Children's tv and video content

Status / emerging findings

• 62% of under-16s now watch YouTube versus 22% on broadcast TV; BBC alone funds 86% of PSB children's content and 95% of spend, with ITV producing zero children's hours last year and Channel 4 stopped entirely.
• Both Paramount and Sky cite the Young Audiences Content Fund as 'transformational' and 'a force for good'—more impactful than tax credits alone—yet this funding mechanism no longer exists.
• YouTube explicitly classifies itself as a 'distribution platform' not a broadcaster despite CEO stating 'YouTube is the new television' with 50%+ viewing on connected TV; YouTube generates ~$700m annually from children's advertising but provides no upfront creator funding.
• Only 19% of YouTube videos watched by 0-3 year olds are age-appropriate; fast-paced content triggers physiological stress responses in young children, yet independent creators like Maddie Moate fund quality content at personal loss due to YouTube monetisation collapse.
• Co-productions with international partners now fund 23% of BBC children's content; BBC proposes enhanced tax credit (beyond current 26%, matching France's 35%) with cultural criteria, but platform-agnostic funding mechanisms are absent.

Why it matters

UK children have migrated to unregulated, algorithm-driven platforms offering fast-paced, low-quality content, while the BBC—now the only significant funder of British children's television—faces budget pressures; without intervention, there may be no commercially viable children's media sector.

Tone arc

Opened cooperatively with sector voices (creators, academics) identifying systemic crisis; shifted sharply adversarial during YouTube session when MPs challenged the platform's self-classification as 'distribution' rather than broadcaster; returned to cooperative tone with broadcasters (Paramount, Sky, BBC) but with underlying tension over whether government intervention can reverse market collapse.

Key witnesses

Louise Bucknole (Paramount UK and Ireland), Ian France (Sky), Patricia Hidalgo (BBC Director of Children's and Education), Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Children's Laureate), Greg Childs OBE (Children's Media Foundation), Professor Amy Orben (digital mental health researcher), Maddie Moate (TV presenter/YouTuber and independent creator), Dr Garth Graham (YouTube Head of Health)