Launching the Netflix Kids Content Performance Report

The cat has fully exited the bag, quite unceremoniously in fact. It was kicked there by the press release I recently circulated announcing my new project, the Netflix Kids Content Performance Report. Think this newsletter but on steroids, beefed up massively in terms of depth and analysis. If The Kids StreamerSphere spots the dorsal fins of success in kids media, the Netflix Kids Content Performance Report is all about catching sharks. The cream at the top is easy to spot, but it’s below where the real bulk of the sustenance is when it comes to insights. And it’s not just me saying that—ask

Evan Shapiro

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Content is still king. But data is the bloodline... The user’s voice is the data. They’re telling us what they want. They’re telling us how they behave.

Source: THR

The project covers bi-annual reports, looking specifically at Netflix’s engagement data. It also extends to webinars and tailored analysis. We are breaking down the insights across Preschool, Action Animation, Comedy Animation, Fantasy Animation and New Series. We’re adding a side order of landscape insights. If your company is interested in accessing, please get in touch (info@ehorgmedia.com). The backbone of the outputs has been more than six months in the making, pulling together a phenomenal team of experts across research and data storytelling. And there definitely have been challenges…

Netflix DUMP this data. That’s been my assessment and description from the start. Netflix’s “What We Watched” Engagement Reports are devoid of most context that might help a media professional make more than a fag packet evaluation. You need to go fishing yourself, but worse than that, first you need to make a rod. Things I recommend you consider are:

• Setting the scene with landscape insights that you’ve vetted

• Consolidating performance per show

• Applying genre and sub-genre distinctions

• Figuring out the metric flip flop that happened in the middle of 2023

• Overlaying runtimes, studios, franchises, series, etc, etc, etc, etc

By applying these lenses, and staying razor focused on the various moves and shakes of the Netflix business, you might catch yourself something edible for dinner.

Or instead, you could have it served to you. A detailed look at animated series on Netflix, with top rankings per sub-genre. Insights from the Pilot report are very compelling, and we’re seeing more exciting trends continuing to emerge from the latest round of data. Having been through two rounds of reports, we’re very excited about where the project might take us. Below is a brief overview of what we’re currently looking at.

All of this is overlayed with nuance, clarity, and, most importantly, digestibility. The report is readable, understandable and actionable.

Insights will help where:

• You’re a producer launching something on Netflix and want to understand what content strategies have been seen to work.

• You’re developing something to pitch to Netflix and want to know how it sits with the animated series that do well on the platform.

• You’re a bigger corporate media company and you want to know you’re your own and competitor platforms and IPs are doing.

• You’re in the business of licensing and want to sift for untapped IP that you can have quantifiable confidence in.

• You’re an analyst, journalist or researcher looking for tangible, data-backed insights to help inform a story you are building.

And this is just the start. Netflix have indicated that over time they intend to release more data.

Come 2025, Netflix will no longer be reporting subscribers. Engagement metrics will be what they have in terms of rallying Wall Street, so engagement metrics will be where it’s at. They intend to evolve what they’re already disclosing, and we will be ready to move on it.

Who knows whether this could provoke enhanced disclosures from other streaming platforms, like Disney+ or Amazon Prime?

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So there you go. Many thanks for indulging me as I gushed about my latest project. The press coverage has been ace, it gives me confidence that the industry agrees that this is an opportunity.

I spoke in more depth with Ryan Faugher at the LA Times about how Rome wasn’t built in 28 days and neither is success in kids media. We also covered the pervasiveness of YouTube IP, the responsibility we have to provide kids with quality content, and the fact that fart jokes still work (I have the data to prove it!).

It was also amazing to have the home backing from Laura Slattery at the Irish Times, talking about how the model in kids media is broken. A very relevant conversation that also came up in a webinar this week. This article was obviously the one that caught the eye of the parents. My dad is a dutiful subscriber of this newsletter (Hi Dad!).

Also, a huge thanks to Kidscreen, WorldScreen, C21, Toy World, Licensing.biz, Skwigly, and Nick Cicero with Media Village who dove deep on this from a retail point of view.

Finally, I’d like to thank a few folks who’ve helped me along the way. Local Enterprise Office Fingal for coming on board to help with funding. Paloma Álvarez Suárez who has been in it with me all along the way. Emma Jenkins and Claudia Martin who came on over the summer and took the project to the next level. Jo Challis, my ongoing second set of eagle eyes. Finally, thank you to every friend and colleague I’ve sounded this off. Naturally, I’ve been tracking the full dataset of drinks that are now on me.

The report is available at https://www.ehorgmedia.com/netflix-reports. If your company wants to discuss a bundle or anything further, please drop me a line at info@ehorgmedia.com. If budgets are tight, particularly given the time of year, the Pilot report gives a really great base of the insights.

Watch this space for 2025. For the newsletter, we’ll have Netflix earnings hitting in January, I’m totally dying to see Moana 2’s streaming numbers, and I’m working up something on the Paddington franchise. Happy Holidays everyone.