TORONTO – Concerns over content prevents parents from letting their children select TV programming, according to research commissioned by Netflix.
The research, conducted last week by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Netflix in Canada, looked at Canadian families' television viewing habits to understand how parents and children watch television together and alone.
It found that 61% of parents would like to give their children the ability to select their own programming, but 67% worry about what they're watching. Also, more than 40% of kids have been accidentally exposed to something on TV that scared them or have seen commercials that were not suitable for them, while some have seen a movie alone that required an adult present.
Other highlights include:
– Three out of four parents are worried about the advertising their children are exposed to and four out of five parents say watching programming without commercials is important;
– Three-quarters of parents find it important not to be restricted by traditional TV scheduling;
– Letting their children select the TV shows and movies they watch together is important for 86% of Canadian parents;
– When it comes to selecting their own programming, 72% of parents say their child typically asks for the name of a TV show or movie while 34% say their child references a character instead; and
– Parents' desire to give their children more discretion over what they watch increases as their child gets older, but the concern about what their children watch does not decrease.
"Canadian kids are watching an average of 69 minutes of programming alone," said David Watson, director of product innovation, kids and family, for Netflix, in the report’s press release. "The Netflix 'Just for Kids' section within the Netflix website ensures parents don't have to worry about what their kids are watching, when they're watching TV on their own or with friends."
For this survey, a sample of 1,013 parents of children aged 12 and under from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online between March 20 – 23, 2012. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe.
