Posted on Wed, Jan 20, 2010 @ 02:52 PM
It's a "snow day" here in Iowa - to be more precise, a day off from school because of an ice storm. With sleet hitting my office window I read the latest study on young people's use of media released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It says that kids from the ages of 8-18 are plugged into some kind of media virtually every minute of the day except when they are in school. New York Times article on Kaiser study
Don't believe it? I've been watching what my 16-year-old daughter is doing today. She's bored, stuck at home in the ice storm and there's no way she's driving anywhere. But the broadband connection is alive and active. She got up this morning and read her text messages, bouncing back and forth with friends. Next was Facebook for an hour while listening to music on YouTube in the background. More texts. She checked the weather on a local television station's website, but also cross-checked on weather.com. Saw a little CNN, got bored and played X-Box Live with a couple of "guy friends." Watched part of a local noon newscast, but only because someone else turned it on. Ran on the treadmill while listening to her iPod. Took a shower, the FM radio blaring in the bathroom, and then watched MTV while messing with her hair. And it's only early afternoon!
Should local television stations be worried about their future consumers? Only if they are married to a single delivery platform. If my daughter and everyone in the Kaiser study is any indication, the market for content is almost unlimited. We just have to figure out how to get it in front of them and make some money doing it.
- John Altenbern