Streaming Service Expands Kids’ Programming with Edutainment Blocks

KidStream+, the fastest-growing free ad-supported (FAST) platform for ages 2-11, today announced a nationwide expansion of its children’s catalogue anchored by a daily 90-minute “SmartStart” edutainment block. Launching December 2, the strand will rotate 45 newly acquired series—ranging from coding adventure BitBots to literacy game-show Word Wizards—and push the service’s total kids’ offering past 600 hours, a 30% increase year-over-year.

The move arrives as households cut premium SVOD tiers yet keep ad-supported family programming, a habit that reduces churn 18% compared with adult-only catalogs, according to December 2024 data from analysts at Stream TV Insider.

KidStream+ CEO Maya Patel said the block is calibrated to the school day: literacy at 7 a.m. EST, STEM at 3 p.m., and social-emotional shorts at 6 p.m. “Parents asked for a guilt-free alternative to algorithmic rabbit holes,” Patel noted. “SmartStart pairs curriculum-aligned segments with interactive ad formats so learning continues through the commercial minute.”

Early research supports the model. A 2024 Joan Ganz Cooney Center meta-study of 3,200 U.S. families found that children retained 37% more STEM vocabulary when educational segments were followed by a real-time problem-solving prompt instead of a passive 30-second spot.

KidStream+ will replicate the technique with pause-screen quizzes sponsored by science-kit brand KiwiCo, the first of several partners that will share first-party data on completion rates.

KidStream+ has ordered 50 U.S.-exclusive episodes of BitBots from 9 Story Media Group, the studio behind the recently launched Scholastic app, underscoring a wider FAST land-grab for trusted IP.

The company also licensed Spanish-language dubs for 60% of the block, aiming to capture the 8.5 million bilingual children that the U.S. Census projects will enter elementary school by 2027.

Market tailwinds are strong. Advertising spend on kids’ CTV inventory rose 22% in 2024 to $1.4 billion, eMarketer estimates, yet supply of brand-safe, COPPA-compliant impressions remains tight. “Edutainment delivers the dual metrics buyers want: average ad-completion rates above 92% and parent NPS scores north of 70,” said Patel. KidStream+ will sell SmartStart inventory directly, CPMs starting at $34, a 15% premium over the service’s general kids’ carousel.

“Quality educational content is no longer a public-TV niche—it’s an AVOD growth engine,” said Maya Patel, CEO of KidStream+. “SmartStart lets brands support learning recovery without compromising reach or revenue, and it positions KidStream+ as the go-to FAST destination for families who want more than cartoons.”

KidStream+ is a San Francisco-based free ad-supported streaming service reaching 18 million monthly active users on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TV Plus, and Vizio WatchFree+. The platform curates live and on-demand programming for children ages 2-11 in English and Spanish, emphasizing curriculum-aligned, COPPA-compliant content. KidStream+ is a division of Redwood Media Group, a privately held CTV publisher launched in 2021.