Children's Media Use and Attitudes

Children's Media Use and Attitudes

(Ofcom Report 2014)

The article states some key findings:

-There has been an increase in the Internet, Smartphone and Tablet usage among children.-Fewer Children are watching Television, listening to Radio and using a PC/Laptop.
-Games consoles were the second most common media type in children's bedrooms.
-Children are less likely to have a Television in their bedroom.

Motives For Why More Children Are Using Tablets

-It new technology
Everyone else is using it, so perhaps to stay included they move to tablets to download the latest App.

-Tablets are an interactive type of technology, so their focus and participation are needed more. (Television is passive media consumption form).

-They have their own space, individuality & privacy.

-They can watch shows on demand, without having to wait for the next episode.

(Does this leave them disconnected from the narrative because they don’t have to wait each week to find out what happens next?).

-Tablets are multi-purposeful meaning they can play games, as well as just stream television shows and movies.


Impact On Production

-More on Demand sites will be introduced because more children (5-15) using them.

-Fewer Television shows will be aimed at children age, because they are becoming less popular within children media consumption. children's television series will have fewer seasons and get canceled quicker?

-Television ratings will go down. (Companies will lose ad revenue and as a result money?)

-This could lead to more on-demand exclusive shows, as well as some being aimed specifically at children.
This has been an ongoing trend from 2011, With the introduction of new technology e.g. tablets.


Impact On Consumption

-Family traditions such as watching weekly evening television will change. Likely wise will the famous Saturday night television programming be affected too?

-Families will have their own devices to fit their specific individuality and watch the show they specifically want to watch. Less communication in the households(Children and parents)?

-Children are more likely to watch and be exposed to content outside of their age range because there are no regulations on the internet and streaming sites unless they are manually set most likely by the account hold or parent.

-The more on-demand content children are exposed to the more likely they are to be consumed by the product (television show) and do not realize when to stop.


-Not waiting around for episodes could make children become more impatient.


Secondary Research

Ofcom Report 2016

One of the questions they asked were:
Does your child ever use any of these devices to watch television programmes or films at home or elsewhere?

From 2011, the television industry has seen a decline in consumption from children between the ages 5-15 years old. There has still been a decline since the previous Ofcom article report.

The way in which children are consuming television programs is changing because as Television sets are showing a small decline. Devices such as Tablets and mobiles are on the rise.


The Industry Trust

This company works with side trustworthy companies in the media industry such as BBFC and the BBC.

This is a case study I found that they published about children and Illegal streaming. This fits into my research because it is all about children and media consumption. The age range they used were children aged 11-15.

http://www.industrytrust.co.uk/press-releases/summer-of-illegal-downloads/

The article spoke about how:
Children have access to consumption of content outside of their age range. As five in ten children claimed to be disturbed by the material they have seen online.

Also, Children spend more time online during their free time.


BARB

Barb is the Broadcasters audience research board. They are in charge of producing the ratings for television companies programs and average viewing per day and month.

The statistics and figures I gained from this are that from 2014 - 2016 there has been a decrease in a number of average viewers gained from single viewings of programs. I adjusted the filters I used to August because this is when children are on summer holiday in the UK so I thought this would be the most likely time for them to be watching television.

I looked up the figures for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network because they are all popular children's channels. They have all seen a decline over the past few years since 2014 until 2017.


Nickelodeon


2014 | 1,710








2017 | 1,027








Cartoon Network


2014 | 1,132

2017 | 1,939









Disney Channel


2014 | 1,945









2017 | 1,066







Impacts on Production:
-The fact that the shows from 2014 are non-identical to the ones in 2017 suggests that television shows aren't running as long as they used to.

Causes of low television ratings could be:
-The Content/programs on the television networks are changing.
-They have to meet new criteria.
-Fewer children are watching Television.

Childwise

According to the latest 2016 CHILDWISE Monitor Report

Childhood 2016

Here is the Report Link:
http://www.childwise.co.uk/uploads/3/1/6/5/31656353/childwise_press_release_-_monitor_2016.pdf

The Childwise report called childhood monitor 2016 claims that there has been a 'major shift in UK children’s behavior as time online overtakes time watching TV for the first time ever.'

Their key findings in their report was that:

-Tablet ownership also soared this year – up by 50% from last year. Just six years after the UK release
of the iPad, tablets have swept into children’s lives, with two in three (67%) now having their own
device.

-The new data shows that YouTube has taken center stage in children’s lives this year to become the
place they turn to for entertainment, music, games, TV programmes, instruction, and advice. Half use
the site every day, almost all do so on occasion.

-The majority of children who use YouTube visit the site to access music videos (58%). Around half of the users keep themselves entertained with funny content on YouTube (52%). Around a third watch
gaming content, vlogs/blogs, TV programmes or ‘how to’ videos.

-Children are also going online more in their bedrooms. Three in four children (73%) can now access
the internet in their room, up from two in three (63%) last year.

Here is one of the methods that they used to collect their data which is stated in their report.

'The 2016 CHILDWISE Monitor is a comprehensive annual report looking at five to 16-year-olds media
consumption, purchasing, and social habits as well as key behavior. More than 2000 children in schools across the United Kingdom completed in-depth online surveys for the report.'

-“Children are now seeking out the content of their choice. They still find traditional TV programmes
engaging but are increasingly watching them online and on-demand or binge-watching box sets.”

-This year, for the first time, tablet devices have overtaken laptops/PCs/netbooks as the main type of
computer that children have in their homes. Four in five children (79%) now live in a house with a
tablet device in it. This is a significant rise from just three in five (61%).

-Overall this report does support with the Ofcom article because they have come out with similar findings. The most valid finding being that one access of tablets has increased by a large amount and that now television broadcasts are being substituted for other online sites such as Youtube and Netflix because they can be accessed on demand. They also highlight the feature added to television boxes where the user is able to record their favorite programs to watch whenever they want. The feature of being able to Pause, Play and rewind feature has impacted on consumption because it gives the users the power to be able to watch at their own pace by playing back fast-forwarding and pausing at will.
-Does this mean that children will pay less attention to watching television?

-This report also highlights the growing sensation of the social media site youtube and how it is becoming more common for children to watch entertainment shows rather than music videos.


Primary Research

Overall my survey conducted does reinforce the Ofcom article because the results show that children are using tablets to watch television shows more than watching television.



Interview - School Child and Primary School Worker


-I held an informal interview with a primary school child and a primary school worker. I started off by asking the worker and the child what were their views on current technology, to which they responded about their own observations of seeing parents let their children use tablets and their mobile phones in public irresponsibly by allowing their child to demand their devices and even to walk behind them whilst using them. This could suggest parents use these devices as a way of keeping their child distracted.

-I found out that their school is incorporating the use of the new revolutionary technology of tablets, into the children's learning. I found this interesting because it supported the statistic of the rise in sales of tablets, which I found in my secondary research of Ofcom and childwise monitor report 2016.

-The child spoke about how the teachers created a system where every day someone's name gets pulled out of a jar and whoever's name gets pulled out get to use the tablet for up to 15miniutes. I found this interesting because it suggests that schools now are using tablets as a way of rewarding children and giving them an incentive to want to learn. I followed up this by asking the question do they let you go online? to which they said "no only learning games, but they are still fun". This information here does not reinforce the results of the article.

-However, the worker still stated that during the children's free time when an interactive game is put on for them to play with some of the children still find a way to go on youtube and put on pepper pig. This suggests that the children know that shows like this are accessible through social media and other sites perhaps because they use it at home. This supports the 2014 Ofcom report of children starting to access television shows online. However, a factor of this is that there are no televisions at school, so consumption of media through tablets and other mobile devices are more likely to occur.

Task 1, 2, 3

Online sources

Online sources essentially refer to web pages and documents on the internet that provide specific information from a search engine. The advantages of Online resources are that firstly they will give a variety of different sources of information, which can be useful. It also allows you to type in a specific search meaning you will be able to find information quickly. Additionally, the information there can be kept up to date very efficiently. The limitations of online sources are they firstly anyone can post on there so the quality of the content isn’t checked. Also the reliability of source isn’t always to an academic standard. Another disadvantage would be that a number of large hits may make it difficult to differentiate the best credible and valid sources from the rest of the information given.

Magazines and journals

The purpose magazines articles are written to educate or/and entertain whiles journals is an academic research articles and information. The intended audience for the magazine is appeal to the board and general readership whiles the journals specialised in readership: specialists; scholars and professionals in subject field. The advantages for the magazine is that it indicates areas of professional interest and it also up to date coverage of news and opinion, in addition opportunity for communities to engage and last but not least it features new services, resources or areas of interest. One disadvantages that the magazine dose contain is it isn’t as extensively quality reviewed as journals. As for the journals the advantage includes the latest research, it is also up to date and cover very specific topics. In addition, the quality checked during peer review process and it list references used – good source for further research. The one disadvantage when it comes to journals is that they are not as broad ad books are.

Books

Books are a written or printed pieces of work which consist of many pages full of information. There are also different types of books which comply to an audience uses and gratifications for that specific material. An example would be a fictional children book as they are used for an escapism form of entertainment because there is no element of factual information and the narratives are usually set in unrealistic worlds with unrealistic characters. The advantages of books are that they can provide and thorough overview of a topic. Another advantage would be that a book is always has to be published before being realised so the authenticity of the information will quality and reliable. The research found in books are also commonly well researched because they are also looked at by publishers. The disadvantages of books is that they take a long time to be published roughly between 3 – 6 months. So the information that is given by the time the consumer receives it may be out of date. Another disadvantage would be an authors bias, so the way to avoid that would be to check the authors ethos and credentials.

Newspapers

Newspapers are printed publications which contain content such as news regarding current events, informative articles, diverse features, editorials, and advertising. Newspapers are printed on low-grade paper. Newspapers typically publish stories on local and national political events and personalities, crime, business, entertainment, society, and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing editorials written by an editor and columns that express the personal opinions of writers. The newspaper is typically funded by paid subscriptions and advertising. A wide variety of material has been published in newspapers, including editorial opinions, entertainment, weather news, and forecasts. The advantages of newspapers are that they are that they cover current and up to date events, news and opinions so nothing is out of date. Also, Newspapers can contain reliable information such as statistics and figures in their articles. They also include images to help develop a better understanding of the audience who may not know exactly the story behind what is going on in the article. The disadvantages of newspapers are that there can be a lot of bias in articles because they are mainly peoples opinion. Furthermore, some articles like in tabloids use and twist information to create entertainment out of it for the audience. Finally, the content may be influenced by political loyalties so it will promote the ideas of the politicians which fund or publish the newspaper.

Audio visual products

Audio visual products refers to information be communicated through perhaps a person presenting information at an event through a talk whilst having a slideshow of images and quotes to help reference what the person is speaking about, as well as a video containing information, whilst audio explaining using information. The purpose of this is to develop the audience comprehension of the topic being discussed. The advantages of audio visual products are that it gets the attention of the participants so they will be more involved and it will be easy to follow and feel more like a conversation to the audience rather than a one-sided un-empathetically presented information, such as perhaps a video. Another advantage is that having images and the explanation puts things into a better perspective. Some Disadvantages of audio visual products is that it is easy for the audience to lose focus if its not presented in an interactive and effective way. Additionally, participants might pay more attention to the graphics than the audio, so there needs to be a balanced ratio of both audio and graphical images.

Quantitative

Ratings

Ratings in the media is a ranking of a products consumption by the general public in order of what is the most consumed. This information is presented and published in statistical percentage form. However as well as percentages they are sometimes presented as Star ratings out of 5. With 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Ratings are most commonly shown for TV, Radio and Film sectors of the industry, because they are the industry types, which have products fixated on the audience’s entertainment consumption. The advantages of showing ratings is that they are statistics which makes it very easy to order or rank the most consumed product to the least consumed product. Additionally, ratings allow the audience as well as companies to know what are the most popular and respected products for the public, which could sway the opinions and decisions of other members of the audience to consume that same product. The disadvantages of ratings are that they can be subjective to bias as not everyone has the same likes and dislikes. Also the ratings may not entirely be true because the audience may not be consuming the information in the product but only adhering to using it as a source of background noise.

Survey responses and collation

Survey responses and collation is where Responses from a survey are essentially the results of a survey and what the participants of the audience answered in response to the questions asked. The advantages of survey responses and collation is that they are they are easy to analyse and to be made into statistical form, which is more precise and easier to present to people for them to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the conclusion according to the results. An additional advantage would be that it gives the research a clear basis of any trend and patterns in the results, allowing there to be extensive questions to be raised and research to be made to further prove or disapprove of a statement or argument. A disadvantage of survey responses and collation would be the types of questions used in the survey as they could be intentionally be favouring a response, which would create the illusion of specific patterns and trends being there, when really they are unreliable.