• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, October 20, 2022

No surprise that kids can bug their parents for lots of purchases. But what will be their influences -- and actions -- down the road?

Right now the major sources are digital media, video games, and other stuff.

A new study from video company Precise TV and Giraffe Insights, confirms this -- and some.

One major platform is YouTube.

YouTube commercials drive nearly three times as much purchase behavior as any other platform, according to a survey of 2,000 families in the U.S., which includes kids between the ages of two and 12 years and their parents. 

The biggest YouTube content attraction is “Ryan's World,” “Peppa Pig,” “Cocomelon,” “Nickelodeon” and “Little Baby Bum.” 

Teenagers and co-viewing? Yeah, right. Little mention of what those viewing habits are. Personalized media -- full of ever-bigger echo chambers -- take on bigger influence.

The Precise TV/Giraffe report also talks up a majority of families continuing to co-view content on both video-on-demand, connected TV (CTV) and live, linear TV. 

This is not all that new. Co-viewing has been a big component of other kids oriented media for years. Just ask the executives at Nickelodeon or the Cartoon Network.

And the report also notes high co-viewing of content among major premium streaming platforms such Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Paramount+.

A similar study released earlier this year from Future Today, a free streaming channel provider,  says co-viewing is growing on streaming, and that 93% of parents are “engaged” when presented with an ad for adults while co-viewing, with 88% saying their children are “engaged” while co-viewing adult-focused ads.

A harder question is, what about five, ten years from now? What kind of future purchasing decisions will be made after their exhaustion with YouTube and/or even video gaming?

Where will kids -- becoming young adults -- move to 10 years from now? Will that be a new streaming version of Netflix or Disney+? Perhaps it means the next fun social media iteration after, say, TikTok or Instagram.

And muse about the next question: Will they be co-viewing with their young children? And, if not, what will they be doing?