Serious Kids’ Genevieve Dexter on Surviving Amid Uncertainty

There is an air of uncertainty around the kids’ industry at the moment. How to contend with a downward trend in commissioning and a fragmented market that makes it hard for children to even find content to watch is a problem everyone is facing. But as Genevieve Dexter, CEO and founder of Serious Kids, tells TV Kids, with disruption also comes opportunity. In this interview, she offers up her insights into the current trends shaping the industry, her acquisition strategy and more.

TV KIDS: We all heard the slogan “survive till ’25” over and over again, leading up to last year. 2025 has come and gone, and the kids’ industry is still very much in a period of transition. What significant developments throughout last year impacted your business the most?
DEXTER: Obviously, there were some well-known companies that went into liquidation last year, and that’s always sad and frightening at the same time. It’s like you’re losing some friends, and my heart goes out to them. From our perspective, the big change was that the BBC was not renewing licenses. We were hoping that they would, and it didn’t happen. Quite a few second seasons were canceled, and that’s partly due to the withdrawal of Sky. For Happy Town and The Ghastly Ghoul, the follow-on commissions are in the balance. Paramount and Warner Bros. seem to be basically in paralysis, as does ARD. Netflix, Apple and Amazon are pulling up the drawbridge. However, we do now have our own Amazon portal, so we are able to publish directly, which, with certain titles, is proving very successful. That’s a nice regular income. And finally, a big shoutout to RAI, ZDF and RTVE, who’ve been wonderful clients in 2025. It’s not all bad, but everyone is just buying less. The new mantra is “exist in ’26.”

TV KIDS: How do you see those shifts affecting your business in 2026?
DEXTER: I think they continue. They haven’t gone away. They’re not unique to 2025. We have other BBC licenses coming up for renewal this year, and we don’t know whether that’s going to happen. But at the same time, they’re doubling down on IPs that are performing well, some of which we represent, like Operation Ouch!, delivering season 14. But we have definitely shifted our emphasis for acquisitions onto what we consider to be sustainable finance models that are the most likely to produce a season two because in distribution, production, everything, it’s all about series two, three, four, because otherwise it’s just like waves on the beach and the effort required to launch new titles compared to following on to sequels and spin-offs is huge. We are also seeing major markets all but disappear, as China did, so it’s hard. You can’t project against buyers and territories with the certainty that you had before. So, it’s still pretty tough.

TV KIDS: What growth opportunities are you pursuing this year?
DEXTER: This year, we’ve acquired eight new titles, which is quite a significant shift for us. We were buying fewer titles and then really working them through all of the markets, and now we’re acquiring more but in much more diverse areas. We’ve acquired Claudy, Høj, Mog’s Bad Thing, My Life and another five. They’re very well spaced in terms of age target, format and delivery schedules. There’s animated comedy, drama, documentary, mixed media and holiday specials in the mix. We are really trying to listen to what our buyers want and to understand what is scarce in the market in order to reduce the competition. Buyers want holiday specials for sure, live-action drama, bridge animated comedy and preschool live action. Other opportunities are thrown up by the exciting news that three of our series, Team Nuggets, Flix and The Unreal, are delivering season two/three this year, giving us big opportunities in France, where The Unreal season one is airing, and in Germany and Spain, where Team Nuggets season one made its debut last year. So, we actually have high hopes for ’26, but maybe I’m just an optimist!

TV KIDS: Kids today have so many options for entertainment beyond television. It can be hard to even get an IP in front of them, let alone get them to watch it. What is Serious Kids’ current approach to extending brand awareness and making sure those titles in your catalog are actually getting in front of kids?
DEXTER: That’s a tricky one for a distributor. We do produce as well, but largely we’re dealing with third-party content, so we’re oriented to holding out for the most significant deals with the major broadcasters, as opposed to scattering everything everywhere. Although kids do want to be able to engage with the brand in many ways and they expect to see it everywhere, they don’t understand exclusive VOD windows, nor should they. There does come a point when a merchandising program needs more exposure, but in the past, we contracted a large raft of AVOD deals for that purpose. The revenues have been really disappointing, and if the revenues are disappointing, that means the eyeballs are not there. So now, we don’t really want to do those deals unless there is a good projection or minimum guarantee, and you can see the AVOD channels responding to that. The other difference is that, unless you’re on the home page of the AVOD channels or you’re a known IP, the kids are not going to find you because there’s too much content on there. So, we’ve been tidying up a lot of these contracts and repositioning them. I’m now looking at raising some ad spend to ensure that the shows are on the landing page or that we are promoted in some way, and that’s a change in strategy to enable us to deliver the awareness for the producers whom we represent.

TV KIDS: You just mentioned those eight new titles that you have acquired, but what kinds of other titles is Serious Kids looking to add to its catalog, and what does an IP need to catch your eye and have the ability to stand out in this very crowded landscape?
DEXTER: The fact that we’ve bought those shows does not mean that we aren’t looking for more because whatever we start talking about now will probably be delivering in ’27/’28 when we will need those titles. So, the most important thing, from a sales point of view, is the attachment of respected broadcasters. If you say, “Team Nuggets is a co-production between CANAL+ and DR, and we’ve sold it to ZDF and RTVE,” that is possibly the best opening pitch as far as many buyers are concerned. That’s a huge endorsement. Beyond that, I think the most important thing is emotional engagement. Does it make you laugh? Does it make you cry? Does it stir your heart?  For Serious Kids, we want to have that fine line between a show that is slightly edgy but still broadly mainstream. It’s the art of walking that fine line where we find the seam of gold, because you’re doing something that’s slightly different that people are going to react to. I believe that all of the really great shows produced a strong reaction of some type at the outset. Perhaps a laugh, a gasp or an eye roll! An emotional response is what we’re looking for.

TV KIDS: Are there any other trends you foresee shaping the kids’ sector this year?
DEXTER: There’s a lot of negativity out there, but as Churchill said, “Never waste a good crisis.” And I really mean that. You’ve got to think: What opportunities does this throw up for your company? That’s really what you have to analyze, rather than just closing your eyes, crossing your fingers and hoping something’s going to fall in your lap. For example, we’re being offered a lot of content without minimum guarantees. In the past, we’ve been outbid on titles. People say, “I’d love to work with you,” but we’ve been outbid by bigger distributors. That’s not happening so much anymore. People are coming to us saying, “I can’t get that big MG somewhere else, so we’re going to go with our heart and work with Serious Kids and sit in an exclusive library in the company of Oscar- and BAFTA-winning studios and respected independents.” Not to say that we can’t put an MG up, but we won’t enter bidding wars. It’s not that we aren’t continuing to be selective; these are all very high-quality titles. That’s been a big change for us, which we hope to be able to capitalize on.

The new trend for this year, I think, is going to be more closely examining the role of AI in our lives and to see where we feel it can be demonstrably productive in the field of distribution, as well as a reimagining of how we connect with one another in terms of travel, markets and so forth. Of course, I’m excited to have MIP in London and at The Savoy Hotel in particular, what a beautiful place, but also engaging with festivals online, as with TV Kids’ initiatives. And perhaps we’ll see the return of territory visits. We always used to go visit one another in each other’s countries. That does increase understanding between cultures, much more than going to MIP. You’ll never forget that time you went to go and see SVT in Stockholm or TVO in Ontario. You never forget it, and neither do your clients. So, I hope that will be a positive outcome of the reduction in market attendance.

TV KIDS: We’ve talked about all this negativity. You said earlier that maybe you’re just an optimist. What are you most looking forward to this year, and what is keeping you excited about working in the kids’ industry, despite all these challenges?
DEXTER: Kids are always at the forefront of technology, and I’m a self-confessed geek, so I always look forward to that new advancement in technology that could transform our business and find ways to make that a positive development. I’m looking forward to seeing what that next thing is, and there certainly will be some in 2026, that’s for sure.