PRESS RELEASE

Westfield, NJ & Menlo Park, CA; April 5, 2002:   If they could only have one medium or media technology, more children would choose the Internet, with television placing second and telephone third. These are among the findings of How Children Use™ Media Technology, a newly released, in-depth study from Knowledge Networks/Statistical Research (KN/SRI).

Given a choice of six media, one-third (33%) of children aged 8 to 17 told KN/SRI that the Web would be the medium they would want to have if they couldn’t have any others. Television was picked by 26% of kids; telephone by 21%; and radio by 15%.

For the top three media, results were dramatically different among girls and boys. Twice as many boys (34% versus 17%) chose TV as their must-have medium, while telephone was more than twice as popular (31% versus 12%) among girls. The Internet placed first with 38% of boys and 28% of girls.

How Children Use™ Media Technology was conducted as part of The Home Technology Monitor™, a year-round service tracking which media technologies consumers own — from mobile Internet access to DVD players — and how they interact with those devices and services in their everyday lives. How Children Use™ Media Technology looks at such important topics as:

• which media technologies kids have in their bedrooms;
• activities kids are most likely to combine with media use;
• roles of adults, siblings, and friends in guiding kids’ media choices; and
• connections between kids’ Internet site visits and TV viewing, and vice versa.

Knowledge Networks helps clients understand and increase their ROI on consumer investments. The company brings together an exclusive set of consumer research resources, including the only Web-enabled research panel that is representative of the entire U.S. population. In conjunction with its expertise in brands, media, advertising, and analytics, Knowledge Networks uses these resources to pinpoint specific steps clients can take to maximize efficiency in reaching and selling to consumers. Other Knowledge Networks services include segmentation, pricing, product configuration, advertising research, and media.

In 2001, Knowledge Networks acquired assets and expertise from Statistical Research, creating Knowledge Networks/Statistical Research (KN/SRI). KN/SRI is one of the country’s leading authorities on consumers’ use and ownership of media and technology. Studying children’s interactions with media has been a KN/SRI specialty for over 10 years.

For more information, contact David C. Tice (Vice President, Client Service) at (908) 654-4000, ext. 302, or dtice@knowledgenetworks.com.