Kids and teens are consuming more content than ever – about 15.7 hours per week – but surprisingly they are watching on traditional TVs and laptops and not as much on mobile devices, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
The news should be welcomed by cable operators and programmers who have reeled over the past few days as investors fretted about over-the-top threats. While OTT is still a concern, at least this as some fuel o the notion that younger viewers haven’t yet totally abandoned traditional TV.
PwC surveyed 500 kids and teens (ranging in age from 8- to 18) and 250 parents to find out their viewing habits as part of their Consumer Intelligence Series. What the studies found is that kids think they watch less than their parents’ believe — the kids estimated that they spent about 15.5 hours per week viewing video – and they do it on more traditional devices.
The lowest amount of viewership is with younger kids – about 13.2 hours for 8-11 year-olds, according to parents – but rises quickly as they age. PwC says kids 15-18 years old spend about four more hours per week playing games or watching video than their younger counterparts.
According to the report, 8-18 year olds say they spend more than half of their time watching streamed content on the web, but on average they spend 7.8 hours per week watching live network TV shows and movies, compared to 6.1 hours streaming video on computers, laptops and phones. As they get older, they tend to migrate from their tablets to their cell phones to view content, PwC says.
About 53% of 8-18 year-olds say streamed television from cable networks is their favorite form of content, with drama or reality series from cable a close second at 47% and video games third at 36%.
Teens also say that they find out about new content primarily through commercials (33%), with 23% saying they watch shows on direct recommendations from friends and family and 18% from social media.
Cable brands also remain some of the most recognizable to the 8-18 age group, with Disney coming out on top with 85% brand recognition, followed by Nickelodeon (83%) and Cartoon Network (80%). Online giant Amazon was tied for third with 80% brand recognition, followed by You Tube (79%) and Netflix (78%).
