Parents covet couch time with their kids

December 16, 2011 by Wendy Goldman Getzler

Roughly 60% of US parents see watching TV as a means to connect with their teens, according to a recent study conducted by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and C+R Research entitled Watching Gens X, Y, & i.

The driving forces behind parents’ desire to watch with their kids may stem from the fact that nearly half of them claim to monitor their teens’ TV viewing, especially parents of 13-to 14-year-olds, and 56% of parents of this same age group believe there are things on TV that are not appropriate for their child to watch.

The study, designed to understand the TV consumption habits of American youth, also finds that friends and family are most influential when deciding what to watch (this holds true for each age group). Kids ages 13 to 17 (42%) are almost twice as likely to co-view with their friends compared to 25-to 34-year-olds (22%). Those same 13-to 17-year-olds tend to watch TV/movies in a common area more so than older teens and young adults, and 13-to 24-year-olds are more likely to revert to their room for video games and using the computer.

Tags: C+R Research, Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing