How the new viewing habits of families benefit advertisers

When the pandemic hit, families began spending more time together. Parents also put greater priority on being family-focused and present with their kids. And their top activity? Watching shows, movies and videos together. We saw this at Nickelodeon most recently during the “Kids' Choice Awards,” which had the highest level of co-viewing in KCA history. More than half of kids watched with an adult, a triple-digit increase over last year.

The rise in co-viewing is one of several shifts in viewing behaviors that will help marketers and advertisers reach audiences of all ages. Consider this: While Nickelodeon is known as a kids’ brand, we reach an audience that includes two adults for every child. Plus, since kids are increasingly influential when it comes to household purchasing decisions, understanding their viewing habits gives marketers a way to tap into their growing influence.

At Nickelodeon, insights and analytics drive our content strategy and our advertiser solutions. Our transformation from a linear network to a global brand gives us a unique understanding of today’s most impactful content and experiences, and allows us and our advertising partners to be everywhere our audiences are.

Big streams, big screens, big impact
Overall, media consumption is up. The average kid consumes five hours of media per day, an increase of 7% from 2018. And streaming is now the top platform, with time spent nearly doubling over the past three years.

We’ve felt this shift at Nickelodeon, as one-third of our content is consumed via streaming. Our linear reach gives us an advantage, as we can funnel audiences across a broad ecosystem of premium content that includes streaming. Nickelodeon is the top brand on Paramount+, accounting for 40% of all streams, and more than half of Paramount+ subscribers watch Nickelodeon content. With the added value of streaming, Nickelodeon’s viewership has more than tripled.

One thing that hasn’t changed: TVs have the biggest impact. That’s why I like to say that the living room couch is still the most important place for advertisers to reach kids and families. Audiences are most attentive when watching content on a TV screen and parents are more attentive when watching with their kids. And streaming and the TV screen go hand-in-hand. In fact, 95% of Nickelodeon’s digital consumption happens on television.

In our research, we found that co-viewing increases the effectiveness of ads. When families watch together, kids and adults are more attentive. The majority of kids are more likely to request—and the majority of parents are more likely to buy—brands that are advertised while co-viewing.

We also know that by leveraging multiple cross-platform advertising solutions, campaigns become more impactful and influence purchasing decisions. When an ad is seen across multiple platforms, 70% percent of parents are more likely to pay attention and 76% of kids are more likely to request a product, according to The Family Path to Purchase study.

All of this is great news for advertisers. It means that through ad-supported streaming and immersive, cross-platform content experiences, you can reach and influence a growing share of the kids and family audience when they’re most attentive, and within a premium, brand-safe environment.

Insights into action
At Nickelodeon, we’re on all the platforms that kids and families care about, so our clients can be too. As brands move closer to our content, our fans move closer to our brands.

For example, to address the increasing importance of streaming, we created a Kids and Family bundle on our digital ad-buying platform EyeQ. This bundle gives brands a seamless way to reach the Nickelodeon audience across Paramount+, Pluto TV and our entire Nickelodeon digital ecosystem, and adds a 50% incremental reach to linear buys.

We’ve also made it possible for brands to capitalize on co-viewing and cross-platform content consumption. A great example is “NFL Slimetime,” a show that taps into kids and families enjoying football together and introduces a new generation to the sport in a fun and engaging way.

We partnered with Hasbro’s Nerf, Lego City and “Clifford” on integrations during the inaugural “NFL Slimetime.” Nerf created a two-part branded programming series featuring Terry Crews and his son Isaiah. Lego City Stuntz weaved in custom animations of its beloved characters in Slimelights. And for “Clifford,” star Darby Camp made her picks in a Fantasy Showdown segment, with Clifford himself making a larger-than-life on-field appearance during Slimelights. The campaigns leveraged EyeQ Kids & Family, Nickelodeon YouTube and social to reach our audience on all platforms.

At Nickelodeon, we have an enormous responsibility to kids. During the last two challenging years, we continued to serve kids and families with the most relevant and authentic content. As families spend more time together watching content, the opportunities for our partners to reach these audiences will continue to expand.

For more information on how the pandemic has impacted today’s kids—including family dynamics, media consumption and shopping behaviors—click here to learn more about The Family Path to Purchase study. And, stay tuned for our upcoming study—a deep-dive on families and how the last few years have impacted their behaviors, attitudes, and values with the goal of identifying trends within the family landscape.