The Kids Choice Awards (KCAs) is a unique show bringing music, celebrities, humor, glamour and unexpected surprises to kids. Also, a lot of slime.

The show took place on March 29th in the US and was immediately localized for an international audience, airing the next week across all Nick channels. Excluding the US, over 13 million people tuned in around the world, with a record-breaking 173 million votes cast in the weeks leading up to the show.

To find out how viewers interacted with the KCAs and what they thought of the show, we spoke to 879 kids aged 6-14 (as well as their parents) in Europe and Latin America.  Fieldwork took place in the week after the premiere aired in each market.

The KCAs isn’t just something kids stumble upon, it’s something they look forward to–9 out of 10 say they found the build-up to the show exciting.

Engagement

The KCAs is much more than a TV show. In addition to watching, our audience interacted with an average of 6 different touch points. These included talking to friends/family (68%), seeing an ad/promo (54%), voting (44%), sharing content/opinions (44%), visiting the official website (40%), watching clips online (35%) and seeing coverage in a magazine (24%).

Voting is a vital part of the KCAs, empowering kids with input into who wins the awards and giving them a way to interact with the channel. In fact, 87% of kids agree that being able to vote makes them feel part of Nickelodeon’s world. After music performances, kids reported that being able to vote was the second most enjoyable aspect of the KCAs. In addition to engaging them beforehand, voting clearly has an impact on their enjoyment of the show.

Family appeal

Over half of kids who watched the show on TV say they viewed it with their parents, demonstrating its appeal for families as a whole.

Among parents who watched, 8 in 10 say they enjoyed the show (rated 7-10 on a scale of 1-10) and 9 in 10 agree that it gave them something to talk about with their kids. This connection was especially important for parents of older kids (12-14).

Valuable advertising environment

We know the show is loved and appreciated—and these positive feelings also transfer to the advertising in and around the KCAs. Considering that this generation of kids often disregards the impact advertising has on them, an incredible 3 out of 4 kids said they paid attention to advertising during the show. Of these, 2 in 3 say they liked the ads (rated 7-10 on a scale of 1-10).

And it’s not just kids who appreciate KCAs advertising. Among parents, 77% believe the KCAs is a good place to advertise, and 7 in 10 agree that they trust the ads and think they’re relevant to kids.

The KCAs continue to engage and inspire kids. It’s something parents love, too.