What teens (really) want
Posted: September 4th, 2009 | 2 Comments »I just discovered Nielsen’s conference and report on teens, interesting findings that debunk a few “exciting but false” notions. Teens can read newspaper, react to traditional advertising,
“The notion that teens are too busy texting and Twittering to be engaged with traditional media is exciting, but false,” [...]. Instead of replacing traditional media with new media consumption, teens are simply making time for both [...]
Other myths that the report debunks are that teenagers’ preferences differ vastly from adults, that teens’ media and entertainment spending is insulated from the recession (they actually reduce it, with out-of-home entertainment more affected than in-home) and that traditional advertising can’t resonate with teens (once ads break through the clutter, teens like them more).
The leading type of media use among teens is still television, with the average teenager watching 3 hours and 20 minutes per day, debunking the myth of YouTube as the lead medium. Actually, Nielsen says that teens watch more TV than ever, with usage up 6% over the past five years in the U.S. [...]
Other key findings of the study include:
* Half of all teenagers use an audio-only MP3 player each day, while one in four watch video on an mp3 player.
* On an average day, one in four teens reads the newspaper.
* While teens multi-task in their media usage, this behavior may actually be lower than among adults.
* South African, Venezuelan and Indonesian teens are the biggest couch potatoes.
* 35% of U.S. teens may have DVRs, but they prefer live TV viewing.
Of COURSE Nielsen-sponsored research will say that kids are still watching TV, because if they’re not, Nielsen is out of business. Nielsen is THE company for measuring TV watching patterns and I think they have little credibility beyond that. I’ve never heard of people checking Nielsen’s figures for web usage or newspaper usage. Also, when I hear about teenagers still consuming ‘traditional’ print news, I picture all those kids on the tram flipping through the free “newspapers” looking for strange stories.
Agreed, these guys have strong reasons to preach that TV does not go down. At the same time it’s not the first study relativizing the “death” of TV, and I wonder if we (new media folks) are not underestimating the cultural factor. It’s not because TV is not practical and full of crappy ads that people stop watching it, it’s gotten in our genes more than we think. And I’m still amazed how TV programs (American Idol, SpongeBob, etc) shape the discussions of kids. They must be watching them somewhere.