By: Patricia Hidalgo 

Dramatic shifts in the way kids consume content have led to much debate about the role that public service broadcasting plays in the unprecedented global crisis the children’s television industry is facing. Traditional broadcast channels that once thrived on producing and presenting children’s programming are now struggling to adapt to a landscape dominated by streaming platforms and changing viewer habits. 

At the BBC, the good news is that we have and will remain committed to delivering high-quality, culturally relevant content for young audiences. However, this is not something we can do alone—to put it frankly, public service broadcasters are neither the cause nor the answer to the crisis.

The challenge extends beyond our borders, and we have to be clear about the issue so that we can collectively breathe life into the sector. The children’s TV industry has long been one of the most international and collaborative sectors, with networks like Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network operating globally for decades. 

EU quota requirements have historically driven investments in locally produced children’s content in Europe, fostering a vibrant ecosystem across borders. But the closure of so many linear kids channels (including the recent shutdown of  Europe’s remaining Disney Channels) and a lack of prioritization for children’s content among global streamers have weakened this once-thriving industry.

Streaming platforms with no linear children’s channels have never had an obligation to invest in content for this audience, and they regard kids as a retention audience rather than a driving force for subscriptions. As a result, investment in culturally relevant children’s programming has continued to decline as we have moved into a streaming world. 

This shift leaves public service broadcasters as one of the few remaining champions of local children’s content. In fact, recent analysis suggests that the BBC is the number-one global commissioner of kids programming. Yet one broadcaster alone cannot bear the weight of this responsibility. (Imagine if this was the case for adult TV).

Actress, politician and kids TV presenter Baroness Floella Benjamin has been known to say: “Childhood lasts a lifetime, and children need a balanced media diet that blends global storytelling with content reflecting their own lives and experiences.”

Achieving this requires collective action. Governments, broadcasters and platforms must work together to create a flourishing children’s media ecosystem. Children are the future, and how we educate this generation of kids with the content they consume is everyone’s responsibility.

Every platform that targets children should  invest in and promote a balanced slate that educates and entertains them. This approach would create an ideal mix of local and international content, with each country educating a global generation, while also protecting and promoting their own national values and culture.

Some have suggested that the BBC should simply increase its commissioning budget to address the problem. Of course, a well-funded BBC is needed at the heart of any solution, but that’s not the whole answer—neither here in the UK, nor globally. Public service broadcasters alone cannot and should not have sole responsibility for supporting all of our children’s media needs and the industry that produces the content. 

A healthy and prominent public service broadcaster and commercial competition are both needed to sustain a thriving kids media creative industry that benefits the audience.

The British media landscape needs to be positively incentivized to create content that is engaging, nourishing and culturally relevant for UK children. And then this homegrown children’s content needs to be given significant prominence to make sure it reaches its audience.

We need action urgently—and not just because the children’s industry is in a bad place right now, but because of the knock-on effects. It takes one to two years to bring a new live-action title to our audience, and three to four years for animation. If we don’t act now, both supply and suppliers will dwindle. By 2030, we could be looking at a huge loss for both British children and a valuable creative industry.

There are parallels we can learn from. Last year, independent films produced in the UK were given a tax rebate of 40% because of the significant role this industry plays in British culture and its economic impact. I couldn’t agree more [with that approach], and I do think the same one can be applied to children’s media in the UK. Indeed, I’ve said it many times. At the BBC, we believe that to incentivize and support vital British children’s content, the government should consider targeted changes to the existing animation and children’s tax relief, offering a meaningful percentage uplift (on top of the existing relief) for culturally relevant British content, and in turn encouraging additional investment domestically. This would be an important first step, but still only part of the bigger debate that we must continue having about British children and their media consumption.

This, combined with unity and responsibility, is how we should move forward. The future of children’s media depends on a collective commitment to providing young audiences with diverse, culturally relevant content that educates, entertains and inspires. 

By working collaboratively and embracing incentives, we can ensure that children everywhere have access to media that reflects their lives and helps them understand the world around them as they grow up. This will preserve the cultural identity of nations, while nurturing a global generation together.

Patricia Hidalgo is director of children’s & education at the BBC.