Kidoodle.TV Examines What Children Are Watching

Kidoodle.TV’s latest comprehensive research study looks at how U.S. parents are approaching screen time.

The family-friendly, Safe Streaming service Kidoodle.TV has long been committed to ensuring that what children are watching adheres to the highest standards. The company’s latest comprehensive research study, the 2021 It Takes a (Digital) Village Report, asked more than 1,000 U.S. parents of kids ages 18 months to 12 years how they’re approaching screen time, where they need support and what they’re envisioning in a future that looks beyond Covid-19.

“This kind of research is important to us at Kidoodle.TV to ensure that we are providing parents with the support they need and helping the industry adjust to modern parenting and what families expect,” says Brenda Bisner, the chief content officer at Kidoodle.TV, owned by A Parent Media Co.

The report identified some challenges to kids’ safe-viewing habits on other streaming platforms. One is that auto-recommendations are still suggesting inappropriate content, with 86 percent of parents saying they’d seen auto-suggested content that was inappropriate for kids. Also, adult-only ads, like political ads and ads for spirits, are appearing on popular kids-only platforms outside of Kidoodle.TV, with 42 percent of parents reporting that their children have seen ads for a product that was meant solely for adults.

While parental controls can help to monitor and regulate children’s media consumption, they’re not as widely used as one would think. Of the parents surveyed, 45 percent only occasionally used controls, and 13 percent never used them—either because they didn’t know how to or because kids figured out how to bypass them.

As a result, parents identified the need for humanizing kids’ tech, Kidoodle.TV finds. While there are safety measures to limit nefarious content, 50 percent of parents said their children saw content that was too mature for their children’s age (citing violent and explicit content). Using real people, rather than algorithms, is one way to eliminate this risk. A resounding 92 percent of parents wish that auto-playlists for kids’ streaming videos were vetted by humans rather than bots.

“As children’s media executives, we should be held to a higher standard when addressing the needs of kids and their families, and this research pinpoints the trends that serve to inform and hopefully help to eliminate risks associated with inappropriate content being accessible to children,” says Bisner.

Additionally, while much talk has been made about the value of representation and inclusivity in children’s programming, it seems that diversity is still limited in kids’ content. Only one in five parents (21 percent) report feeling that their children see themselves completely represented in the media they watch.

Looking to the future, Kidoodle.TV has identified some trends. Co-viewing content, for one, should see a steady rise. Back in June 2020, the Co-Viewing Snapshot Report revealed that 52 percent of parents were co-viewing more often since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. When asked what they would prefer to watch with their kids while co-viewing, parents say they enjoy shows made with the entire family in mind, identifying wellness and health, music and creativity as key genres.

While limits on screen time were largely disregarded as a result of the pandemic, there does seem to be a shift back toward regulation. The It Takes a (Digital) Village study finds that 35 percent plan to reduce screen time for their little ones post-pandemic. However, some parents have seen the benefits of increased screen time, especially for kids interacting with wellness and fitness-focused content. The report finds that 65 percent see their kids getting more screen time going forward.

“Screen time is here to stay, and many parents are realizing that it’s a useful tool to keep kids connected, keep them moving and can be both an educational and recreational resource,” says Bisner.