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82% of Kids in 'Netflix Only' Homes Have No Idea What Commercials Are (exstreamist.com)

Posted by msmash on from the weird-studies dept.

Two anonymous readers share a report: We decided to survey parents of young children (below 10 years old) to see how many kids in "Netflix only" homes knew what commercials are, compared to those homes who watch regular television. We surveyed 100 parents (50 Netflix-only homes, 50 normal television homes), here were their responses: 82% of kids in Netflix only homes don't know what commercials are. 38% of kids in regular television homes don't know what commercials are.

10 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. Well... by Parker+Lewis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The same was true for cable TV when I was kid.

    1. Re:Well... by swb · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What? Cable TV was almost never "commercial free" except for maybe 5 minutes at the dawn of the cable channel industry.

      My first sighting of cable TV in suburban Minneapolis showed commercials on the "cable" channels.

      And of course re-transmitted over the air channels always had commercials because it was just a closed-circuit feed of the OTA signal.

    2. Re:Well... by Parker+Lewis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Can you realize that maybe we were kids in a different time. When cable TV started the appeal was: 1 - you'll pay to watch commercials free TV; 2 - better programs. Now we have none.

  2. Re:Good or not? by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have the same worry with my kids, who don't even know how to control the FIOS part of the TV. But I also find the irony of wondering if television commercials are good for kids quite amusing.

    --
    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  3. On the other hand.. by ddtmm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    100% of kids in Netflix-only homes know what bit torrent is.

  4. Re:Stats? by Agent0013 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    50 parents. We are not told how many kids were in the study.

    --

    -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  5. Re:Good or not? by El+Cubano · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Without having commercials to teach you that companies consider you a never-ending open wallet

    You must not watch very many recent movies or television shows. They movies/shows have become the commercials: product placement.

    In same cases, the movies have essentially become mildly entertaining infomercials for kids (e.g,. the Lego movies). In other cases, the movie is a way to get kids to want the inevitable avalanche of associated merchandise. Kids didn't need commercials to know that they wanted the Frozen lunch box or the Cars backpack. To quote the wise Yogurt, "merchandising, it's all in the merchandising" (you will have to imagine the funny accent).

  6. Alternative headline? by asylumx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    38% of kids in regular television homes don't know what commercials are

    Isn't that the more surprising figure? 2/5 kids in a typical home (which has a TV which children watch ~24hrs/week) don't know what a commercial *is*. Oh, I see, the question was to the parents, "Do your kids know what commercials are?" -- This is a survey on parents' opinion about what their kids 'know'. The headline maybe should read "82% of Exstreamist readers who are parents in netflix-only homes think their kids don't know what commercials are" because technically that's all they've indicated.

  7. Re:I call BS by pesho · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I call bullshit on this one. There is no way you can actually watch cable TV and not know what a commercial is. Even with a DVR you'll still see them.

    Keep in mind that we are talking about kids under ten. If nobody explained to them what a commercial is it is very likely that they see it as normal TV show.

  8. Re:Good or not? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I found with my kids, they actually just seemed to want to less stuff than a lot of kids their age.

    My kids are the same. I asked them what they wanted for Christmas, and they said they already had nice laptops and phones, and didn't really need anything else. When I was a kid, my "wanted" list filled several pages.