{"id":31171,"date":"2026-01-23T09:57:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/serious-kids-genevieve-dexter-on-surviving-amid-uncertainty\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T14:22:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:22:37","slug":"serious-kids-genevieve-dexter-on-surviving-amid-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/serious-kids-genevieve-dexter-on-surviving-amid-uncertainty\/","title":{"rendered":"Serious Kids\u2019 Genevieve Dexter on Surviving Amid Uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is an air of uncertainty around the kids\u2019 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<\/em>, 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.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS: <\/strong>We all heard the slogan \u201csurvive till \u201925\u201d 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?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>Obviously, there were some well-known companies that went into liquidation last year, and that\u2019s always sad and frightening at the same time. It\u2019s like you\u2019re 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\u2019t happen. Quite a few second seasons were canceled, and that\u2019s partly due to the withdrawal of Sky. For\u00a0Happy Town<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Ghastly Ghoul<\/em>, 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\u2019s a nice regular income. And finally, a big shoutout to RAI, ZDF and RTVE, who\u2019ve been wonderful clients in 2025. It\u2019s not all bad, but everyone is just buying less. The new mantra is \u201cexist in \u201926.\u201d<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>How do you see those shifts affecting your business in 2026?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>I think they continue. They haven\u2019t gone away. They\u2019re not unique to 2025. We have other BBC licenses coming up for renewal this year, and we don\u2019t know whether that\u2019s going to happen. But at the same time, they\u2019re doubling down on IPs that are performing well, some of which we represent, like\u00a0Operation Ouch!<\/em>, 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\u2019s all about series two, three, four, because otherwise it\u2019s 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\u2019s hard. You can\u2019t project against buyers and territories with the certainty that you had before. So, it\u2019s still pretty tough.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>What growth opportunities are you pursuing this year?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>This year, we\u2019ve 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\u2019re acquiring more but in much more diverse areas. We\u2019ve acquired\u00a0Claudy<\/em>,\u00a0H\u00f8j<\/em>,\u00a0Mog\u2019s Bad Thing<\/em>,\u00a0My Life<\/em>\u00a0and another five. They\u2019re very well spaced in terms of age target, format and delivery schedules. There\u2019s 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,\u00a0Team Nuggets<\/em>,\u00a0Flix<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Unreal<\/em>, are delivering season two\/three this year, giving us big opportunities in France, where\u00a0The Unreal<\/em>\u00a0season one is airing, and in Germany and Spain, where\u00a0Team Nuggets<\/em>\u00a0season one made its debut last year. So, we actually have high hopes for \u201926, but maybe I\u2019m just an optimist!<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>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\u2019 current approach to extending brand awareness and making sure those titles in your catalog are actually getting in front of kids?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s a tricky one for a distributor. We do produce as well, but largely we\u2019re dealing with third-party content, so we\u2019re 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\u2019t 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\u2019t 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\u2019re on the home page of the AVOD channels or you\u2019re a known IP, the kids are not going to find you because there\u2019s too much content on there. So, we\u2019ve been tidying up a lot of these contracts and repositioning them. I\u2019m 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\u2019s a change in strategy to enable us to deliver the awareness for the producers whom we represent.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>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?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>The fact that we\u2019ve bought those shows does not mean that we aren\u2019t looking for more because whatever we start talking about now will probably be delivering in \u201927\/\u201928 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, \u201cTeam Nuggets<\/em>\u00a0is a co-production between CANAL+ and DR, and we\u2019ve sold it to ZDF and RTVE,\u201d that is possibly the best opening pitch as far as many buyers are concerned. That\u2019s 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?\u00a0 For Serious Kids, we want to have that fine line between a show that is slightly edgy but still broadly mainstream. It\u2019s the art of walking that fine line where we find the seam of gold, because you\u2019re doing something that\u2019s 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\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>Are there any other trends you foresee shaping the kids\u2019 sector this year?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>There\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>a lot of negativity out there, but as Churchill said, \u201cNever waste a good crisis.\u201d And I really mean that. You\u2019ve got to think: What opportunities does this throw up for your company? That\u2019s really what you have to analyze, rather than just closing your eyes, crossing your fingers and hoping something\u2019s going to fall in your lap. For example, we\u2019re being offered a lot of content without minimum guarantees. In the past, we\u2019ve been outbid on titles. People say, \u201cI\u2019d love to work with you,\u201d but we\u2019ve been outbid by bigger distributors. That\u2019s not happening so much anymore. People are coming to us saying, \u201cI can\u2019t get that big MG somewhere else, so we\u2019re 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.\u201d Not to say that we can\u2019t put an MG up, but we won\u2019t enter bidding wars. It\u2019s not that we aren\u2019t continuing to be selective; these are all very high-quality titles. That\u2019s been a big change for us, which we hope to be able to capitalize on.<\/p>\n

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\u2019m 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\u00a0TV Kids<\/em>\u2019 initiatives. And perhaps we\u2019ll see the return of territory visits. We always used to go visit one another in each other\u2019s countries. That does increase understanding between cultures, much more than going to MIP. You\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>We\u2019ve talked about all this negativity. You said earlier that maybe you\u2019re just an optimist. What are you most looking forward to this year, and what is keeping you excited about working in the kids\u2019 industry, despite all these challenges?
\nDEXTER:\u00a0<\/strong>Kids are always at the forefront of technology, and I\u2019m 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\u2019m looking forward to seeing what that next thing is, and there certainly will be some in 2026, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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