Kids’ TV Memories: Audience Perspectives on the Roles and Long-term Value of Australian Children’s Television

This report presents findings from research designed to better understand the ways adult audiences in the streaming era experience, express, and channel nostalgia for children’s television from their childhoods, particularly Australian children’s television. Quantitative and qualitative data and findings from a nationwide survey and semi-structured interviews form the basis of this report. The Australian Children’s Television Cultures research group gathered unique, robust data through an online survey that targeted adults who grew up watching children’s television. The survey was titled “Children’s TV Shows from Your Childhood” and ran for six weeks from August 23–October 3, 2021. Semi-structured interviews were also undertaken with 21 participants from a range of age groups and different regions of Australia. These interviews were analysed to gain more nuanced qualitative detail to complement the quantitative and qualitative survey findings. This report locates and investigates intersections between nostalgia, creative industries, and screen technology. It offers unprecedented insight into how and why Australian adults have accessed Australian children’s television from the past, and the deep and lasting impacts of Australian children’s television on multiple generations of adults. The findings and outcomes of this project will help to shape the future of children’s TV in Australia.