Turner Australia reveals kids viewing behaviour
July 26, 2018
Turner Australia has unveiled the findings of its latest New Generations report at events in Melbourne and Sydney this week, lifting the lid on what makes Australian youngsters tick. The report looks at a variety of aspects facing children aged 4-14 including screen time, content preferences and how they find out about the latest products.
“Understanding the minds of the next generation of content consumers is never an easy task. The kids we spoke to are true digital natives who play by very different rules to us and this report has really thrown up some interesting data,” said David Webb, Turner’s Senior Director of Data & Insights for Asia Pacific.
What Are Kids Watching?
Despite the rise of short-form video platforms, TV remains the largest medium in terms of monthly usage for kids, according to Turner’s New Generations report.
On average, kids are consuming more than two and a half hours of television and movies across all devices and platforms on a typical day, and spend a further 75 minutes on short-form video platforms. Cartoons remain the favourite type of TV content watched by kids, followed by movies and live-action kids shows.
“Never before have children had so many content and platform choices – but TV is still the major player for youngsters, and it’s also clear that they still love animation,” added Mr Webb.
Penetration of newer technology has increased amongst households with kids, with streaming devices (+124 per cent), smartwatches (+69 per cent) and VR devices (+60 per cent) having all seen large uplifts in ownership since the last survey in 2016. And while almost all households surveyed now have a smartphone, child access to computing devices remains higher for tablets and computers.
What Are Kids Doing Online?
Short-form video viewing was the most common online activity for kids on websites and apps (73 per cent).
Despite high platform consumption, usage of individual on-line video channels remains highly fragmentated, and of the myriad of YouTube channels available, Dan TDM, Ryan’s Toys Reviews, Minecraft, Jake Paul and Hobby Kids TV were listed as the top five.
Online games overtook school/homework in this year’s survey in terms of key online activities. Minecraft remained the top favourite game for both boys and girls, although recent sensation, Fortnite, was the second-highest favourite title for boys.
Social media usage remains much lower for kids, especially those aged 12 and under, with only a quarter (27 per cent) using any platform in the last month. Instagram has overtaken Facebook for the first time in the New Generations history, with nearly half of the kids using Instagram of which 87 per cent have their own account.