DON’T look now, but Filipino children may just end up playing a significant role in ensuring that the local economy rebounds from the crisis at a healthy clip.

In fact, the latest survey of cable television channel Cartoon Network shows that local kids from the age of seven to 14 have increased their economic power sharply over the last two years.

The survey, called New Generations 2009, revealed that some 3.7 million kids in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao—the country’s three largest and most economically powerful cities—will hold a combined stash of pocket amounting to P34.7 billion for the entire year.

On top of this, the demographic group will also receive a combined P7.6 billion in gift money from parents, grandparents, godparents, and the like.

All told, Filipino children hold an estimated P47 billion in spending power, according to Jeremy Carr who is vice president for regional entertainment advertising sales of Turner Entertainment Networks Asia Inc.

Economic force

This latest figure represents a 13.5-percent increase in kids’ spending power compared to the P37 billion reported in the 2007 edition of the New Generations survey.

“When you think about it, kids are an economic force to be reckoned with,” he says. “They affect a lot of purchasing decisions made by families.”

Carr flew in recently from Hong Kong to present the results of the survey to the media, and also to convince more local advertisers to air their ads over Cartoon Network, touting its unique access to young viewers.

The 2009 survey reveals that television continues to be the “only, universal daily medium” used by children, with 95 percent of all 7- to 14-year-olds watching TV on a daily basis.

Not surprisingly, the survey also shows that Internet use has skyrocketed in recent years, with 39 percent of Filipino children now finding their way online everyday.

Thus, Internet use is now the second most important daily activity for Filipino children, shooting up from its number five ranking in 2007.

Sadly, this came at the expense of reading nonschool books, which slipped from the second spot to number five over the last two years. Only 25 percent of Filipino children now make a daily habit of reading nonschool books, the survey shows.

Rise of video gamers

Listening to music held its third place spot, with 35 percent of Filipino children naming this as a daily activity.

Playing handheld video games also rose to the seventh spot from ninth two years ago, while reading newspapers dropped down a notch to eighth from the seventh spot in 2007.

Nine percent of Filipino children aged seven to 14 read newspapers, the survey says.

“We’ve seen a significant shift in recent years, especially in terms of Internet use,” Carr says.

Because of this Cartoon Network has also developed a large stash of online content, which compliments the cartoons and children’s programs it airs on its cable channel.

This becomes even more important when noting the results of the survey, which shows that 78 percent of Filipino children go online to play games, while another 61 percent do so to watch videos.

“That is why we’ve put a lot of these on our website, which is the most-visited website for Filipino kids,” Carr says.

The survey shows that, in total, ABS-CBN is the top network of choice for Filipino kids, with 25 percent choosing the channel over the 22 percent that chose ABC 5 and the 20 percent that chose GMA Network.

Cartoon Network came in fourth with 12 percent of total surveyed children choosing it as their favorite channel.

When restricted to cable television viewers alone, however, Cartoon Network shot up to the top of the chart, with 26 percent of children choosing it as their favorite.

The results also show why television remains the most dominant mode of advertising, cornering 77 percent of all advertising spending, he says.

43 million users

He notes, however, that the Internet is becoming an increasingly important advertising medium, especially in the Philippines, which now has an estimated 43 million users, 71 percent of whom access the Web in Internet cafes, while another 27 percent do it from their homes.

At the same time, the country has about 68 million mobile phone users for a 60-percent penetration rate—another prospective market for Cartoon Network, he says.

“We develop a lot of content and we’re very good at offering value and marketing initiatives that cross our platforms,” Carr notes.

So far, the firms that have jumped in to take advantage of the network’s influence on children’s purchasing decisions include fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers, confectionery firms and toymakers, he says.

Carr expects the recovering Philippine economy to come as a boon for the network and its advertisers.

“At the start of the year, we were expecting ad spending to decline by five to six percent,” he says. “But now, looking back, we can see that it has, in fact, grown by five to six percent.”

That can only mean that good things are in store for the network, for the Philippine economy and, most importantly, for Filipino kids who love cartoons.