Netflix is coming for your kids

When MGA Entertainment, the world's largest private toy company, premiered its newest kids' show about a teen-girl team of super spies, it skipped Saturday morning TV and staged a splashy premiere on Netflix -- replete with a matching toy line, a few dozen dolls and play sets like the "lip balm lab activity kit." And Netflix, the world's largest streaming service, was more than happy to fold the show, "Project Mc2," into its exploding empire of kids' entertainment. Much of the 5 billion Netflix is spending this year on movies and TV shows will be spent on fare for the playground set. The big-business battle for kids' distracted attention spans has never been more competitive -- or eye-poppingly lucrative -- and Netflix has aggressively angled to use its data-driven insights to make programs kids don't want to turn off. About half of Netflix's 75 million members regularly watch kids' movies or TV shows, executives say, but the potential for long-term profits runs much deeper. If the site is able to win over viewers when they're young, executives said, they may be able to secure their loyalty for life.