Reflections from the KidScreen Summit 2026

Spending a few days at the KidScreen Summit this year, one thing quickly became clear. The industry knows the rules have changed. What feels less clear is what replaces them.

Across panels and hallway conversations (many including Material’s clients), the same tension surfaced again and again. Companies still organize around shows and movies. Kids do not. They move easily between YouTube, games, short-form clips, music and streaming without thinking about the difference.

Here are a few themes that kept resurfacing throughout the week.

The Competition Isn’t Other Shows — It’s Everything.

In a roundtable with Ashley Maidy (Moonbug Entertainment), John Parker (Patencio Development) and George Wade (Bay Laurel Advisors), the discussion centered on how discovery actually happens now. Kids are not browsing for content the way previous generations did. They are inside feeds where gaming clips, texts from friends, YouTube videos and full-length shows exist side-by-side. From a child’s perspective, these are not different categories — they are just options.

That shift changes how creative teams have to think. The thumbnail, the title and the first few seconds now do real storytelling work. If something does not connect quickly, there is always another option waiting. Several speakers noted that emotional hook now matters more than brand recognition.

A few points that kept coming up:

• YouTube and social feeds are where kids discover new characters

• The first moments determine whether a viewer stays

• Streaming, gaming, creators and messaging compete for the same time

• Passive viewing is harder to sustain than personality-driven or interactive content

• Collaborations that feel forced (a.k.a. “brand slaps”) are spotted immediately by younger audiences

YouTube Has Quietly Become the Starting Line

Multiple creators described YouTube not as a stepping stone, but as the beginning of their development process.

In conversations featuring Susie Jaramillo (Encantos), Javoris Hollingsworth, PhD (Gracie’s Corner), Jeremy Johnston (J House Jr.), Monica Sutton (Circle Time with Ms. Monica) and Hayley Clark (YouTube), speakers kept returning to the same idea. The platform functions as a real-time feedback loop. Characters, pacing, format and even educational (or ‘edutainment’) approach evolve week-to-week based on how kids respond. By the time a property moves to streaming or licensing, there is often already clear evidence of audience interest.

This does not make studios less relevant — it simply shifts their role. Rather than launching IP from scratch, they increasingly help extend something that already has traction.

What people emphasized:

• Creators often build audiences before pitching studios

• YouTube acts as a live testing ground

• Many properties expand only after demand is visible

• Speed and creative control remain important advantages

Engagement Comes from Connection, Not Polish

One of the most candid moments came from Jordan Matter, who has built a massive youth and family following on YouTube. In his keynote, he said, “80% of success on YouTube is substance and 20% is packaging, but people get those flipped — they focus 80% on packaging and only 20% on substance.”

This was a recurring message from major creators throughout the conference —companies often misread what drives success in creator ecosystems, and high polish and cinematic production do not necessarily produce engagement; consistency, authenticity and perceived personality do. Watch time and repeat visits matter more than subscriber counts.

The larger point was simple. Kids are not waiting for premieres. They are checking in with someone they feel connected to.

Common threads across conversations:

• Authenticity tends to outperform polish

• Consistency usually beats perfection — frequent releases outperform infrequent premium drops

• Early drop-off is particularly damaging due to instant alternatives

• Following trends may spike views but rarely builds attachment

• The real competition is not other channels, but whatever the viewer does next

Studios and Creators Are Learning to Meet in the Middle

Creators spoke about autonomy, speed and staying close to their audiences. Studio teams spoke about sustainability and scale. However, the most interesting examples came when those strengths were combined without one side overpowering the other.

Heather Tilert (Netflix) and Scott Lewers (CrunchLabs) discussed Netflix’s partnership with Mark Rober’s CrunchLabs. The series kept the hands-on experimentation format and tone that built his YouTube following, while Netflix expanded its reach to family audiences who might not otherwise encounter his channel and unlocked binge-viewing. It did not feel like YouTube turned into TV. It felt like a property adapting without losing its core.

Several speakers noted that partnerships work when tone and audience trust are preserved. Production cadence often lands somewhere between YouTube frequency and traditional television timelines.

What came through clearly:

• Creators value autonomy, speed and direct audience relationships

• Studios provide scale and sustained engagement

• Successful collaborations preserved creator voice and authenticity

• Trust, communication and creative respect were cited as critical factors

The Shift Away from Overstimulation

When it came to discussions surrounding the values of content, one of the consistent themes was responsibility.

Panels featuring Jonathan Haidt (Author, The Anxious Generation), Joey Clift, Alan Denton, Ravati Dhomse and Alex Hoffman returned repeatedly to the role content plays in children’s emotional and social development. The debate around short-form versus long-form was nuanced, and some argued that short-form is inherently harmful. More often, speakers described different functions. Short-form introduces. Long-form deepens connection.

There was also a noticeable shift away from overstimulation. Several creators talked about slowing pacing, encouraging participation and designing content that spills into offline play.

Recurring themes:

• Emphasis on empathy and social-emotional learning

• Representation and self-recognition as a crucial need in content

• Short-form sparks interest; longer storytelling builds attachment

• Testing ideas in smaller formats before full series commitments

• Demand for caring and emotionally expressive role models

The Strongest Franchises Live Beyond the Screen

Discussions with Erika Quinn (Disney Branded Television), Alexi Wheeler (Wheels in Motion), Edward Galton (CAKE Entertainment) and Lucy Baker (KidsKnowBest) focused heavily on how kids actually engage with properties. Younger Gen Alpha tends to engage through imaginative play. They want to become the character through toys, costumes and games. Older Gen Alpha and tweens engage differently. They look for identity, humor, emotional realism and even moral complexity.

Meghan Maro (Warner Bros. Discovery) and Caitlin Riley (NBCUniversal) pointed to Harry Potter as an example that spans both. Younger audiences play within the fantasy world. Older audiences align themselves with Hogwarts houses, values and friendships. The property works because it grows with the child.

Across licensing and storytelling panels, participation came up more often than viewing.

What surfaced repeatedly:

• Younger kids gravitate toward role-play and aspirational heroism

• Tweens look for identity and emotional nuance

• Kids interact with IP across toys, games, cosplay and live experiences

• Co-viewing and generational sharing meaningfully extend franchise lifespan

• Cross-cultural exposure is broadening audience tastes and openness to unfamiliar worlds

Music Often Starts the Relationship

Music emerged as a core component of kids’ content performance. Jessica Zhao (Disney Branded Television), Fletcher Moules (Netflix Animation) and Daniel Rojas (506 Music) discussed how songs frequently act as the first point of discovery. A child might replay a track dozens of times before ever watching the show it came from.

Frozen remains a clear example of this dynamic, but newer properties such as K-Pop Demon Hunters were described as building music into the creative process from the beginning rather than layering it on later.

Because kids replay songs constantly, the story remains present between viewing moments. For some audiences, listening is the primary connection and the show follows afterward.

Themes that emerged:

• Songs often drive discovery of IP via social platforms

• Music is increasingly developed or incorporated early in production

• Tracks can live independently outside the content

• Studios with music divisions have cross-promotion advantages

• Music creates additional revenue and engagement streams

What This Means for the Future

What stood out most across the week was not a new platform or a new format. It was the acknowledgment that kids are forming attachments differently than they have in the past.

Many of the open questions voiced by studio and brand teams sounded less like distribution problems and more like audience questions:

• How do you build loyalty in an algorithm-driven world?

• When does short-form help versus replace deeper engagement?

• How do you let a franchise mature as your audience does?

• What makes a character feel real to a generation raised on creators?

Those are fundamentally consumer questions, and are likely where the next wave of advantage will come from.