Audiences and Results TV, Video Worldwide

From social-led to classic ingredients: Glance reveals the trends shaping children's TV at MIPJUNIOR 2026

 

Today, the leader in TV and video market intelligence, Glance, presented its MIPJUNIOR 2026 keynote  ‘Next-Gen Viewing: Trends Shaping Children’s Content’ at the Palais des Festivals, Cannes.
 

In the 20-minute session, Glance’s International Research Manager, Romy Nicolas, drew on official audience measurement audience measurement Quantitative study of the frequency of use of media. Find out more data data Digital data Find out more and specialist VOD tracking tracking Activity which aims to measure the profile of a visitor to a website, their browsing path, interests, origin in the network, etc., in order to tailor content to them. Find out more across key markets to reveal how, when and what children are watching. She explored 11 programmes from 12 territories that have struck a chord with young audiences, alongside upcoming projects that hint at the next big trends, organised around three themes: Build for Scrollers, Beyond the Game and Enduring Appeal.

How kids are watching: Build for Scrollers
 

Nicolas opened with the evolution of children’s viewing as they grow up. In the United Kingdom, average average The average is one of the most important statistical indicators for a set of numbers. By default, it is the arithmetic mean, calculated by adding the values in the set and then dividing that sum by the number of values. Find out more daily viewing time varies by only 16 minutes across age groups, from 2 hours 15 minutes among 4 to 6 year-olds to 2 hours 31 minutes among 13 to 15 year-olds. The TV set remains the main screen for every age group, but smartphones gain ground with age, accounting for 34% of screen time among 13 to 15 year-olds, compared with 18% among 10 to 12 year-olds and just 7% among 7 to 9 year-olds.
 
Video-sharing platforms dominate across all ages. YouTube captures 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. 
 
Following these shifts in children’s usage, Build for Scrollers, the first trend outlined by Nicolas, revealed that more and more children’s programmes are inspired by social media culture, storytelling and creators. Platforms are increasingly partnering with digital digital A signal is said to be digital if it can be represented by a series of discrete values that can be coded in binary as either 0 or 1. It is the opposite of analogue signal. Digital broadcasting has become the primary mode for television broadcasting, whether by cable, satellite, or even terrestrial. Find out more -native talent, bringing their audiences and storytelling codes into more traditional distribution distribution This refers to the distribution of a variable; “structure” is also used with this meaning. In statistics, for each x value of a quantitative variable, the distribution function gives the proportion of individuals having a variable value that is less than or equal to x. Find out more environments while also experimenting with formats themselves, and going into verticalisation.

 

When kids are watching: Beyond the Game
 

The session then asked whether major events bring children to the screen, focusing this year on football. Even among young viewers, summer 2026 was shaped by the FIFA World Cup. In four of the five big European markets, the World Cup was the number one performing programme, across all genres. 
 
The UK recorded the highest children’s viewing market share of any country, with 88.7% of 4 to 15 year-olds  tuning in to the England vs Argentina semi-final, or 1.5 million children. Co-host the United States reached 2.8 million 2 to 11 year-olds for the final, second-best performance after the Super Bowl. 
 
These co-viewing moments revealed the second trend, Beyond the Game, global events with local opportunities, as broadcasters capitalised on the tournament with dedicated programming. In addition to animated sports-fantasy series, Nicolas explained that football stories also travelled well beyond the tournament, with live-action series and unscripted shows performing strongly.

What kids are watching: Enduring Appeal
 

The third trend, Enduring Appeal, showed that classic ingredients drive renewed success, with animation remaining children’s favourite genre. In terms of format and visual style, Glance is seeing the rise of anime-inspired content produced outside Japan. Musical series remain popular alongside animals which continue to be a very strong character territory. After dogs, cats appear to also be gaining momentum.
 
Blending audience audience The set of listeners, viewers, or TV viewers in which each individual is equally weighted, regardless of their listening/viewing duration or frequency of contact. Find out more data data Digital data Find out more with international creative inspiration and a variety of examples of success, the session gave attendees a clear picture of how young people's viewing habits are evolving and which stories are cutting through. From creator-led formats and vertical series to football-themed programming and the timeless pull of music and animals, Nicolas highlighted that the next generation of TV hits will come from producers who meet children where they watch, while never losing sight of what they love.
 

Next stop: MIPCOM 2026
 
Glance continues its conference programme at MIPCOM 2026, where Senior-Vice-President, Frédéric Vaulpré, and Head of Research and Client Experience, Candice Alessandra, take to the Grand Auditorium Auditorium A quantitative study for which the interviewees are brought together in the same place to respond simultaneously to identical questions. This approach makes it possible, for example, to test how much they like programmes or music tracks. Find out more stage on Monday 12 October from 09:00 to 09:45am with the keynote ‘Unlocking Audience & Content Dynamics: Who is Watching, What, How and Why?’, bringing the same data-driven lens to content for grown-ups.
 
Glance delivers official ratings for more than 7,000 channels, working with more than 50 data providers and 170 major clients, streaming streaming A technical method of digitally transmitting data to enable the playback of a continuous flow of video and audio material. Unlike terrestrial or satellite TV broadcasting, this technology requires a two-way network (internet) to send periodic requests to the streaming server in order to receive video or audio micro-files. Find out more services and production studios worldwide to turn complex audience data into actionable insights. Its team of experts analyse audience viewing data, for a variety of clients across the globe, using robust methodologies.