Young people - especially men and women 18-24 - may be abandoning the tube, but television apparently still holds an attraction for children 2-11.
Total day usage for children 2-11 is at a
five-year high for October, finds a report released last week by Magna Global USA. The study, based on an analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for Sept. 20 through Nov. 10, finds that the gross
rating for kids 2-11 has actually grown to a 12.9 this year from a 12.5 in October 2002 and a 12.0 in October 1999. Magna's Lisa Quan said that individual dayparts show mild fluctuations but no
severe declines.
For October 2003, the highest level was 22.8 registered Monday-Sunday 8-11 p.m., up from 22.0 in October 2002 and 21.9 in October 1999. Another popular kids' TV daypart, 8 a.m. - 1
p.m. Saturday, posted a 22.0 in October 2003 compared to 22.7 in October 2002 and 22.1 in October 1999.
Magna said it was a battle between Nickelodeon and Kids! WB for top ratings, with gender
separating the two networks. Nickelodeon wins in total kids 2-11, helped by its dominance in girls 2-11 although WB has both boys 2-11 and total teens. But Nickelodeon's total kids 2-11 rating of 4.39
is about the same as it was a year ago, according to Magna, and its young kid demos have stayed the same or are up slightly except for boys 2-11 where Nickelodeon dropped 2 percent and total teens,
where Nickelodeon dropped 13 percent.
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Disney Channel is in third place among kids 2-11 on Saturday mornings with a schedule aimed at younger viewers. Cartoon Network is in fourth place, with ABC's
Saturday morning in fifth place.