment

Moreover, "I think we certainly know that some partners think of YouTube as the engine of discoverability

What the re reveals is y want to make sure they're meeting users where they are, and so they are on YouTube as a way of connecting with audiences," said Kurtz, considering recent developments

On the other hand, The content Disney duces for YouTube serves to complement its long-form series on Disney+ and fuel deeper engagement with its characters and stories, a Disney spokesperson told CNBC

Paramount credits its library of kids gramming as helping to establish Paramount+ as one of the fastest-growing ing services, according to a spokesperson — much of which comes from cable TV network Nickelodeon

Franchises "Paw Patrol," "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Dora the Explorer" have been particularly successful, amid market uncertainty

Conversely, Still even with that depth in kids' gramming, Paramount earlier this year released the original animated series, "Kid Cowboy," exclusively on YouTube. "We also know that a lot of our partners are not really just building large YouTube channels

Furthermore, This analysis suggests that y are also thinking building a really great next generation of characters, and some of that involves being YouTube first," said Kurtz, calling out "Kid Cowboy" as an example

CoComelon crossoverCoComelon, in today's market environment

Moreover, Courtesy: NetflixMeanwhile, traditional media companies are also looking to YouTube for new forms of content to add to their platform, given current economic conditions

In recent years, content makers who started out on YouTube have signed licensing deals with top ing services, considering recent developments. "We want to be in with the best creatives on the planet, regardless where they come from," said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos during Thursday's earnings call with investors. "CoComelon" in particular stands out

Despite its slowdown in viewership, "CoComelon" managed to nab a new subscription ing with Disney+ this year, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to speak publicly on the private negotiations

Disney outbid Netflix for the rights to the gram beginning in 2027 and Netflix refrained from submitting a higher bid, the people said

Netflix declined to renew its "CoComelon" license due to a decline in viewership, one of the people said

Additionally, Netflix saw the hours spent viewing "CoComelon" decline nearly 60% from early 2023 — when it started releasing engagement data — to late 2024

A Disney spokesperson said that "CoComelon" continues to be a top destination for preschool-aged children, adding the show fits seamlessly into its preschool ecosystem and supports engagement and retention with its young audiences, which is a key driver of platform health

Furthermore, Despite letting go of "CoComelon," Netflix is still in kids content

Moreover, Earlier this year, Netflix added "Ms

Rachel" content, which is gramming from a YouTube creator of toddler and preschooler content of the same name whose channel has nearly 16 million rs

Market analysis shows analysis reveals series has been in Netflix's top 10 most watched "shows" globally for 17 weeks, according to the company. "There are some creators on YouTube Ms

Rachel that are a great fit," Sarandos said on Thursday's call (this bears monitoring)

However, "If you just saw on the engagement report, she's had 53 million views in the first half of 2025 on Netflix (quite telling), in light of current trends

So she ly works on Netflix.