Picture a Saturday-morning cartoon with a mixed cast: a girl, a boy, a talking fox and a robot. On paper, the lineup looks balanced. Yet episode after episode, the boy drives the main story while the girl waits at the edge of the frame. That pattern now shows up in the data. According to the Geena Davis Institute’s newest study, representation in kids TV slipped in 2025 for female and LGBTQ+ characters, even as characters of color reached a record high.
What the 2026 Children’s TV Report Found
GDI presented its 2026 Report on Children’s TV Representation, produced in partnership with Nielsen, at Advertising Week in October. Kidscreen covered the findings soon after. The study tracks eight years of new children’s programming, from 2018 through 2025.
The key numbers:
- Female characters made up 41.3% of all characters in new 2025 programming, down 1.3 points from the previous year.
- Female leads fell to 43.2%, down 5.3 points from 2024.
- LGBTQIA+ characters dropped to 0.5% of all characters, compared with 1.5% in 2024.
- No LGBTQIA+ character held a leading role.
Meanwhile, one benchmark moved in the right direction. Characters of color reached their highest share since tracking began: 58.5% of all characters and 64.2% of leads in new programming.
A Two-Year Slide for Female Characters in Kids’ Shows
Female representation in new programming peaked in 2023. Since then, it has declined for two straight years.
So where is the drop coming from? The researchers point to two sources. First, mixed-gender ensemble shows often give the episode’s main “A” story to a male character, and the lead credit follows. Second, animated animals and creatures skew heavily male. Nonhuman characters account for 51.7% of characters in new programming, but only 35.4% of them are female.
In other words, the gap often comes from choices nobody notices making. A writer calls the dragon “he” by default. A storyboard hands the boy the big problem to solve.
LGBTQ+ Characters in Children’s Programming Are Nearly Absent
LGBTQIA+ representation peaked in 2019, when it reached 3.2% of characters. It has fallen since, and 2025 marked another low. Popular programming tells a similar story: LGBTQIA+ characters were 1.0% of all characters, and none appeared in leading or minor roles.
Other groups lost ground too. Disabled characters fell to 1.0% of all characters in new shows. New programming also had no leads over age 50.
Why Representation in Kids TV Matters
Children learn about the world partly through the stories they watch again and again. GDI’s guiding idea is simple: if they can see it, they can be it. When girls, LGBTQ+ kids and disabled kids rarely appear at the center of a story, children pick up a quiet message about who gets to lead.
Geena Davis has pointed out that on-screen imbalances, unlike many others, “can be changed overnight.” However, this year’s data shows that change won’t happen without effort.
How Producers Can Reverse the Trend
Fortunately, the fixes are practical. GDI’s recommendations for creators include:
- Balance lead roles, not just cast lists. Share episode-level focus across characters in ensemble shows.
- Make gender a deliberate choice for animal and creature characters.
- Add LGBTQIA+ presence in everyday details, not only in plotlines.
- Set measurable disability targets and track them each season.
- Audit AI-assisted writing tools for the same representation gaps.
Each of these decisions happens early, in writers’ rooms and casting meetings, long before an episode airs.
Support Research on Children’s Media Representation
Tracking these trends takes trained researchers, careful coding and years of consistent data. That work continues only with your support. Donate to the Geena Davis Institute today and help give the industry the evidence it needs to put every child on screen.