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Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

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Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#51
post #10

Worth. Every. Penny. I went to my parents house with my son. He was 4. They turned on cartoons. Then he said, "Dad why'd you change the show? I don't want to watch this." It was a commercial. I had to explain commercials to my son. It was at that moment I realized how much of my tv watching as a kid was commercials.

Granted, my son now wants toys based on this "new" show he was watching and is sad to find out that toys for this are no longer made and the only ones that exist are collectibles.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to [1] the average US adult watches 4 hours 10 minutes of live TV per day. Personally that comes as a surprise to me - but I would expect Nielsen to know a thing or two about surveying TV viewership. [1] https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2018/time-flies-...

Wow. I thought the amount of time I spend with The Office reruns in the background on Netflix was bad, but it's nowhere near 4 hours bad.

I mean, is it bad? This is everyone I know back home. They go to work, come home, eat, and watch TV. It's a life. It's not for me, but like, what else are they going to do with their time? I could make a bunch of value-judgement statements like "they should read a book!" or "they should learn python!" but like, why? Who cares? They don't have ambitions beyond a comfortable life.

Just as my life is not for them, their life is not for me. At least they have some way to entertain themselves, whereas every second I spend relaxing comes with anxiety over whether I'm spending my time "usefully."

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#53
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article claims nearly 4.5 hours per day. I find that hard to believe... I don't know any children (in my admittedly biased sample) that watch more than an hour or two.

I probably watched more than that growing up so ymmv. I always wonder how they collect statistics like these. Questionnaires / self reporting by parents?

They install tracking boxes in the TV's of a sample of the population. This is done with the family authorization and often they get compensated for it. There's a lot of work that goes into choosing the sample so it's representative of the total population.

Source: a friend that worked in the field.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#54
post #42
post #10

Worth. Every. Penny. I went to my parents house with my son. He was 4. They turned on cartoons. Then he said, "Dad why'd you change the show? I don't want to watch this." It was a commercial. I had to explain commercials to my son. It was at that moment I realized how much of my tv watching as a kid was commercials.

To be fair, my favorite show growing up was Transformers. So technically even the show itself was a commercial.

I don't know how many PJ Masks toys and shirts I've bought based on that show.

The thing that got me as a kid was seeing all the cool food everyone else got that my parents wouldn't give me. I just wanted hot pockets in my house like they had. Kids will always want toys like the shows they like. But the other stuff isn't necessary.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#55
post #10

Worth. Every. Penny. I went to my parents house with my son. He was 4. They turned on cartoons. Then he said, "Dad why'd you change the show? I don't want to watch this." It was a commercial. I had to explain commercials to my son. It was at that moment I realized how much of my tv watching as a kid was commercials.

were the ads really all that bad though? I don't remember asking for much more than video games, board games, hungry hungry hippos, McDonalds, Sunny D, etc.

Kids today get crazy ads on Instagram and are asking for Supreme shirts, Yeezus shoes, Kylie Jenner makeup kits.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#56
post #39

The average 2-5 year old is spending over 1,600 hours a year watching television. This seems nuts to me. That is 4.5 hours a day! For a 2 year old? Who are these parents...

Average parents?

That just can't be the average. That must be the very top of the curve. For it to be the average, with the very bi-modal distribution coming from parents who have no-screens policies, the average in that other cluster would have to be like 8 hours a day. I just don't believe that's possible with any frequency.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#57

"The average 2-5 year old is spending over 1,600 hours a year watching television." This seems nuts to me. That is 4.5 hours a day! For a 2 year old? Who are these parents...

Childcare is super expensive. I think there are a ton of people who can’t afford it and use screen time to supplement. It keeps the kid safe in one spot while you can get stuff done. Keep in mind that letting a child play outside by themselves is essentially illegal.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#58
It's true but I don't like how I can't filter content for my son. He's 4yo and is a little prone to act in real life like the characters in the cartoons do and I would like to at least temporarily filter things that have fighting in it (like power rangers) because he tends to fight his classmates (they like it, the teachers give us endless grief about it).

No way to do that and it seems like a pretty basic form of control that should be table stakes for a kids oriented service.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#59

"The average 2-5 year old is spending over 1,600 hours a year watching television." This seems nuts to me. That is 4.5 hours a day! For a 2 year old? Who are these parents...

Yeah that was my first thought. Maybe kids are being saved from commercials but not from the screen.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#60
post #42
post #10

Worth. Every. Penny. I went to my parents house with my son. He was 4. They turned on cartoons. Then he said, "Dad why'd you change the show? I don't want to watch this." It was a commercial. I had to explain commercials to my son. It was at that moment I realized how much of my tv watching as a kid was commercials.

To be fair, my favorite show growing up was Transformers. So technically even the show itself was a commercial.

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