Amie Mills: NZ On Air Head of Funding on the new research revealing kids' media habits

New data has revealed the media platforms drawing Kiwi kids in, and there's been an unusual trend in the findings.

NZ On Air has just released the latest update of the Where Are The Audiences research series, and data shows two in three Kiwi kids are watching YouTube every day, with less reaching for locally made content.

NZ On Air's Head of Funding Amie Mills says TVNZ's trying to ensure it's in as many places as it can be in order to reach a solid audience.

"It's hard, we don't have a dedicated BBC or ABC in New Zealand, TVNZ is a commercial broadcaster, so they're struggling to survive alongside the other local platforms." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Together due to see it seeing past five hard en
up Goldie is that I don't is that the problem?
I don't know. Let me think about what the problem.
There was a problem, it was a major problem. I
don't know what the problem is. I'll think about it.
We'll come back to that. And just to take first
of all, it's just deal with the New Zealand on Air.
They've announced that they're setting up a YouTube account. This
is basically for New Zealand made kids content and basically

(00:21):
because it's because YouTube is where the kids are. New
Zealand on Airs research is telling them that two in
three kids between the ages of two and fourteen years
old watch YouTube every single day. Amy Mills is from
New Zealand on Air. Hi Amy, Hi, He that how
much New Zealand kids content is there?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
There is a lot of New Zealand kids content. New
Zealand has been funding kids content for the past twenty
plus years and so there's one hundreds of episodes and
there's current content that's up on local platforms that will
also live in YouTube. But there's also a lot of
evergreen content that can now have another life.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Right, so you're checking it all up, right, it's going
to be squirred and what now and Susie Cato and everything.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, we're carefully curating it and uploading it.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, okay, why don't you just stick it on TV
and Z plus.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Well, it's a great question. And the whole kind of
model that we're talking about at the moment is a
hybrid one. Like the idea that we keep going back
to is what's the research saying, and it's saying kids
are in this environment, we've got to look at options
for parents and kids. So there is content that it
does live both on TV and Z plus and on
a YouTube on could igo. A good example would be
something like toy Time, which is a really big driver

(01:25):
of used to TVNZ plus that lives on the platform there,
but then it's also across the road on YouTube, and
it does a lot more on YouTube because it's got
short form, cut down episodes and a lot of bite
sized content. So we're trying to look at it as aditive.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah. I mean the fact that because some of your
research suggests that parents actually don't know where to find
key we made key we at Kids content, which suggests
they don't realize that TV and Z has got this
stuff is that what it tells you.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
I mean, I think that's right. I think that's fair.
You just look at the dominance of where parents are
gravitating towards for their kids content. You ask themough where
they think it should be, and they do say the
local platforms. And I think the stats something about forty
one percent of kids are accessing it via the local
TV channels and on the video on demand platforms. So
we still have to be there, I think, as they
app yeah, but.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Then what does it mean do we not need to
have a word to TV and Z about how they're
marketing this stuff and all the awesome stuff they've got
on TV and Z plus that most people don't realize
is there Isn't that actually kind of the problem.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
I think that the kids content one, it's hard, right,
I mean, we don't have a dedicated BBC or ABC
in New Zealand. TV and Z is a commercial broadcaster,
so they're struggling to survive alongside the other local platform
So I think we're realistic about what they do. That's
not really our old to kind of comment on what
they're doing or not doing, but we're here saying we
need to make sure it's in as many places as
it can be and so that's why we're doing this.

(02:43):
Could I go launch in terms of the channels on YouTube, yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Amy listen, thank you. That's fascinating. I appreciated. It's Amy
Mills from New Zealand on app.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
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