MUMBAI: Currently, 57 percent of kids prefer television while only 10 per cent receive their entertainment via OTT. 33 percent of kids prefer to watch both television and OTT. Younger kids prefer television while older kids with more access to OTT platforms lean towards it. There exists a clear geographical divide in kids' preference for OTT entertainment where only 81 percent of kids surveyed in southern India preferred OTT as opposed to 56 percent of kids surveyed in eastern India.
Kids entertainment channel Sony YAY! has released its latest survey titled, SearchLight’22. This decodes the lives and habits of Indian Kids, in collaboration with Kantar Research. The psychometric profiling by the survey presents findings that highlight various trends across eight cities in the country.
The research derives its findings between educational and personal development and also entertainment preferences. It offers a deep dive into India’s young audiences aged between 7-14 years. It also undertakes region-wise bifurcation of the data, considering India’s geographical and cultural diversities, to highlight the preferred activities of kids from region specific markets.
On OTT platforms kids consume cartoons and animation content the most followed by music, educational/informational shows, hindi and regional movies and stand up comedy shows.
The journey from blackboards to keyboards is what kids witnessed through the pandemic, thus, to understand their learning preferences, SearchLight’22 sheds a few insights-
- Kids favoured online classes over offline classes due to rewatch option of online classes (29 percent), the comfort of home (28 percent), followed by the ability to attend classes they usually can’t physical (16 percent) and save time (15 percent)
- The top five activities participated by kids during the pandemic were tuition classes (76 percent), art & craft (24 percent), followed by sports (19 percent), dancing (18 percent) and singing (19 percent)
- The majority of respondents wishes for lessons to be held online (63 percent) while the rest wanted to go back to the pre-pandemic style of offline teaching (37 percent)
- Edutech platforms which rose to prominence during the lockdown saw that only 6percent of respondents had Edutech subscriptions while 7 percent respondents had not subscribed but attended Edutech classes. However, 39 percent had opted to use YouTube videos to learn concepts while 48 percent were not aware of the existence of Edutech platforms
With kids being limited to their homes owing to movement restrictions due to the pandemic, gaming became an essential part of kids’ entertainment. The following insights were inferred from the survey:
- One out of two kids enjoyed gaming on their phone
- Free games were core to their consumption
- 53 percent preferred to play solo while 44 percent were included in multiplayer games with friends and only 4 percent played multiplayer games with strangers
With the SearchLight’22 Decoding Lives and Habits of Indian Kids, Sony YAY! said that it takes a step closer to understanding the dynamic and evolving preferences and habits of Kids. The study also provides a comprehensive look at how multiple verticals of education, entertainment, gaming and merchandising affects kids and shape their opinions or preferences. This foundational study explores newer avenues to get to know kids better.
The survey was carried out in association with Kantar IMRB from October – November’ 2021 to understand consumption habits of kids across the country. The survey was further conducted across eight cities with 982 kids and 316 parents.
Sony Pictures Networks India business head-kids genre Leena Lele Dutta said, “As a brand practice, we constantly aim to follow an approach to “Explore” and understand our young audiences and their dynamic choices to deliver a wholesome experience across the platforms. With the release of Searchlight’2022, we are happy to present our learnings to the industry at large and assist in understanding this dynamic Target Group better”.
