Even though streamers don’t commission very much kids content, the genre provides major engagement for SVODs, according to Ampere Analysis. In 2023 and the first half of 2024, global viewing of kids content on Netflix hit 30 billion hours—more than every other genre except crime and thriller—even though the streamer’s 2024 content spend was only around US$1 billion. 

Ampere’s research director Fred Black presented this new data at Kidscreen Summit during a session called “The SVOD Problem: Redefining the relationship between producers and platforms.” He told the audience that while streamers have cut back on commissioning children’s programming, they still rely on it and are turning to non-exclusive acquisition deals to build up a deep catalogue for this audience. Looking at the numbers, Black said 706 kids TV commissions were made worldwide in 2024 (including live action and animation)—down from 737 in 2023. 

But while the volume of kids titles commissioned in the US has fallen, the volume of kids content available there across SVOD, AVOD, broadcast and FAST channels—49,835 hours in December 2024—has been increasing, which makes it difficult for properties to stand out. The biggest growth spurt is in content available on free streaming AVOD services, which grew from 22,500 hours in December 2023 to 28,500 hours in December 2024—a 27% increase. 

Streamers are also increasingly benefiting from having deep kids catalogues that are rich with existing franchises, says Black. In 2024, streamers in the US picked up nearly 4,000 more hours of non-exclusive kids content compared to 2023, at 18,706 hours total. 

SVODs are shifting from kids commissions to non-exclusive content and acquisitions because kids content isn’t a major motivator when it comes to subscriptions. (The main reasons families sign up include reasonable pricing and access to the latest movies.) However, kids titles do a good job of reducing churn because families will stay on a platform if it has their child’s favorite show. 

Other factors at play: Family households in the US have roughly five subscriptions at any one time, and more than 50,000 hours of kids content were already available on US platforms in December 2024—which would take someone 5.7 years to watch. 

For producers and brand owners, the solution to these challenges is to focus less on the exclusive SVOD deals and instead aim to get content everywhere, says Black. “With the vast volume of content available in the marketplace, and an audience that is splintered across the fragmented landscape, content owners embracing non-exclusive distribution—across SVOD, AVOD, FAST, broadcast and social video like YouTube—will give themselves the best chance of finding their audience, regardless of which services each family home has access to, as well as maximizing the potential revenue streams for their content.”