Once upon a time, kids woke up on Saturday morning and raced to the TV to watch Scooby Doo or Land of the Lost. They had just a few networks to choose from and that was just fine with them.

Some ten years ago, they tuned into Nickelodeon or Disney Channel all day long. Waiting all week for Saturday morning cartoons became an antiquated way of watching when kids had constant access to Sponge Bob Square Pants or Dora the Explorer.

Then the age of on-demand viewing and tablet devices arrived.

Today, kids wake up on Saturday morning and grab their iPads or their Xboxes. They are just as likely to watch old episodes of Food Network’s Chopped or CBS’ The Big Bang Theory as they are to watch an actual kids show. Or they might choose to skip TV altogether and watch Frozen for the 24th time, play some video games or watch short videos on YouTube.

Those changes in habits have hit kids networks — and the media conglomerates that own them — hard, reports Variety. According to Morgan Stanley, live plus three day commercial (C3) ratings are down 30% among viewers aged 2-11 compared to last July. Meanwhile, C3 ratings for general entertainment networks have dropped an average of 12% among adults 18-49 over the same time period.

For networks, losing kids presents more of a problem than just falling ratings. It also means they are losing those early chances to develop brand loyalty and create future viewers.

To combat this trend, kids networks are fanning out across platforms. Creating online companion games for shows is practically a requirement for this demographic.

“The same people who are in the writers’ room thinking about what the next episode will be are also thinking about what will become a really great game,” Sara DeWitt, head of PBS Kids Digital, told Variety.

Beyond that, kids programmers are also working hard to create shows that not only attracts kids but also their parents. Parents may be giving their kids iPads, but they are also keeping a close eye on what they are watching. PBS’ The Sunny Side Up Show, for example, recently featured a guest appearance by Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, who was promoting the movie Minions, in which he played a voice role.

“Kids probably don’t know who Jon Hamm is, but just about every mom does,” Sprout President Sandy Wax told Variety.

Read more at Variety, and also see a list of all the upcoming kids’ TV shows.

Brief Take: Kids enjoy great content as much as anyone. How best to deliver it to them is the problem the industry needs to unravel.

Image courtesy of Variety via Disney DX

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