Kids’ viewing ‘differing significantly’ between European countries

PAW Patrol

Kids daily TV viewing times and use of catch-up TV differ significantly between France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, according to a report by Eurodata/Mediamétrie.

According to the January-June 2018 issue of Eurodata TV Worldwide’s Kids TV Report, kids under 15 spent an average of one hour 39 minutes in front of the TV each day across the five countries surveyed. However, that figure disguises big differences between countries. Italian kids spent two hours 35 minutes in front of the box, while Germany children only spent an average of one hour 8 minutes watching TV.

The report found that use of catch-up TV also differs significantly between countries. In the UK, kids spend an average of 15 minutes a day watching catch-up, close to 20% of total viewing time, while in Spain and Italy, catch-up viewing represents less than 4% of daily consumption.

There were also significant differences between countries in the source of programming available on public channels. In the UK, 90% of programming on the BBC’s two kids channels – CBBC and CBeebies – are homegrown productions or co-productions. In Spain, on the other hand, 88% of cartoons broadcast on public broadcaster RTVE are imported. In France, some 40% of kids shows on France Télévisions’ channels were homegrown, with about 39% being imported formats and the remainder being co-productions.

Pre-school children watch public channels more than older children across all markets surveyed.

Shows that were popular with kids across international borders included PJ Masks and The Thundermans, while ranked highly in both France and Italy, and Paw Patrol, which ranks highly across Europe. French-Korean-Japanese cartoon Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir appeared in the top three in four countries and notched up 73.8 million viewing hours, outperforming shows including Alvin & the Chipmunks and SpongeBob Squarepants.