Members of our Family Panel have been telling us for some time about the explosion of YouTube with children. A few years ago we heard from UK teachers, on our panel, about small children turning up at school with American accents – picked up from stateside YouTubers. And Covid saw a further shift to screen watching as the norm, everything from classroom lessons to Joe Wicks exercise classes. Further cementing the parental acceptance and the desire of children.
Parents continue to tell us how big screen TV watching for their children is getting less and less – and most of this appears to be catch-up, rather than watching live telly.
A recent article in Wired magazine highlights the future of Children’s TV being not Children’s TV, but an online platform, with Youtube being singled out. BBC’s popular Hey Duggee has some 2.5 billion views on YouTube and more than 1.7 million subscribers. Showing how creators can increase their brand through non-traditional platforms and find new/global audiences.
At the same time, we are seeing an increased interest in online tutoring, from polishing English skills to Maths tutorials – a more cost-effective way to swot for exams.