Here's the Data: The Kids Streaming Landscape Has Never Been More Competitive
Welcome to The Kids StreamerSphere, a regular newsletter where we look at the latest news, deals, and performance data for kids content within the context of global streaming. Comments, questions, suggestions? Please hit me up thekidsstreamersphere@ehorgmedia.com.
What a week! Paddy’s Day, Animation Dingle, and the latest edition of the Netflix Kids Content Performance Report. Never has so much copious amounts of Guinness and data flowed in parallel.
This time around the report felt more timely than ever. The Warner M&A situation shifted beneath our feet while we were deep in on writing, which was a reminder of just how much is at stake in kids IP right now, and how fast the landscape can move. There is a lot happening, and the data has a lot to say.
It is hard to believe we are five reports into this project. We would not be here without the ongoing support of a core group of clients who have consistently backed the work. And a sincere thank-you to everyone who has become a paid subscriber to this newsletter. Your support is what keeps the analysis going. If you think your company could benefit from these insights, please get in touch. If you value what we do here, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Now onto the data. Here’s a flavor of the key findings:
The Preschool race has never been tighter.
PAW Patrol is the new #1 in Hours Viewed for H2 2025, driven by its first Netflix US window. That US window effect is something we spotlighted before with Peppa Pig, and we can see it at work once again. But the bigger story is just how competitive the whole Preschool category has become. This used to be dominated by a core set of “Elite Performance Series” (EPS) but as of this report we’ve retired that designation as the field is simply too competitive. Gabby’s Dollhouse holds #1 across the whole of 2025, and new kid on the block Ms. Rachel has climbed from #6 to #4. Sesame Street also landed on Netflix, fighting to find ground amidst all that competition.
Creator-led content is strengthening.
Ms. Rachel’s performance continues to be remarkable. Mark Rober’s CrunchLabs also makes a strong debut this half, and together they tell a clear story: the pipeline from YouTube to Netflix is working.
The Sponge is killing it.
SpongeBob SquarePants is the #1 Comedy animation title on Netflix globally… and that’s without US Netflix distribution. We know the Sponge is tied up with Paramount+ in that market and delivers major value there:
That context is huge in the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery situation, where a valuable animation back catalogue is majorly consolidating. Something the industry is going to be talking about for a long time.
KPop Demon Hunters continues to shine.
The H2 2025 data completes the 2025 picture for KPDH and, importantly, starts to show us the impact Netflix dropping ancillary KPDH content has on the original film. This is going to be key to track during the long wait out for the sequel in 2029.
And finally…
Five editions of this report have produced one consistent conclusion: the last 25 years of kids IP has generated a catalogue so deeply embedded in how families watch that new content is fighting for a very small amount of available headspace. Breaking through is difficult but possible. For anyone taking that swing, great content is not enough. The push behind a launch has to be as strong as the content itself.
The report is available at ehorgmedia.com/netflix-reports. But the best value comes from working together. Clients who reach out to me get preferential pricing, bespoke webinars, tailored debrief sessions and ongoing access to the team. It is in those conversations that the insights tend to do their best work. Get in touch at emily@ehorgmedia.com.
A huge thank-you to trade press and colleagues for your ongoing support with this project. Appetites for the insights were high in the context of the Warner Acquisition. We had shout-outs from Deadline, Screen MDM, TV Kids, What’s on Netflix and Kidscreen.
Another thanks to my two podcast hosts from the Kids Media Club Podcast. Jo and Andy indulged me in chatting through the report for a bonus episode.
The final sincere thank-you goes to those clients, whose support has made five editions of this report possible. We are now three full years into the data, which means the analysis is sharper, the year-on-year comparisons are more meaningful, and the trends are telling a clearer story than ever. That would not exist without the folks who have consistently backed this work, and we are grateful for it. We are so excited to tell you what we learned this time around.