Your once-a-month update on trends in the kids & YA sectors, with news recaps, interviews, analysis & more.
ScreenMDM Kids/YA
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Our latest digest of the developments in kids/YA content includes MIPJunior updates, a raft of L&M deals, and Emily Horgan’s latest deep dive into what young ones are watching on Netflix.
What's Inside:
- Countdown to Cannes: Lucy Smith talks MIPJunior highlights.
- The Kids on Netflix: Insights from Emily Horgan’s H1 report.
- Familiar Faces: Heavy-hitter kids’ media veterans unveil new venture.
- Markets on the Move: MIP London ends, and CMC and MIP Talks take root at The London Book Fair.
- Renewed, Revived & Acquired: A recap of renewals, reboots, and acquisitions.
- Engagement Universes & Digital Scale: Charting developments in the L&M space and social video expansion.
- Teen Dreams: The teen/YA sector continues to prove lucrative for those savvy enough to earn a share of viewing time for this loyal and fan-driven audience.
Countdown to Cannes
We caught up with Lucy Smith on ScreenMDM Talks for all the updates out of MIPCOM Cannes and MIPJunior. With an agenda that already includes media cartographer Evan Shapiro and Animaj’s Greg Dray, MIPJunior recently revealed a heavy-hitter session with Disney Kids & Family on board as a presenting partner. From First Favorites to Lasting Fandom: Disney’s Approach to Kids & Family Franchises is set for October 11 at noon, with Emily Horgan of The Kids StreamerSphere moderating a powerhouse session with Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family; Alyssa Sapire, head of original programming and strategy at Disney Jr.; Charlie Andrews, EVP for live action; Zack Olin, SVP for development and current series at Disney Television Animation; and Gino Guzzardo, VP for multiplatform content. MIPJunior will also host more than 20 public broadcasters for a closed-door, invitation-only discussion on the kids’ animation sector in an initiative led by VRT Ketnet and Yle. Participants will include the BBC (U.K.), RTP (Portugal), RTS (Switzerland), RTBF (French-speaking Belgium), ZDF (Germany), NRK (Norway), and RUV (Iceland), among others.
The Kids on Netflix
The sixth edition of Emily Horgan’s Netflix Kids Content Performance Report found that in the first half of this year, seven shows exceeded 200 million hours viewed, with PAW Patrol retaining its top spot. In terms of kids’ animation, Gabby’s Dollhouse and Peppa Pig remain in spots two and three after PAW Patrol, followed by Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go!. The report also tracks kids’ live-action and family series, with Henry Danger and The Thundermans in the top spots, underscoring the value of legacy Nickelodeon tween shows on the platform. Overall, legacy titles from Nick scored more than 900 million hours viewed.
“What stands out in H1 is the breadth of what can work on Netflix Kids,” said Horgan. “It remains the biggest global premium shop window for kids’ content, with established franchises, creator-led content, Netflix originals and older catalog shows all finding substantial audiences. But that opportunity comes with intense competition. The top of the ranking is crowded with some of the most established kids IPs in the world, so if you’re bringing something new to Netflix, you need to be very intentional about how you build it, launch it, and support it.”
Familiar Faces
Michael Carroll and Fletcher Williams, along with Adina Pitt and Tara Day, launched the new kids’ entertainment IP outfit Brainchild Entertainment with $100 million in committed capital from Integrated Media Company. The new venture will focus on building the next generation of kids’ franchises across video, consumer products, gaming, publishing, and live experiences. Carroll, co-founder and CEO, was an early team member at WildBrain Spark and Moonbug Entertainment. Williams, co-founder and COO, was also at Moonbug Entertainment before leading acquisitions and strategy at Voldex, a UGC game developer on Roblox. Pitt serves as MD for content, leveraging her experience at Warner Bros. Discovery and Nickelodeon. Day, formerly at Hasbro and Entertainment One, is MD of platforms and leads platform strategy and distribution.
Markets on the Move
The Children’s Media Conference, which has historically taken place in Sheffield in July, is changing its schedule and location in 2027, moving to March 16 and 17 during The London Book Fair (LBF). Also headed to the LBF: MIP Talks, RX’s new two-day conference. MIP London is not returning. The event had an incredible and well-attended kids’ track last year, highlighting the need for a spring event in Europe for this ecosystem. CMC’s move is likely to benefit from that demand.
Renewed, Revived & Acquired
Renewals issued in the last month included Boat Rocker Studios’ Dino Ranch: Island Explorers with CBC, Radio-Canada, and Warner Bros. Discovery on board; HARI’s Mystery Lane as part of a widening “Grizzyverse”; and JAM Media securing a commission from BBC and RTÉ for a second season of 52 episodes of BeddyByes. Mattel is set to release Thomas & Friends: Railway Stories in early 2027, giving the storied IP a new look and feel. In the four-quadrant space, Disney+ is bringing back Darkwing Duck, reviving the ’90s franchise with Sean Tretta and Borja Peña Gorostegui. In other franchise expansion news, CBBC launched Strictly Pro Dance Off, featuring the professional dancers from Strictly Come Dancing delivering interactive dance tutorials; and Tulipop unveiled Tulipop: Island Adventures, a new preschool series for its flagship brand.
In acquisitions news, the biggest headline came from Disney Kids & Family, which scored a global pact with The Pokémon Company International. With the deal, Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, a new stop-motion series created by Aardman, lands on Disney+ next year. The deal also includes the classic Pokémon the Series: The Beginning. Mog’s Bad Thing, a hand-drawn animated special based on Judith Kerr’s book series, has secured TV presales and film distribution deals for Serious Kids. The CBeebies series Monster Makes, produced by Terrific Television, was acquired by ABC in Australia through a deal with 8 Lions Entertainment. Ben’s World, Fauna Entertainment’s original music series for kids that first launched on YouTube, landed on Gulli Africa. A selection of content from ChuChu TV, a YouTube-first preschool brand, is headed to Netflix globally through a deal secured by Cookbook Media.
Engagement Universes & Digital Scale
A global licensing alliance between BBC Studios and Mattel brings Bluey to products for five of the toy giant’s franchises: Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Polly Pocket, and UNO. Available beginning this fall, the collection will feature Bluey characters across Little People figures and playsets, Barbie dolls and accessories, Polly Pocket compact playsets, Hot Wheels vehicles, and UNO card games. Retail Monster UK has been appointed as the licensing agent and retail representation partner for Coolabi Group’s Warrior Cats in the U.K. and Ireland. Tencent Video and animation studio Original Force are adapting the long-running children’s fantasy book series, with Disney+ and Disney Channel on board globally. Blue Ant Media enlisted Penguin Random House Children’s Licensing in the U.K. and Random House Kids in the U.S. as publishing partners on BeddyByes, with Moose Toys as the toy partner. Crocs landed its first-ever collaboration with Yu‑Gi‑Oh!, with four footwear styles inspired by characters from the beloved anime series now available. DeAPlaneta Entertainment sealed deals with FABA and Tappi for new audio experiences around its hit preschool series Milo. Ahead of the launch of its new preschool series MaeBee on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer, Karrot Entertainment launched a new commercial division to drive L&M and distribution opportunities for the brand and its other original properties.
On the digital media front, Chronicle Media has been enlisted to manage the YouTube channels for the classic British kids’ brand The Wombles as the heritage IP gears up for a relaunch. Like Nastya, the YouTube kids’ channel that has more than 450 million subscribers across 25 channels in 22 languages, has entered into a content and development agreement with Disney. WildBrain’s new CG-animated series Strawberry Shortcake’s Bake Shop premieres its first two episodes on the WildBrain Network on YouTube on October 16, with the full 26-episode season rolling out over the following year.
Teen Dreams
French animation outfit Dandelooo is expanding into the teen and YA animation space, unveiling two original comedy series. Great Island Productions in Ireland is moving into the YA space, optioning the adaptation rights to the best-selling fantasy novel Her Hidden Fire by Clíodhna O’Sullivan. Arriving on Prime Video across Latin America next month, Mírame Así, el camino de Noa, a YA music romance series, is being rolled out internationally by Sipur Studios. Sports is an emerging opportunity for those in the teen/YA space: fans under the age of 18 are seven times more likely to say they’re watching more sports on TV than they were a year ago—that’s more than double the ratio seen among fans overall, according to Hub Entertainment Research.
Missed the last ScreenMDM Kids/YA Digest? You can see it here.
