NEW YORK: American children aged 2 through 11 are watching more television than they have in years, according to Nielsen. New findings from the company show kids aged 2-5 now average more than 32 hours a week in front of a TV. The older segment of that group, kids 6-11, spend about 28 hours per week watching TV, presumably because they’re in school.
“This trend of increased viewing among children mirrors the overall increase in media consumption we’ve been tracking over the last two years across TV, Internet, games and mobile phones,” Nielsen said. “And much like their older family members, the majority of viewing for these kids is still done watching live TV.”
Overall, 97 percent of the TV consumed by the 2-11 set is live. Younger kids spend more time than the older group viewing content on DVRs or DVDs, and in some cases, VCRs. Four percent of kids aged 2-5 watch via those devices on average across total day compared to 2.3 percent for those aged 6-11. Little ones are notorious for watching their favorite fare over and over and over and over...
The wee ones “considerable use of these devices points to them being able to adopt new devices comfortably as they grow up,” Nielsen said.
The younger children also watched more commercials than did the 6-11s. The group watched more TV commercials in playback than both the 6-11s and adults.
The older kids in turn spend twice as much time playing video games--2 hours 23 minutes a week compared to 1 hour 12 minutes for those 2-5. Internet usage among older kids is also significantly higher as nearly half of kids 6-11 spent time on the Internet in August versus 20 percent of kids 2-5.
(Image by Checkered and Amused)
