Linear ratings for kids television have cratered over the last decade and changed the programming landscape completely. Ratings for Nickelodeon plummeted 86% from 2016 to 2023, while the Disney Channel fell 90% in the same period, according to Nielsen ratings. Instead, viewers aged 2-17 accounted for nearly 30% of YouTube’s viewership in July, according to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge report.
The carefully curated programming blocks of the past have also been upended by streaming, a point-and-click system that requires parents and children to know exactly what they want to watch. This, coupled with the rise of creator-driven YouTube shows that aren’t easily replicated at the studio level, has disrupted decades of knowhow around developing and programming TV shows for children, upending the entire playing field.
Put simply: Kids are not watching linear TV.