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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.

21 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 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:Well... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Funny

      The girls in the seventh grade thought I came from a "poor" family because we didn't have cable to watch MTV and we didn't own an Apple ][ computer.

    3. Re:Well... by Neuronwelder · · Score: 3, Informative

      In the 1980's Cable was free of commercials!! You paid for the service and they gave you no commercials in return for your money.. Then endless unregulated greed came to town.. Yes folks! You now get 1000's of channels (of duplicates). I wonder if people caught up with this trick?... On the other hand: If you offered 40 commercial free channels (Of your choice.), it would be plenty for $20.00 bucks a month. Save your bandwidth for cable games, for people who want to pay extra!!

    4. Re:Well... by sudden.zero · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I beg to differ. I have many Beta and VHS tapes of the first days of Cable TV, and there are no commercials, at least not things other than shows, on any of the tapes. There were advertisements for other shows on MTV, but there aren't any ads for things like Food, Electronics, etc. They had what were called shorts, and these were clever little cartoons in-between shows, but not actual advertisements.

    5. Re:Well... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 4, Informative

      The premium TV channels are still commercial free (except for some between-program ads for other shows/movies on the same channel; which are primarily used to fluff out movie times so they start/end at roundish numbers.)

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  2. Good or not? by Calydor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Without having commercials to teach you that companies consider you a never-ending open wallet, and that they WILL lie to you to get your money, will these Netflix-only kids grow up to be or more less naive about the honesty of other people and companies?

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    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    1. 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.
    2. 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).

    3. 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.

    4. Re:Good or not? by swillden · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My favorite show as a kid was The Transformers. If we're to be honest it was first and foremost a half hour commercial for the Hasbro toy line. This is nothing new.

      The reason Pebbles, daughter of Fred and Wilma Flinstone, was a girl rather than a boy was because the producer noted that girl dolls sell better than boy dolls. That was 1962. There's nothing new here.

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  3. I've forgotten too by hawguy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I haven't forgotten commercials entirely, but I've forgotten what they are like, and they are super annoying. Last time I stayed in a hotel, I flipped on TV and tried to watch a show -- I didn't make it past the first half of the show before I flipped off the TV and went to my laptop to watch Netflix because I couldn't stand the ads.

  4. Only Comment by darkain · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The only comment on the article's page is very accurate: "META: this article is a commercial for Netflix."

  5. On the other hand.. by ddtmm · · Score: 4, Insightful

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

    1. Re:On the other hand.. by ichthus · · Score: 4, Funny

      And, 100% of kids in BitTorrent-only homes think they know what Netflix is.

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      sig: sauer
  6. Re:Stats? by Agent0013 · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

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    -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  7. Almost sounds like my kids by Agent0013 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My daughter has lived her six years with no cable television so far. While watching the Olympics last year on over the air signals she found the commercials to be her favorite part. When you never get to see them they are new and cool I guess.

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    -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  8. YouTube is filled with ads... by Dzimas · · Score: 4, Informative

    YouTube videos are smothered in ads and kids experience them all the time. Netflix shows are also rife with subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) product placements. Live action shows feature massive luxury homes, Macbooks everywhere, fancy cars and shiny mobile phones. All that stuff acts to normalize expectations. It is brilliant and very effective marketing.

  9. The scary part by pesho · · Score: 3, Informative
    It could be just me, but I wouldn't worry so much about the kids on Netflix not knowing what a commercial is. You would kind of expect that. What worries me is that

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

    . I am sure these kids will grow up and learn what a commercial is, but considering the amount of commercial on American TV it is hard to believe that they have not been heavily exposed to those.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.