Kids' TV Trends: A global insight into the animation marketplace

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February 2012

Kids' TV Trends

A global insight into the animation

market place

By

Amandine Cassi, Head of Research,

Johanna Karsenty, Kids‟ TV Research Manager

Eurodata TV Worldwide (France)

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Table of contents

Foreword

Kids‟ TV Consumption stays strong

Continued growth of dedicated children‟s channels

When kids control the remote…

Animation, a universal hit

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The explosion in digital equipment has proved a catalyst for the renewed dynamism in international

broadcasting markets. It allows for an increasingly diverse offer, creates new uses and thus helps to

push up viewing times across the world. No sector has been more deeply affected by these changes

than kids' TV. While children today, more than ever, can't get enough of the small screen, the way

they watch content is changing fast.

Eurodata TV Worldwide unveils the latest consumption trends, global hits and local sensations in the

global animation market place, with a special focus on key international success stories.

Foreword

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Kids TV Report - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Kids’ TV Consumption Stays Strong

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Whether it’s a question of new models for receiving or broadcasting content, technology is evolving fast and

creating new opportunities, new modes of consumption, and requiring new systems of measurement.

With the development of DTT, a larger number of channels are on offer, which should encourage viewers, including

children, to spend more time in front of their television, as an increasingly diverse offer can better respond to the

desires of a wider range of targets.

Technology is thus central to the consumption of contents, which are becoming and will continue to become

increasingly multi-platform. TV, internet and mobile phones should together allow greater opportunities to watch your

favourite show at any time, in any place, and on any device.

The rise of the internet, new technologies and video

games has not distracted children's attention from the

small screen. Today‟s children are natural media multi-taskers

and early adopter of new interactive technologies. They expect

to interact with their favourite content and characters across a

variety of platforms. However, these media savvy youngsters

are far from abandoning the TV in favour of new technology,

and are in fact spending more time than ever in front of the

small screen.

The daily viewing time results for the whole of 2011 more than

confirm the trend already noted during previous years. Time

spent by kids watching TV is globally increasing, and in several

countries the growth is striking. Across the main European

territories, children's TV consumption remains strong with

a rise of nine minutes since 2008.

Technology is central to the consumption of contents

Children’s average Daily Viewing Time across France,

Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Relevant Partners - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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This global trend hides regional behaviours and local specificities. In general, eastern and southern

European countries are bigger TV consumers than northern Europe.

In Czech Republic, children are watching 2 hours 02 minutes television (+9 minutes vs. 2010) while Portuguese

children spend 3 hours 04 minutes a day watching television.

German children, meanwhile, continue to watch significantly less TV than their closest neighbours, with just 1 hour 33

minutes a day spent in front of the box, despite short school days for children under eleven.

In Finland, daily viewing time among children 4-14 stands at only 1 hour 18 minutes, 8 minutes less than in 2008.

This decrease should be put into perspective as regards different demo groups. The youngest children (4-9) are

watching 1 hour 18 minutes in 2011, only one minute less compared to 2008. The decrease is much more marked

among children 10-14, who watched 16 minutes less TV a day in 2011 than in 2008. This decrease can be can be

explained by a modest TV offer compared to other key territories (YLE2 is the main provider of cartoons and youth

programming), Finnish channels adopting strong online strategies increasingly supplying web-TV content, and pre-

teens‟ new behaviours moving from TV to the internet.

Regional behaviours and local specificities

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / ATO/Media Research (Cz. Rep) / AGF/GfK Fernsehforschung (Germany) / Finnpanel Oy (Finland) - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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TSV and big events sustain TV consumption

Among new behaviours, time shifted viewing (TSV) is helping to drive the increase in viewing time across the

world and audience measurement companies are progressively taking this into account.

Both France and Italy introduced the time-shifted viewing measurement in 2011 which contributed to the rise in daily

viewing time in these countries. In 2011, French children spent 2h18 every day in front of TV, i.e. an extra 6 minutes

compared to 2010. This is the highest increase among “the big five” European countries. Italian children remain among the

biggest consumers of small screen in Europe with a daily viewing time of 2 hours 42 minutes (+3 minutes vs. 2010).

The big sporting events of 2010 boosted TV consumption across the world, including among children. It is

therefore not surprising that after this huge rise in 2010, the time spent watching television seems to levelled off in 2011 in

some countries. The figures are nonetheless significantly higher than 2009. In the United Kingdom, daily viewing time

stands at 2 hours 27 minutes, 4 minutes less than 2010 but 10 minutes more than in 2009. In Spain, with 2 hours 38

minutes, the time children spend watching television is still 10 minutes a day more than in 2009, despite a slight decrease

in 2011.

In North America, the United States pushed up daily viewing time with an extra 5 minutes spent in front of TV in 2011,

standing at 3 hours 39 minutes each day. In Canada (English speaking), children are watching 3 hours 05 minutes, 2

minutes less than 2010 when Vancouver Olympic Games boosted audience.

Finally in Asia, a major centre for animation, children are particularly big consumers of TV in 2011: China (2h43, + 6

minutes vs. 2010), Japan (2h44, + 5 minutes), Indonesia (3h03, + 6 minutes) and Malaysia with 3h12 a day and an extra 9

minutes compared to 2011.

These increases seem to be driven by a twofold influence: an increased channel offer meaning that children have

far more options when it comes to live television, combined with the ability to access their favourite shows

whenever they want via catch up.

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Médiamétrie (France) / Auditel (Italy) / BARB (UK) / Kantar Media (Spain) / Nielsen Media Research (USA) / BBM (Canada)

CSM Media Research (China) / Video Research (Japan) / Nielsen Television Measurement (Indonesia & Malaysia) - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Continued growth of dedicated children’s channels

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Increasing dominance of the dedicated channels

The way children consume television and the platforms that they prefer has been profoundly changed by the

digital revolution and the growth of new technologies.

The lion‟s share of children‟s consumption of dedicated programming is now going to free DTT channels and kid-

dedicated platforms are continuing to eat away at the shares of generalist channels among the younger

demographics.

It surely comes as no surprise that kids, moving from the limited choice of children‟s blocks provided by generalist

channels to the 24/7 choice provided by DTT, cable and satellite are enjoying the opportunity to spend more time with

their favourite characters. Thanks to this multiplication of channels, especially children‟s ones, the overall offer of

youth programming has increased over the past years. However we can observe a decrease in the youth volume of

some generalist channels which chose to concentrate their children‟s offer on a dedicated sister channel. The is the

case for example for ITV1 in the UK, which saw the proportion of children‟s programs in its schedules drastically

decreased from 10% to 3% in favour of its sister channel CITV, launched in 2006.

The kids’ TV market in Europe is evolving faster than ever before with the rapid rise of dedicated digital

platforms giving kids greater choice about what they want to watch. Notably, in France, Spain and the United

Kingdom the “other TV”‟s market shares has increased from 20 to 30 points among children, mostly due to the growth

of the children‟s channels. This is combined with the (coming or completed) switch off of analogue TV loosening the

grip of traditional generalist channels.

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / BARB (UK) / Relevant Partners - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Increasing dominance of the dedicated channels

In Spain, where the switchover occurred in April 2010, Clan (TVE) experienced

massive growth over the past few years, registering a 21.5% share during the first

half of 2011 against 5.7% over the same period in 2009.

Another clear winner over the last twelve months in the country has been Boing.

Launched in September 2010, the Spanish version of the Mediaset owned Italian

kids‟ channel is making its presence felt with a 5.9% share on the same age group.

Clan’s average share

(children 4-12)

CCBC’s average share

(children 4-15)

In the United Kingdom, the children‟s channels of the BBC, CBBC and CBeebies

are also quietly continuing to increase their strength, with shares on the 4-15 demo

once again up year on year, despite the extremely wide and increasing choice of

children‟s channels available.

A special mention once again, however, should go to Channel 5, as one of the few

generalist channels surveyed to continue growing the results of its pre-school

orientated children‟s block, and simultaneously its overall share on the children‟s

target.

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Kantar Media (Spain) / BARB (UK) / Relevant Partners - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Increasing dominance of the dedicated channels

In France, one of the rare countries studied without a public DTT channel totally dedicated to kids, the free-to-air kids‟

platform Gulli (joint-owned by Lagardère and France Televisions) is also showing gradual but healthy growth, increasing its

share by 0.6 points to 12.1% during the first semester 2011, then peaking at 12,7% in August 2011, among children 4 – 14

in comparison with the first semester 2010. December is traditionally a weak month due to the Christmas special offer on

mainstream channels.

The shares of both TF1 and the France Televisions‟ channels on this target, however, are continuing a steady decline,

although TF1‟s power remains strong, with 20.7% of young viewers‟ time still being spent watching this broadcaster.

While in Western Europe the children‟s channels of the local

leading nets tend to have the upper hand, US based brands like

Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network take the lead or rank

close behind them in many other countries. In Poland Disney

Channel led the field with 6.3% (Jan-Jun 2011), in South Africa

it was Cartoon Network.

Nonetheless, in certain territories such as Russia and Hong

Kong the traditional children‟s blocks retain the lion‟s share of

viewing, possibly due to a slower / reduced technical

implantation of dedicated children‟s channels in some areas.

Market shares in % (January - June 2011) Total Day - Children 4-15

Poland

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Médiamétrie (France) - Nielsen TV Audience Measurement (Poland) - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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When kids control the remote…

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Time for school, time for TV

Although the key timeslots for children’s TV are of course dictated by school hours, they vary considerably

from country to country and are also strongly affected by cultural differences. In places where children tend to

go home for lunch, such as China, the Netherlands and Spain, there is a clear secondary viewing peak in the middle

of the day. On the contrary, in the US viewing remains strong and steady throughout the day, rising from 3pm to the

evening peak at around 8pm. In fact, in the States, the number of kids watching TV never falls below the 2 million

mark, even in the middle of the night.

Significant lunchtime viewing & later primetime peak Key slots lunchtime and primetime

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Kantar Media (Spain) / CSM Media Research (China) - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Kids Channels make their own Primetime

Children’s viewing might generally peak alongside that of their parents in primetime, but this doesn't

necessarily mean this is the top slot on all kids channels. Apart from the fact that in some countries like the UK

the main kids channels only air in the daytime, in many countries later viewing is dedicated to family content on the

generalist channels. In these cases, like Poland and South Africa, the leading children‟s channel in country can record

its best results at breakfast or after school, when children are more likely to have sole control over the remote.

Of course, when children don‟t have to go to school viewing habits change, the TV comes on a little later but morning

and in some case afternoon viewing is much stronger. Many children‟s channels take advantage of this to record

some of their best results in the mornings at weekends.

Cartoon Network - South Africa Total TV

Viewing peaks at breakfast and after school

South Africa

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / SAARF (South Africa) - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Animation, a universal hit

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Contents, the most important drivers of success

Aside from technological development and a growing channels offer, however, contents remain the most important drivers of success. Children do not watch exclusively cartoons and youth live action series, and they also appreciate family programmes including game show formats, series and sport events. Nonetheless, regarding children dedicated programs, animation clearly dominates the top rankings in a majority of territories such as Australia, France, Spain, Poland, Russia, Italy, South Africa and USA.

Animation apart, international TV trends show viewers’ preference for local and home grown productions. As an example, American productions clearly continue to be the most sold internationally, they nonetheless lose out in national top ten rankings around the world. We are not seeing the appearance of „universal‟ programs, but instead a growing globalization of narrative schemes and codes. This tendency is illustrated by the growing success of scripted and non-scripted formats. As far as finished programmes are concerned, only a few managed to ignite ratings worldwide.

Animation could, however, be seen as the exception that confirms the rule. Cartoon representations are naturally less culturally specific than „real people‟ and voices can be dubbed in local languages and even accents without disturbing the viewing experience. The result is that animation has always been able to travel across borders as a finished product in a way that other types of programming can only dream of. While the „universal‟ finished titles can find success around the world, narrative codes are simultaneously being shared between different styles of animation. The perfect example of this is Japanese manga, which has exerted a strong influence on European and American productions, while in the meantime finished manga formats manage to air in multiple territories, resonating with local audiences and ranking in best performing shows.

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Kids TV Report - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Global codes, local success

Looking at rankings of the top 15 children’s shows by country, some international titles come back again and again, alongside newer properties making a name for themselves abroad.

The long running adventures of the American Tom & Jerry keep on fascinating children from China to South Africa, from Russia to Australia. In the meantime, Spongebob continues to go from strength to strength around the world (China, Canada, USA, Czech Republic and Spain). The recent international coproduction The Jungle Book by DQ Entertainment (India), Moonscoop (France), ZDF Enterprises (Germany), Disney Channel and Universal Studios (USA), has already succeeded in positioning itself among the best performing shows with children and / or pre-schoolers in South Korea, France, Germany and Italy. Handy Manny (UK), Yu-Gi-Oh and Doraemon (Japan) rank among the best performing shows both in Asia (Taiwan, South Korea) and in Europe (France, Italy).

In France, the entire top 15 children‟s shows over this semester were animated formats. A strong taste for anime style shows was confirmed by the continuing dominance of the Japanese cartoon Beyblade Metal Fusion (Gulli), which held onto its place at the top of the ranking for the second semester in a row. French producers have not been slow to take advantage of this trend, and the distinctive anime „look‟ was noticeable in many of the home-grown formats present in the top, such as Galactik Football (Gulli), Spiez! (TF1), Wakfu (France 3) and Rekkit the Rabbit, making its first appearance in the top with TF1 after its launch earlier this year. The same enthusiasm for anime can also be found in Italy and Spain, with Detective Conan coming only just behind The Simpsons and Futurama (all Italia 1) in Italy, while in Spain Gormiti and Pokemon (both Clan) retained places in the top.

Sources: Eurodata TV Worldwide / Kids TV Report / Relevant Partners - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Perspectives

It is clear that children’s love for the small screen is showing no signs of fading, and animation remains at

the core of their TV viewing around the world.

The financial pressure that the industry has been placed under over the last few years has not only had the effect of

strengthening the power of major brands and boosting international interest in properties already going strong at

home, it has also encouraged production companies to look to alternative financing ideas such as coproduction. With

children‟s appetite for the genre showing no signs of abating, however, we can be sure that animation will find ways to

evolve to amaze and entertain kids with new trends and titles in 2012 and beyond.

To know more about all the hits and trends in animation and other children‟s programming, Eurodata TV Worldwide

and International execs from the animation market will take part at miptv 2012 in a discussion about global hits, local

sensations and key success stories. Save the date !

miptv conference “THE GLOBAL ANIMATION MARKETPLACE: The Big Picture”

Sunday, 1st April 2012 from 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM

Palais des Festivals, Auditorium A, Level 3

Cannes, France

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Created by Médiamétrie, Eurodata TV Worldwide distributes programming and audience

information, based on its partnership with the national institutes operating people meter systems

throughout the world. Today, Eurodata TV Worldwide‟s database contains more than 3000

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information including: content, production, international distribution and the audience levels for

targeted programs, all data emanating directly from the relevant authorized institute based in

each country around the world. This data provides a range of services which help in the

decision-making process of international media professionals. For more information, please

contact [email protected]

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