Top kids franchises on Netflix have waned in popularity over time, while good viewing figures for new shows are not always enough to secure series renewals, an industry-first analysis of the streamer’s own data has found.
The Netflix Kids Content Performance Report, an Irish report based on a study of 50,000 lines of viewing data led by independent media consultant Emily Horgan, confirms that the biggest shows in the Netflix kids catalogue tend to be preschool titles featuring intellectual property (IP) that originated on YouTube.
The number one title in the second half of 2023 was CoComelon. It was joined in the top 10 by three other nursery rhyme YouTube-born titles: Lottie Dottie Chicken / Galinha Pintadinha, Little Angel and Bebefinn.
CoComelon Lane, a dialogue-driven extension to the franchise, and Unicorn Academy both achieved “outstanding launches” in the period, with 15.3 million and 13.2 million views in less than two months on the platform respectively.
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But despite recording a “good performance” relative to some of Netflix’s own benchmarks with 26.9 million views over 11 months in 2023, another series, My Dad the Bounty Hunter, was later cancelled.
The pilot report, prepared with the support of Fingal Local Enterprise Office and intended as a resource for industry professionals, is the first such exploration of the performance of kids content using the engagement data that Netflix recently started publishing in six-month batches.
Ms Horgan, who along with her research team is now examining trends seen in the first half of 2024 based on Netflix’s September data release, said engagement with some “elite” franchises – including CoComelon and the second-ranked Gabby’s Dollhouse – has gone into decline.
Her report underlines concerns about streamers’ track record in building IP, with kids shows – similar to those aimed at adults – required to be “a success straight out the gate”.
Ms Horgan’s background is in broadcasting, where the traditional expectation was that a kids show’s popularity would grow over time after its initial launch.
“On streaming, it’s a big hit at the start and then diminishing returns,” she said.
Fears for the pipeline of new kids content across the industry have grown amid a pullback in commissioning at both streamers and broadcasters as well as unfavourable changes to YouTube’s commercial revenue model.
“The kids media model is broken,” Ms Horgan said.
A company like Moonbug, the producer of CoComelon, would not be able to earn a critical mass of revenue on YouTube if it was starting out today, she added.
The kids content landscape tends to be top-heavy, with a handful of outperformers. Its broader difficulties coincide with the phenomenal success of Bluey, the preschool hit co-commissioned by Australian public service broadcaster ABC and BBC Studios and distributed by Disney Plus. In Bluey, the industry has “one of the purest examples of brilliant original IP”, Ms Horgan said.
The Dublin-based consultant, who writes the Kids StreamerSphere newsletter on Substack, plans to update the Netflix report every six months, helping to chart the rise, fall and health of series on the streamer.
Although the volume of data is such that it can be “tricky” to put into context, before the Netflix disclosures any available content viewing figures were typically subject to “hefty paywalls”, meaning there is now more transparency about how titles are faring with audiences.
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