Walt Disney Co. has secured the exclusive streaming rights to the children’s TV series “CoComelon,” according to people familiar with the matter, taking one of the most popular kids’ programs in the world away from Netflix.
Starting in 2027, Disney+ will have every season of “CoComelon,” a compilation of nursery rhymes for toddlers, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing a deal that hasn’t been announced. The Burbank-based movie, TV and theme-park company will pay tens of millions of dollars annually for the rights, one person said.
“CoComelon” has been one of the most-popular kids’ programs in the world for almost a decade. Its flagship YouTube channel has 193 million subscribers and averages more than 2 billion views a month, according to Social Blade. It was the second-most-watched program on Netflix in 2024, trailing only the “Bridgerton” shows.
The series adds to an already strong lineup of kids’ programming on Disney+, which is home to the most-watched preschool show on streaming, “Bluey,” as well as classic Disney films and TV shows. Disney had three of the most-watched preschool shows in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year with “Bluey,” “Spidey and his Amazing Friends” and “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”
Former advertising executive Jay Jeon created the YouTube channel in 2006 to entertain his child and sold it to U.K.-based Moonbug Entertainment in 2020. Moonbug was later acquired by Candle Media, an independent media firm led by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Moonbug, which declined to comment, will continue to post videos of “CoComelon” on YouTube while Disney+ will be the exclusive paid streaming home.
The popularity of “CoComelon” on Netflix has waned over the last 12 to 18 months. While the show was the fifth most-watched program in all of streaming in 2023, it didn’t appear in the top 10 last year. Viewership has declined by almost 60% over the last couple of years. Netflix will continue to be the home of “CoComelon Lane,” an original series, as well as “Blippi,” another property owned by Moonbug.
Disney has been the biggest brand in kids’ entertainment for a century, producing beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse and the Little Mermaid. But many of the most popular new properties for kids began outside of Hollywood. Bluey, for example, is from the Australian Broadcasting Corp. and BBC Studios.
Disney is placing renewed emphasis on kids’ programming as it competes with Netflix and YouTube, which is the most popular video service in the world, especially with viewers under age 30. Disney+ had 126 million subscribers at the end of March, up 1.4 million from the three previous three months.
In addition to “CoComelon,” Disney is licensing several seasons of “Little Angel” and a couple seasons of “JJ’s Animal Time,” two other Moonbug shows. “Little Angel” will remain available on YouTube, Netflix and Amazon.
Streaming services that once focused primarily on signing up new customers are increasingly occupied with keeping customers for as long as possible. The longer that subscribers stay with a service, the less likely they are to cancel and the more valuable they are to advertisers. Kids’ programming drives a lot of engagement for streaming services. It accounts for about 15% of all viewing on Netflix, the company said last week. Netflix closed 2024 with more than 300 million paid subscribers.
On May 19 the company announced an agreement to begin carrying new and old episodes of the children’s classic “Sesame Street” and also has the hit kids’ show “Gabby’s Dollhouse.”
“CoComelon” will arrive on Disney+ the same year that a movie based on the property will be released in theaters by Universal Pictures.
Shaw writes for Bloomberg.