With the digital age blooming throughout the globe, the modes of consumption of entertainment also varies now from what we had. Not long ago, the electronic media (mainly television) was the main source of entertainment for kids which is now being quickly taken over by online streaming services. With the smartphone penetration on a rise even in India, various OTT service providers have sprung up and are already flourishing. Apart from OTT services like Amazon Prime, VOOT, applications like YouTube Kids are driving engagement among children in India. So, what is the scenario in countries which have audiences with a more matured acceptability when it comes to web based services?
DHX Media – the independent, children’s content company, and Ipsos – Canada’s market intelligence firm, announced the results from a survey of 2,700 parents in the US, Canada and the UK (900 respondents per country), designed to illuminate how children age zero to 12 consume entertainment content and brands.
The combined data was then weighted to reflect the distribution of the population across the three markets. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ – 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all parents of children aged 12 and under in the three countries been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
DHX Media, CEO, Dana Landry said: “As a global leader in the production and distribution of children’s content, it is important to check in with parents to get their views on how families consume content. DHX Media’s mission is to create children’s content that inspires, entertains and connects the global on-demand generation, and we are encouraged by the results of this survey. The new generation of kids have embraced mobile devices and they love streaming services. Parents are comfortable with kids enjoying content on these new platforms and they are very receptive to the potential for these models to include e-commerce.”
Kids Going Mobile
The survey found that kids have embraced mobile on-demand viewing, and that tablets are their preferred screen for consuming content. In the households surveyed, 72 per cent of children’s daily viewing is from streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix and others. When viewing content, 61 per cent of kids use tablets, with 78 per cent of households having at least one tablet and 29 per cent having a tablet for use by a child only. Tablets were found to be the most popular screen used by children, who used the devices to watch 45 per cent of their streamed content.
In addition, the survey found that 40 per cent of kids use smartphones to consume their content, 90 per cent of households with children under 13 have at least one smartphone, and 14 per cent have a smartphone that is used only by a child. Furthermore, nearly one-quarter of children are using smartphones to watch streamed content.
The same trend can be seen in India, however on a much smaller scale.
YouTube Most Popular
The survey also found that YouTube is the most popular streaming platform among respondents, followed closely by Netflix. Of the households surveyed, YouTube’s Advertising-supported Video on Demand (AVOD) service garnered 15 per cent of all streaming viewing, with Netflix coming in at 13 per cent. When YouTube’s premium Subscription-supported Video on Demand (SVOD) services are included, YouTube garners 24 per cent of all streaming viewing.
Ready for Retail
The survey also polled parents about their receptivity to a new concept called “One Click Content to Retail”. ‘One 
Click Content to Retail’ is a new model that leverages video on an AVOD platform to serve ads to viewers which allow them to click through to purchase featured products. The results showed that 80 per cent of parents liked the idea of being able to click through from a video to buy products for their kids and that 49 per cent of parents said they would use One Click Content to Retail if available. Meanwhile, 81 per cent of parents liked the idea of a child being able to keep a “Wish List” of products via One Click Content to Retail.
In addition, 85 per cent of parents research what to purchase online at least monthly, 78 per cent buy products online at least monthly, and nearly four out of every 10 purchases made specifically for a child are made online. Two thirds of parents are very likely buy products such as toys, games and clothing featuring a child’s favourite character. Parents surveyed were as comfortable with kids viewing streaming content as with traditional TV, and nine in 10 parents say YouTube child-appropriate advertising is acceptable.
The consumer milieu in India is yet to fully accept and embrace digital means of buying or even payment. However, the scene is dramatically changing as more and more people are preferring online shopping rather than the physical medium.
