Today's school age children have been labelled by media commentators as ‘the connected generation'. They have grown up with online, digital media: a world in which they will always be more comfortable than their parents. According to educational guru Mark Prensky, ‘children are the natives in the digital landscape and we, the adults, are immigrants': a sentiment that is bound to be shared by any parent reliant on their tech-savvy child to help them down-load their favourite album from iTunes or pause live TV on Sky Plus.
Observations of children's media behaviour reveal two common traits- active consumption and multi-tasking - both of which will have significant implications for the future of the media industry. It is bizarre that the term ‘couch potato' is often associated with children's television viewing. In fact, children are anything but passive when it comes to their consumption of media. As US advertising publication Ad Age commented, "This new generation of kids are not viewers, listeners or readers: they are users". Years of immersion in computer games and the latest websites has given our children a thirst for interactivity. Not surprisingly, this has made them among the most avid users of the red button to access interactive television services. Text-voting or text-based competitions have also become a staple for most television shows targeting children and families.
Today's children are also consummate multi-taskers. They appear able to watch television, play a handheld computer game and read a comic, all at the same time. According to the Keiser Family Foundation - a US-based health information and research charity - over a quarter of 8-18 year olds consume two or more forms of media simultaneously at any given time.
Multi-tasking is, in part, a product of the sheer abundance of child-oriented media. Up until 15 years ago the majority of children only had access to four terrestrial channels which showed children's programmes only during specific time slots: before and after school. Today, according to Ofcom, 63% of family homes have access to digital channels, giving children a choice of over 20 dedicated channels, many of which broadcast throughout the day. And in these homes, 66% of children's viewing is of non-terrestrial channels, compared to 47% of adult viewing. The growth in the number of television channels has been mirrored by a dramatic expansion in access to online content, powered by broadband: 49% of 7-16 year olds had access to broadband at home in 2005, compared to 24% in 2003. It is hardly surprising that children's bedrooms have been turned into multi-media pods, full of the latest entertainment technology: more than three quarters of 11-14 year olds have televisions in their bedrooms, most of which are linked to a gaming console.
Children are also at the head of the curve when it comes to embracing mobility. One in four 7-10 year olds own a mobile phone and much mobile behaviour, from text messaging to the unpleasant trend of ‘happy slapping' has originated with the school age audience. Media owners, such as Nickelodeon, are already supplying programming to 3G mobiles to satisfy the mobile entertainment needs of their viewers.
Do our media behaviours as children follow us into adulthood? If this is indeed the case, then the best way to predict the media environment in the next decade may be to ignore the predictions of the media forecasters and instead observe the way that our children consume media. This is not a universally accepted view, with some commentators arguing that media behaviour adapts with life stage. For example, self declared media pluralist Richard Eyre believes that multi-tasking, for example, is ‘a moment in time, an immaturity that will be ironed out as communities resolve around preferred communications media'. He goes on to say that ‘however promiscuous, no one will be juggling media this way beyond a certain age'.
However, if we accept the idea that many of these childhood behaviours will be retained into adulthood, the implications for media are profound. The first conclusion is that despite the inexorable rise of digital channels, there will be a place for what the industry defines as traditional media. Watching television remains children's favourite pastime, despite the competing attractions of the web. Print-based channels can also take some positives from an observation of children's behaviour. Book reading among children is actually on the increase, thanks, in part, to the J.K. Rowling effect.
In order to retain the attention of their young audiences, brought up on a diet of YouTube, Bebo, 3G mobile and red button interactivity, media owners have had to provide ever more immersive and involving experiences. Television programmes are louder, faster-paced and highly interactive: even some pre school channels now offer red button interactivity. Meanwhile computer games manufacturers are caught in an ‘arms race' of technology, competing constantly to deliver the most exciting and exhilarating experiences. This pressure on media owners is unlikely to abate as children enter adulthood: their commercial survival will depend on the ability to deliver high levels of interactivity and involvement, both in the home and on the move.
