Dive Brief:

• A study on the TV viewing habits of kids and teens from eight to 18 years old, threw caution into modest positive numbers for broadcast television.
• The PwC study found more than half of the surveyed audience preferred streaming shows, but still watched almost eight hours of live network broadcast television weekly, surpassing video game playing and online video watching.
• Contrasting these survey results, marketers are increasingly putting budgets into digital ads.

Dive Insight:

Traditional media, such as broadcast television, is still trembling at the now passed tsunami wave of digital. Research, such as the new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), shouldn’t make TV feel any better about the newest generation of viewers. Reporting on a tiny sample size of 511 children and teens, the research found more than half of the eight to 18 year olds surveyed said streaming TV online was their preference, but at the same time reporting watching more broadcast television than playing video games or viewing online videos. These results should give traditional media more than a little pause, especially since the numbers were skewed by results from the youngest of the participants.

One indicator that marketers are moving on from traditional channels is the rapid increase in online video ad spending with a $1.1 billion shift from TV to digital between October 2014 and June 2015.