• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 31, 2020

The need to entertain and educated kids at home during the coronavirus pandemic is driving a major upsurge in kids’ video downloads and viewing, confirms a special report from social video measurement company Tubular Labs.

And creators in all kinds of categories normally focused on content for adults — including DIY and food-and-drink — are rushing to participate in the trend, according to the data, which come from measuring content across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“With businesses and schools closed, our video analytics platform is verifying increased demand for digital video content across the board,” Tubular Labs CEO Rob Gabel tells Video Insider. “We've noticed spikes in digital video audience attention across vertical industries — and in particular, the kids’ category. 

“Evergreen content is thriving right now: Four of the top five most-viewed kids’ videos on YouTube are from 2019 or earlier, with “Baby Shark” still number one. But viewing of new kids-related content from creators outside of the kids’ category is also uptrending.

“For example, the DIY category saw a 69% uptick in YouTube views of kids’-related content during the week of March 19, compared to the previous week — particularly education- and workout-focused content that helps parents provide their children with a substitute for physical education.” (See charts below.)

In addition, kids’-related food-and-drink video views rose 28%, and kids’-related science-and-tech views rose 14%.

“These findings suggest that creators are looking to create impactful, engaging videos that go beyond entertainment to help families in this time of need,” says Gabel.

He believes that even more creators across categories should consider producing content “that responds to the unique needs of families” during this crisis. “Those that do will surely benefit into post-pandemic times, as well,” he adds.

Here’s a summary of some other noteworthy findings from the report:

*The week of March 16^th 2020 was the most-viewed week for kids’ video content on YouTube so far this year. Linear TV ratings are also rising.

*Last week (week of March 27) saw the second-highest per-week viewership of kids’ animated content ever tracked by Tubular.

*Comparing the week of March 19 with the week of March 12, average V3 viewing stats on YouTube were up in all of the top five kids’ subcategories:

*Across the four social platforms, daily views of both kids’ workout content and “edutainment” content like kids’ hand-washing videos have spiked since about March 10^th:

*Although the kids’ category produced 29% fewer-than-average videos last year (522,000 globally), it had the highest average “V3” views (views within the first 30 days of download) of any category: 359,000.

*Monthly views of kids’ video content spiked at 65 billion in May 2019, dipped during the summer months following the implementation of new children’s content regulations, but began to rise again by year’s end, prior to the onset of the pandemic.

The report also offers advice for maximizing downloads and views of kids’ videos.