At MipJunior in Cannes, research firm Glance mapped three forces it says are shaping the next wave of children’s content: social media culture, major sporting events, and the classic ingredients kids keep responding to.
Stable screen time, shifting screens
Glance international research manager Romy Nicolas told delegates that children’s total viewing time is far more stable than the device mix suggests. In the UK, average daily viewing varies by only 16 minutes across age groups, from 2 hours 15 minutes among four- to six-year-olds to 2 hours 31 minutes among 13- to 15-year-olds.
Where that time goes changes sharply. Smartphones account for 34% of screen time among 13- to 15-year-olds, compared with 18% for 10- to 12-year-olds and 7% for seven- to nine-year-olds. Video-sharing platforms dominate across all bands: YouTube takes nearly half of 10- to 12-year-olds’ screen time, and TikTok is close behind YouTube among 16- to 18-year-olds at almost 30%.
“Children’s screen time is relatively stable as they grow up, but where that time goes changes dramatically,” Nicolas said.
Build for Scrollers
That shift underpins Glance’s first trend. A growing number of children’s programmes draw on social media culture, storytelling and creators. Platforms are partnering with digital-native talent to bring their audiences and codes into more traditional distribution, while also testing vertical formats themselves.
Beyond the Game
Live sport still cuts through, and the FIFA World Cup shaped summer 2026 even for young viewers. In four of five big European markets, the tournament was the top-performing programme across all genres.
The UK recorded the highest children’s market share of any country: 88.7% of four- to 15-year-olds, or about 1.5 million children, for the England vs Argentina semi-final. Co-host the US reached 2.8 million children aged two to 11 for the final, its second-best kids performance after the Super Bowl.
Enduring Appeal
Glance’s third trend shows the fundamentals are not fading. Animation remains children’s favourite genre, while anime-inspired content produced outside Japan is rising. Musical series stay popular, and animals remain a strong character territory, with cats gaining momentum after dogs.
For media planners and streaming teams, the takeaways are:
- Follow platform share by age band rather than planning against a single children’s screen.
- Live international events are still a reliable reach spike; schedule companion kids formats around them.
- Combine social-native talent and vertical cuts with proven hooks: music, animals, sport and friendship.
For streaming teams, the practical split is not kids versus teens but attention type. Younger children still sit with the TV set; older children split attention across YouTube and TikTok. A commissioning slate that treats those as separate windows – linear/CTV for shared viewing, vertical/social for solo mobile time – can convert stable overall viewing into ownership of more sessions.
The winning brief, Glance argues, sits at the crossroads: meet children where they watch, without abandoning what they have always loved.
Source: C21media
