Glance’s Romy Nicolas speaking at MipJunior today
MIPJUNIOR: Research firm Glance has today told delegates here that social media culture, major sporting events and classic ingredients such as music and animals as the three forces shaping children’s content.
Glance international research manager Romy Nicolas presented the findings in a keynote at MipJunior in Cannes today, drawing on official audience measurement data and specialist VoD tracking across key markets.
The session looked at 11 programmes from 12 territories that have resonated with young audiences, alongside upcoming projects pointing to the next big trends. It was organised around three themes: Build for Scrollers, Beyond the Game and Enduring Appeal.
“Children’s screen time is relatively stable as they grow up, but where that time goes changes dramatically,” said Nicolas.
“Smartphones, YouTube and TikTok take a growing share as they get older, and the most successful producers are those borrowing the codes of social media while staying true to the fundamentals children have always loved: music, sport, friendship and animals. Our data shows that the hits of tomorrow sit right at that crossroads.”
Opening with how viewing evolves as children age, Nicolas said average daily viewing time in the UK varies by only 16 minutes across age groups, from two hours 15 minutes among four- to six-year-olds to two hours 31 minutes among 13- to 15-year-olds. The TV set remains the main screen for every age group, but smartphones account for 34% of screen time among 13- to 15-year-olds, compared with 18% among 10- to 12-year-olds and 7% among seven- to nine-year-olds.
Video-sharing platforms dominate across all ages. YouTube takes nearly half of 10- to 12-year-olds’ screen time, while TikTok emerges as its main rival among older children, reaching almost 30% among 16- to 18-year-olds, close behind YouTube.
Those shifts underpin Glance’s Build for Scrollers trend, under which 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 storytelling codes into more traditional distribution environments, while also experimenting with formats themselves and moving into vertical content.
The second trend, Beyond the Game, was framed around the FIFA World Cup, which shaped summer 2026 even among young viewers. In four of the five big European markets, the tournament was the top-performing programme across all genres. The UK recorded the highest children’s viewing market share of any country, at 88.7% of four- to 15-year-olds, or 1.5 million children, for the England vs Argentina semi-final. Co-host the US reached 2.8 million two- to 11-year-olds for the final, its second-best performance after the Super Bowl.
Broadcasters capitalised on the tournament with dedicated programming, Nicolas said, and football stories travelled well beyond it. As well as animated sports-fantasy series, live-action series and unscripted shows performed strongly.
The third trend that the Glance exec shared with MipJunior delegates, Enduring Appeal, showed that classic ingredients continue to drive success, with animation remaining children’s favourite genre. Glance is also seeing a rise in anime-inspired content produced outside Japan, she said. Musical series remain popular, and animals continue to be a very strong character territory, with cats appearing to gain momentum after dogs.
Nicolas concluded that the next generation of TV hits will come from producers who meet children where they watch, while keeping sight of what they love.
