Kids Insights

Inset: Bluey peaked as the favourite TV show with 4-6s in April. Bottom: Bluey now encompasses the top five most requested CBeebies’ episodes on iPlayer.

Strength in linear

The Insights Family finds that, while linear TV may be facing fierce competition from streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, traditional TV still holds a prominent role in children’s lives in the UK.

With kids’ digital ecosystems becoming increasingly fragmented, linear TV has faced fierce competition from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ as more and more kids turn to streaming platforms for their entertainment. However, traditional TV still holds a prominent role in children’s lives. 15% of 3-18 year old kids in the UK have reported watching more linear TV than YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime in the last three months. Although, +26% more have reported this since March 2021, indicative of the growing trend. Kids Insights data highlights that 3-5s (16%) and 10-12s (17%) are the age group most likely to watch more of this type of content since March this year.

Something Blue

Since launching in the UK, BBC Studios’ Bluey has achieved overarching success. Our data identifies 4-6 year olds as the sweet spot for the show, whereby among this demographic in April 2021, the TV show peaked as the favourite (5.4%). This coincides with the release of Bluey onto CBeebies in April, which ranks as the most watched channel of 4-6s. The show now also encompasses the top five most requested CBeebies’ episodes on BBC iPlayer. With the linear launch resulting in Bluey obtaining its most popular month ever, this is suggestive of the ongoing success of linear TV. Brands can utilise this to their advantage

Inset: ITV has recently predicted a summertime ad spend boom on the back of the return of shows including Love Island.

through advertising and marketing strategies, as TV retains the title as the location in which kids in the UK are most likely to report seeing their favourite advert (40%). Among preschoolers, this increases to 42%, highlighting the lucrativeness of engaging these kids through traditional means of advertising. The popularity of linear TV is not subjected to the very youngest kids however. ITV has recently predicted a summertime boom in ad spend, with revenue increases of as much as +90% expected year on year. This comes on the back of the return of the European Championships, as well as hit show Love Island, airing on ITV2.

Analysing historical Kids Insights data, we can determine an increase in ITV2 viewership at the time of the 2019 and 2020 Love Island series.

What this means to you

Kid’s ecosystems become increasingly digitalised as they get older, suggesting to brands that the optimal audience to target linear TV related licensing and merchandise is at 3-9 years old.

Hit shows and sporting events can successfully drive older kids back to consuming traditional TV. For brands, while TV still holds a prominent role, brands must retain cross-platform integration within their marketing as the digital lives of kids become increasingly fragmented. This includes the coverage of linear TV, VOD platforms and apps alike.

The Insights Family has just released a brand new tool, the IP Index which enables brand owners, brand partners and retailers to identify the performance of their IP in relation to thousands of others, across multiple media types. With a score from 0-100, the IP Index shows the most popular characters and related purchase intent.

The tool provides data to identify new partners, spot opportunities, benchmark properties, and engage stakeholders with independent data.

The postponement of several popular events and series over the last year is likely to result in higher than average ratings as kids, tweens and teens seek content they haven’t been able to engage with for a year.

Left: The kids’ digital ecosystem is increasingly fragmented, but traditional TV still holds a prominent role in children’s lives.

The Insights Family is the global leader in kids, parents and family market intelligence, providing real-time data on their attitudes, behaviour, and consumption patterns. Every year the company surveys more than 362,100 kids and more than 176,800 parents. To learn more about IP Index and to get freemium access to The Insights Family real-time data portal, please visit: https://get.theinsightsfamily.com/ipindex..