Presentation to the ARF Youth Council

1. Presentation to the Youth
Media Council
April 15th , 2008
Media Use among
6- to -9 year-olds
Jennifer Kotler, Sesame Workshop
jennifer.kotler@sesameworkshop.org

2. Background
&
Objectives
Why did we conduct this research?
To better understand the early
elementary school audience as we
prepare to bring back The Electric
Company in an ever-changing media
marketplace
Quantitative look at:
1. Media availability in the home
2. Time spent with media
3. Children’s media preferences
2

3. Design
Study 1: Survey of mothers with children
6 – 9 year olds
(1,249 telephone interviews)
Nov-Dec 2006
Conducted by Russell Research
Study 2: In person interviews with
6 – 9 year olds in three locations
(300 interviews and/or group surveys)
Nov-Dec 2007
Conducted by Sesame Workshop staff
How did we design the research?
Two related studies:
3

4. Our Key Questions for Moms
1. Where do children spend their days?
2. To what degree are children using various media?
3. Who is using the Internet and how are they using it?
4

5. 1. Where do children spend their days?
5

6. The overwhelming majority of children are enrolled in public
schools
83
10
3 2 2
Public school Private (religious)
Private (non-religious) Home school
Other
6

7. The majority of children go home to a parent after school;
Only 17% in an ‘after school program’
31
69 70
83 85
90
98
2
2
8
3
4
3
1
1
11 3
2
2
1
0
5
12
6
5 3
2
1
62
5
13
7 6 3 0
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Parent at home
after school
Art, Music,
Sports
Relative After School
Program
Sibling Care Babysitter Self Care
Never Less than once a week About once a week Few times a week Almost Everyday
7

8. 2. To what degree are children using
various media?
8

9. While the majority of parents have cell phones, very few say
their child uses them; Similar pattern with Internet and Ipod
9
23
36
59
71
75
77
85
96
9
23
31
40
48
75
77
85
96
1
14
17
52
65
55
81
93
16
TV Cable or
Satellite
Cell Phone Internet Learning
Toys
Game Boy Ipod VOD Treo
In home Parent Uses Child Uses
9

10. 8
20
32
58
69
80
77
85
95
13
37
42
58
83
60
73
86
98
7
28
37
62
67
71
78
87
96
TV Cable/Satellite Cell Phone Internet Learning Toy Game Boy Ipod VOD Treo
Caucasian African American Hispanic
African Americans are least likely to have access to the
Internet in their homes
10

11. 4
28
21
56
74
50
65
75
97
6
21
32
56
72
7979
86
96
14
25
49
66
70
91
86
89
98
TV Cable/Satellite Cell Phone Internet Learning Toy Game Boy Ipod VOD Treo
less than 25k 25k-74k more than 75k
Low income is greatest barrier to home Internet access and other
modern media (Cable, Cell Phone, Game Boy, Ipod, Treo)
11

12. 5%
12%
20%
32%
52%
24% 9%
48%
24%
28%
40%
16% 13%
11%
20%
33%
21% 20%
7%
24%
15% 10%
2%
21%
11%
Read Watch TV Play Video
Games
Watch DVDs Use Internet
2 Hours or more
1 - 2 Hours
1 Hour - 30 Minutes
30 Minutes or less
None
Media Use: Weekday
(Total)
Television and reading dominate on weekdays; Half of these kids
use the Internet
12

13. 18%
10%
39%
17%
52%20%
5%
15%
7%
19%
28%
14%
12%
12%23%
25%
19%
37%
12%
49%
14%
27%
6%
10%
13%
Read Watch TV Play Video
Games
Watch DVDs Use Internet
2 Hours or more
1 - 2 Hours
1 Hour - 30 Minutes
30 Minutes or less
None
Media Use: Weekend
(Total)
TV and DVD usage picks up dramatically on the weekends with
less reading
13

14. 3. Internet Use:
Who are Internet users and how are
they using it?
14

15. 45%
84%
46%
86%
30%
9%
20%
6%
13%
13%
2%10%
3%
14%
4%6% 2%
4%
3%
Internet at
Home
No Internet at
Home
Internet at
Home
No Internet at
Home
2 Hours or more
1 - 2 Hours
1 Hour - 30 Minutes
30 Minutes or less
None
Internet Use
Weekday Weekend
Only a small percentage of children who do not have Internet
access at home use the Internet in other places.
15

16. 45% 48%
41%
46%
55%
39%
30% 28%
31% 20%
17%
22%
13% 14%
13%
10%
14%
10% 10% 12%
14% 14%
18%
1%
6% 4% 8%
12%
3%3%
Weekday
Total
Weekday
Dialup
Weekday
Broadband
Weekend
Total
Weekend
Dial up
Weekend
Broadband
2 Hours or more
1 - 2 Hours
1 Hour - 30 Minutes
30 Minutes or less
None
Internet Use
Weekday Weekend
Those kids with Broadband use the Internet only a bit more often
16

17. Among those with Internet access at home, African American
children spend more time on the Internet
0.88
1.10
1.49
1.81
1.02
1.15
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
weekday weekend
Caucasian African American Hispanic
6=More Than 4 Hours, 5=3 To Less Than 4 Hours, 4= 2 To Less Than 3 Hours 3=1 To Less Than 2 Hours, 2=Between 30
Minutes To 1 Hour, 1=30 Minutes Or Less, 0=No Use
Heavy users
No Use
17

18. The majority of children who spend time on the Internet do so
to play games; Though ‘research for school’ is in the top 3
11
29
40
52
62
70
79 78 80
89 92
97 97
11
18
15
15
8
9
5 8
6
3
2
1 0
23
23
14
14 9
10
7 5 5
3
3
1 1
39
24 21
15
14
8 6 9 7
3
2 0 2
16
7 9
5 7
3 3 1 2 2 1 1 0
P
laying
G
am
es
D
ow
nloading
from
W
ebsites
R
esearch
P
ictures
M
usicP
roductInfo
E
m
ail
C
lips
from
S
how
s
W
atching
V
ideos
W
atching
T
V
S
how
s
InstantM
essaging
W
eb
pageC
hatR
oom
s
Everyday or Almost Every
Day
Few Times a Week
Once a Week
Less than Once a Week
Never
Base: children who typically go online on weekdays or weekends
18

19. Doing research for school increases with age more than any other
online activity.
Scale: 1-never, 2=less than once a week, 3=once a week, 4=few times a week,
5=everyday or almost everyday
Base: children who typically go online on weekdays or weekends
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
6 year olds 7 year olds 8 year olds 9 year olds
Playing Games Research Music Product Info Email
Everyday
Never
19

20. African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to use the
Internet for research than Whites
Scale: 1-never, 2=less than once a week, 3=once a week, 4=few times a week,
5=everyday or almost everyday
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Playing
G
am
es
D
ow
nloading
from
W
ebsitesR
esearch
Pictures
M
usicProductInfo
Em
ail
C
lips
from
Show
s
W
atching
Videos
W
atching
TV
Shows
InstantM
essagingW
eb
pageC
hatR
oom
s
Caucasian African American Hispanic
Everyday
Never
20

21. Conclusions & Implications of Research with Moms
Majority of 6 -9 year olds are in public schools during the day and return
home to a parent after school.
Only 17% of kids are in an ‘after school’ program, and these kids are equally
as likely to be from high income as they are to be from lower income
families.
Not surprisingly low income is a huge barrier to Internet access at home,
and very few of those who do not have Internet access seek it out
elsewhere.
These kids are young, and currently are mainly using the Internet to play
games, and increasingly with age to do research for school. Very few are
emailing.
Almost every household has a television and children spend most of their
media time with television.
21

22. Our Key Questions for Children
1. What media do children have in the home and how often are
they spending time with various media?
2. How often do they spend time with particular games and
websites?
3. What are their favorite games and websites?
22

23. 92%90%99%50%86%81%% Free or Reduced Lunch
0%0%4%0%1%0%% Other/Unknown
0%0%0%11%0%0%% Asian
<1%<1%6%60%24%1%% White
99%98%0%6%11%0%% Latino
<1%<1%90%21%64%99%% African American
58%72%45%83%60%86%% meeting standards in reading
372485217711220882Number of children in school
CityCityRuralSuburbanCityCityType of locale
SouthSouthMidwestMidwestNortheastNortheastLocation
School 6School 5School 4School 3School 2School 1
Demographics of the schools and areas where the children were
interviewed
N=300, majority 2nd
graders (some 1st
and 3rd
) 53% girls, 47% boys
23

24. We created a check for validity of the data
• 6 questions were added to the group survey about games, computer programs,
websites that do not exist in order to assess the validity of children’s answers
overall.
• Note, 31% of the children did not get to the questions which ask about non-
existent games, but of the 69% of the children with enough data to assess
validity:
• 56% of the children said that they played or used at least one of these non-
existing games, programs or sites
• There were NO differences in valid data by gender or whether children were
individually interviewed.
• Several analyses, therefore, are separated out by those with “cleaner” or “more
valid” data compared to those without valid data.
• Overall, 31% didn’t have enough data to tell if it their responses were valid or
not, 30% had “clean” data and 39% had “non-valid” data.
24

25. About 38% of the children said they visited the non-existent
“KIDVID” website.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Watch videos on
Kidvid
Post on Kidvid Googoobops Lavitron Hippoteam Boswirth
A lot
A Few Times
Once or Twice
25

26. 1. What media do children have in
their home and how do they spend
their time with various media?
26

27. All children have televisions in their homes and at least ¾ of them
have one in their bedrooms
17%20%34%7%*Do you have the Internet in your room?
25%28%47%13%*Do you have a computer in your room?
32%36%39%24%*Do you have your own cell phone?
36%43%55%21%*Do you have your own iPod or MP3 Player?
60%66%69%49%
*Do you have a videogame console like Xbox 360, PS3, or
Wii?
60%68%63%49%*Does anyone in your home own an IPOD or MP3 player?
62%68%66%52%
*Do you have a portable video game player (Nintendo DS,
Gameboy Advance, PSP)?
63%66%59%62%Do you have the Internet at home?
65%61%62%72%Do you have newspapers in your home?
65%65%45%71%Do you have magazines in your home?
73%77%68%69%Do you have a computer at home?
80%83%88%72%Do you have a TV in your bedroom?
90%91%86%91%Do you have books in your home?
92%94%83%93%Does anyone in your home own a cell phone
100%100%100%100%Do you have a TV at home?
AverageNon-Valid Data
Not Enough
DataClean Data
*There were statistically significant differences between those with clean data and those with non-valid data
for the activities with * next to them.
27

28. Watching TV, reading for school, and listening to music were
more frequent activities than using the computer or going on
the Internet
2.162.701.452.32Go on the internet
2.593.002.182.60Use a computer
2.713.062.362.70Play Video games
3.003.132.902.98Read books for fun
3.103.243.092.98Watch DVDs
3.113.252.893.20Listen to Music
3.283.213.403.23Read books for school
3.423.563.173.54Watch TV
Average
Non-Valid
Data
Not enough
dataClean Data
*There were statistically significant differences between those with clean data and those with non-valid data
for the bolded activities
Scale: 1=never, 2=once or twice a week, 3=a few x per week, 4=many x week
28

29. A small number of children with valid data said they have EVER emailed,
visited MySpace or watched videos on YouTube
25%42%7%Post videos on "You tube"
29%46%12%
Post my own stuff on "My space"
website
30%45%14%
Have gotten music from i-tunes or
napster
37%54%19%Visit the "myspace" website
43%62%23%IM with friends and family
44%60%28%Watch youtube
47%65%29%Email friends and family
73%82%64%Listen to music from the computer
85%88%82%Listen to music from the radio
AverageNon-Valid dataClean data
*There were statistically significant differences between those with clean data and those with non-valid data
for all activities.
29

30. 2. How often are they spending time
with particular games and websites?
30

31. Mario & Sonic are the most popular video games of those we asked
about.
*There were statistically significant differences between those with clean data and those with non-valid data
for all games.
28%47%8%Brain Age
31%49%12%NHL
32%50%13%Nintendogs
32%43%21%Tetris
37%49%24%Guitar Hero
39%57%21%Viva Pinata
40%60%20%Wii Sports
43%57%29%Dance Dance Revolution
54%68%40%Pokemon
66%79%52%Pacman/Ms. Pacman
66%76%56%Sonic
67%80%55%Mario
AverageNon-Valid dataClean data
31

32. Cartoon Network, Disney & Nickelodeon are the most popular websites.
Webkinz and Clubpenguin have a small percentage of visitors.
15%29%1%Askjeeves
18%33%3%National Geographic
19%36%2%Exploratorium
22%41%3%Webkinz
22%35%10%Club Penguin
25%43%8%American Girl
30%46%14%KidsWB
33%40%25%Barbie
39%61%17%Turbonick
39%53%25%Lego
42%63%22%Harry Potter
65%83%48%Nickelodeon
69%79%60%Disney
69%81%57%Cartoon Network
AverageNon-Valid dataClean dataName
*There were statistically significant differences between those with clean data and those with non-valid data
for all websites.
This chart is for children who have EVER visited the website.
32

33. 3. What are children’s favorite TV
shows, games & websites?
33

34. Hannah Montana was the favorite specific show for girls, while Sponge Bob
was the favorite show for boys.
3%4%1%High School Musical
4%6%1%That’s so Raven
4%5%2%Zach and Cody
5%3%7%Nickelodeon
9%4%14%Cartoon Network
10%17%3%Hannah Montana
11%20%3%Disney
15%13%17%SpongeBob
AverageGirlsBoys
34

35. Boys enjoy sports related videogames, whereas girls chose a variety of
traditional video games as favorites.
2%5%0%HS Musical
4%8%0%Bratz
5%9%1%Pacman
6%6%7%Sonic
8%9%7%Mario
9%1%16%Sports Related
AverageGirlsBoys
35

36. For favorite websites, girls like Disney.com the best, whereas boys like
CartoonNetwork.com the best.
3%3%4%My Space
4%6%3%TV Show
5%7%3%PBS
9%3%14%Nick
10%4%17%Cartoon Network
22%35%8%Disney
AverageGirlsBoys
36

37. Conclusions & Implications of Research with Children
1) Children are more likely to overstate ownership and use of newer media
(Computers, Internet, Videogames, Handhelds) than they are their use of
television which suggests the “cool” factor of new media over television.
2) Overall, over half of the children had internet access in their homes.
3) Mario & Sonic are popular video games.
4) Websites most often visited by children of this age are associated with
television programming (i.e. Cartoonnetwork, Disney.com, Nickelodeon).
5) Girls are particularly fond of Disney (Hannah Montana & High School Musical)
whereas boys like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon (Spongebob).
37

38. Overall Conclusions & Implications
• Be aware of today’s media use as we prepare for
tomorrow.
• While TV remains the number one medium, we do see a
significant increase in new technology among this age.
• Digital divide still factors into Internet and computer use,
however, once ownership is established, there is
evidence that minorities may be using the such
technology for more educational purposes than their
White counterparts.
• We are creating The Electric Company for multiple
platforms to ensure that we reach children with what
they have, where they are, and where they will be.
38