Half of 5-15 year olds are watching OTT television services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Now TV. But it is YouTube that has emerged as the platform of choice, particularly among 8 to 11 year-olds, where Vloggers are an important source for content and creativity.R
Regulator Ofcom’s Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2018 shows that while TV sets and tablets dominate device use, but time spent watching TV on a TV set is decreasing.
Online gaming is also rising in popularity with three-quarters of 5-15s who play games do so online.
There are changes even among 3 to 4 year olds, where the time spent online has increased by 1 hour. For the first time, 8-11s join 12-15s in spending more time on the internet than watching TV on a TV set.
One third of 3-4s (32%) and half of all 5-15s (49%) say they use OTT television services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Now TV. While viewing of live TV declined in 2017, BARB data shows that for children ‘unmatched viewing’, which includes VOD services like Netflix increased.
And the days of a favourite show may also be at an end. While films were the most-mentioned favourite content on OTT. Among children aged 5-15 no single programme, box set, film or other type of content was nominated as a favourite by more than one in ten respondents.