Netflix

Despite missing top honors for the first time in the Hot50’s nine-year history, the streamer still had a big year, driven by top-performing new shows such as Heartstopper (a Rose d’Or Award-winning live-action series spotlighting LGBTQ+ love that was a top-10 hit in 54 countries); director Jorge Gutierrez’s Annie Award-winning animated series Maya and the Three; and Ada Twist, Scientist, an animated preschool series and NAACP Image Award nominee from Chris Nee’s Laughing Wild, Higher Ground Productions, Wonder Worldwide and Brown Bag Films.

The streamer jumped from 10th place on the 2021 list all the way up to third following a flurry of series commissions. New animated book adaptations include Pretzel and the Puppies (HarperCollins Productions) and Get Rolling with Otis (9 Story), while live-action orders went to projects including Puppy Place (Scholastic), Yo Gabba Gabba! (WildBrain) and Amber Brown (Boat Rocker Media). Apple also greenlit a new animated preschool series from Spin Master based on its popular Sago Mini Friends app.