Study: Kids Mobile Media Consumption Exploding
If a new study is on the mark, TV everywhere efforts that include Nickelodeon, Disney Channel or other kids-targeted television could reap big rewards among the toddlers with tablets set.
Young children's access to mobile media devices has exploded in the past two years, although television is still the medium of choice, and educational television is the most-watched genre.
That is according to "Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America 2013," the second biennial study from Common Sense Media on media use by children eight-years-old and younger.
That is according to an advance copy of the study, which is to be released Oct. 28.
The study found that between the first study (in 2011) and 2013, there has been a five-fold increase in tablet ownership by families with young children (from 8% to 40%).
And kids under eight with access to a smart phone has increased from 52% to 75%.
Traditional TV watching is down 12 minutes per day, but TV still "reigns supreme in children's media lives," the study found.
More than half of the kids surveyed (58%) watch TV at least once a day, compared to 17% who use mobile devices every day, and 14% who are on a computer.
Of the one hour and 55 minutes average screen time per day for kids eight and under, half (57%) is spend watching TV, compared to 19% watching DVD's, 13% using mobile devices, and 9% playing video games.
Of that 57% spent watching TV, a third of that is to programming that has been time shifted — via a DVR, downloaded or streamed, or on demand. The other third (68% actually) was watched at its regularly scheduled time.
The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,463 parents of children age 8 and under. The survey was conducted by GfK from May 20 to June 12, 2013. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.