Three-quarters of parents say they now watch video content with their children several times a week or more, and the activity cuts across gender, children's ages, household income levels, and marital status says a study from WildBrain Spark and nScreenMedia.
The Making Screen Time Family Time study from the premium kids’ and family AVOD network and studio and the independent digital TV analyst highlighted the growth of family co-viewing and the importance of AVOD on connected TVs, looking at family co-viewing trends and kids’ influence on video streaming in the home. The study surveyed the views of 3,000 parents and found fundamentally that family co-viewing was a trend here to stay.
Co-viewing was revealed as a valuable shared activity, and something parents and children make time for throughout their busy day. Supporting data from WildBrain Spark pointed to longer viewing sessions on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app coming via connected TVs, compared with mobile, tablet and computers.
YouTube Kids and PBS Kids dominated viewing in the category. Half of the parents surveyed reported that their children are the exclusive users of these services. These platforms are almost twice as popular as any other child's service about which the survey asked. YouTube in particular was seen as a critical resource for parents and their children with 95% of participants saying at least one person in the family uses it, and 70% say their kids are among the users. Additionally, 94% of parents say they monitor kids’ YouTube use, with 61% stating they monitor use all the time.
The data also confirmed the increasing popularity of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and the importance of connected TVs for delivering it. Over 90% of parents noted that AVOD was an important source of entertainment for their children, and 62% stated that connected TVs were the preferred device for co-viewing.
“These independent findings support our own data that AVOD platforms, in particular YouTube and YouTube Kids, are increasingly the go-to destination for families looking for premium long-form children’s content,” said Jon Gisby, EVP and managing director at WildBrain Spark commenting on the Making Screen Time Family Time report. “Furthermore, the increasing penetration of connected TVs in the home, coupled with new family habits during the pandemic, is accelerating this trend. Parents and kids are going ‘back to the future’ by watching premium long-form kids’ shows that are streamed to their connected TVs from ad-funded platforms.”
Co-viewing was revealed as a valuable shared activity, and something parents and children make time for throughout their busy day. Supporting data from WildBrain Spark pointed to longer viewing sessions on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app coming via connected TVs, compared with mobile, tablet and computers.
YouTube Kids and PBS Kids dominated viewing in the category. Half of the parents surveyed reported that their children are the exclusive users of these services. These platforms are almost twice as popular as any other child's service about which the survey asked. YouTube in particular was seen as a critical resource for parents and their children with 95% of participants saying at least one person in the family uses it, and 70% say their kids are among the users. Additionally, 94% of parents say they monitor kids’ YouTube use, with 61% stating they monitor use all the time.
The data also confirmed the increasing popularity of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and the importance of connected TVs for delivering it. Over 90% of parents noted that AVOD was an important source of entertainment for their children, and 62% stated that connected TVs were the preferred device for co-viewing.
“These independent findings support our own data that AVOD platforms, in particular YouTube and YouTube Kids, are increasingly the go-to destination for families looking for premium long-form children’s content,” said Jon Gisby, EVP and managing director at WildBrain Spark commenting on the Making Screen Time Family Time report. “Furthermore, the increasing penetration of connected TVs in the home, coupled with new family habits during the pandemic, is accelerating this trend. Parents and kids are going ‘back to the future’ by watching premium long-form kids’ shows that are streamed to their connected TVs from ad-funded platforms.”
