Abstract
The Rating Survey on Young Children's TV Viewing is a public opinion survey of young children aged two through six living within a 30km radius of Tokyo with a purpose of measuring their TV viewing and use of recorded programs, DVDs, and internet videos per week, which has been continuously conducted by the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute. This paper reports the results of the July 2024 survey.
As to the weekly reach, overall television (real-time viewing, NHK and commercial broadcasters combined) was 63.3%, recorded programs/DVD 41.3%, and internet videos 68.8%, showing that television and internet videos are now on par with each other. The weekly average of viewing time per day was 41 minutes for overall television and 13 minutes for recorded programs/DVDs—both have decreased from 2022, while internet videos increased to 47 minutes, indicating that internet videos’ presence is growing in young children’s media use.
While TV broadcasts were used during meals and/or for viewing with families by many, internet videos were used in various situations. Nevertheless, when comparing with 2022, those citing that they want to view TV broadcasts for “having fun as a family” have decreased, which suggest that family viewing—television’s strength—is declining. Among internet videos, in addition to game commentaries and YouTuber videos, content that is also broadcast on TV, such as anime, was watched by many. As to the devices for viewing internet videos, “television set” is most cited (68%). With the same content viewed and the same devices used as those for TV broadcasts, the positioning of the internet appears to draw closer to that of television.
