Study on kids’ streaming data shows the power of YouTube
Study on kids’ streaming data shows the power of YouTube
‘Ms. Rachel’ and ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’ are dominating among kids, and their presence on YouTube as well as subscription streamers are a big reason why.
There’s a touch of the new, as well as a taste of the familiar, when looking at Luminate’s new data on what kids are streaming most these days. The numbers show that while kids are flocking to a brand-new series featuring a YouTube star, they’re also gravitating to a series featuring one of the oldest cartoon icons of them all. Luminate recently released the results of a study showing what kids are watching the most so far in 2025, and above all, the data demonstrates the power of YouTube in getting younger audiences engaged.
Key Details:
- Newcomer on the scene: “Ms. Rachel” has been streamed for 2.6 billion minutes on Netflix and YouTube so far this year.
- The House of Mouse: “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on YouTube and Disney+ has a strong presence in the top 10.
- Not singing the blues: “Bluey,” which also streams on Disney+, is making a strong start to the year as well.
Luminate’s data shows that among subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, Netflix and Disney+ are attracting younger viewers at a pace others can’t keep up with. Every show in the top 10 most-watched kids’ TV shows of 2025 is either streaming on Netflix or Disney+.
“Ms. Rachel” is at the top of the list, with 2.6 billion minutes watched across just four episodes when combining the audience of the series on YouTube and Netflix. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” Season 1 is close behind, also having been streamed for 2.6 billion minutes thus far in 2025. Three other seasons of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” are also in the Luminate top 10.
Click on chart to expand.
Both “Ms. Rachel” and “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” stream on YouTube for free, as well as being available on SVOD services. This clearly expands the audience of the two shows, but it also gives customers an incentive to try signing up for these streaming services to see what similar programming is available. It could be especially advantageous for Disney+, which is launching a new “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+” series in August.
“Ms. Rachel” will be back with new episodes, as well. A second group will come to Netflix sometime this year, and the first four attracted 15 million views each on average. The show is copying a strategy first used by “Cocomelon,” in that it began life as short-form episodes on a YouTube channel before being repackaged by Netflix as longer-form episodes.
Survey after survey has shown that younger viewers are using YouTube, TikTok, and other social video platforms to watch TV just as much — or more — as they use subscription streaming services. With that being the case, streamers that can leverage the popularity of YouTube will have a leg up on the competition as the streaming marketplace continues to consolidate in the coming years.
As of now, Disney+ and Netflix seem well-positioned to enter that future. Disney+ also carries “Bluey,” which was the No. 1 streaming series of 2024 according to Nielsen, and Netflix has “Cocomelon” in its archives, both of which also stream free on YouTube. The ability to leverage free streamers like YouTube to drive more subscriptions will be key for both Netflix and Disney+ as they go forward, and they’ve already got strong collections of intellectual property to help them in that regard.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”