MARKETING IDENTITY
DIGITAL GAMES AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ONLINE PRESENTATION OF TV CHANNELS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
Norbert Vrabec – Marija Hekelj
Abstract The report deals with the speci ics of digital games that are part of the online presentation of TV channels for children’s and adolescent audience. The aim of the study is to ind out the current offer of games and to categorize the acquired data from the point of view of thematic focus of games, their age suitability, language version, and the interconnection of digital games to TV shows and ilms that are offered by the particular TV channel. The method used in this study is a quantitative research focused on the digital games available on domestic and foreign TV channels which are available at Slovak operators of retransmission in cable distributive networks. The purpose of the report is also to present selected analytical data dealing with the conversion rate of web sites of these TV channels.
Key words: Digital games. Kids‘TV channels. Programmes for children and adolescents. Thematic focus of games.
Introduction
„Several sociological researches show that the generation born after 2000 can be described as a generation DYP, i.e. digital young people or digital children.”1 Play is a main activity of children enabling them to learn and get to know the world around them. Through play a child learns about social relationships and principles of behaviour. Playing digital games is rapidly becoming a part of an everyday life. They are not just games in a classical meaning of the word but are also a medium of promoting different kinds of information and a place for self-expression of generations of consumers and developers – they constitute of worlds that can at irst sight appear to lack a clear connection to what we perceive as real. In the true sense of the word, they are worlds as all the others, they do not exist independently of the society which has created and continues creating them due to its progress. The worlds rise and fall but the common denominator – a human being, remains. Computer games teach us about different situations that we would never experience, are ictional and interesting mainly to age categories of children and adolescents.2 The main purpose of computer games is entertainment for the players as well as earnings for the developers. According to Žbirková, by a game we understand a physical or mental activity with main objective of relaxation and fun for an individual. People encounter games in every age and developmental period while their content, form and role are constantly changing. The person conducting this activity is a player.3
1 LUKÁČ, M.: Museum Visitors in the Whirlpool of Social and Demographic Changes. In Selected Problems of Demographic Trends. Beroun : Nakladatelství Eva Rozkotová Publishing, 2016. p. 118-141. 2 NEMEC, M.: Players, Digital Games and Culture. [online]. [2017-12-10]. Available at:
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1 Digital games as a part of the environment
Digital technologies and Internet have provided people with a space that they gradually started to shape – to be able to survive in it, they have brought their personal habits and experience, partially also their culture and started to create their own cultures. They are „realised on social sites.“4 Virtual worlds and digital games have thereby become a part of this growing environment. An American game designer Chris Crawford in his study The Art of Computer Game Design de ines four categories of characteristic features of all digital games: • Representation – games create a notion of a real-life situation but, in reality, are not parts of it. Games represent various levels of abstraction of a real model, therefore their representation is subjective. • Interaction – according to Crawford, it is the key aspect of digital games. The player must be able to in luence the world of the game and receive meaningful responses to feel as connected to the game and its story as possible. • Con lict – every game has its objective which the player tries to achieve by overcoming various kinds of obstacles. The con lict can either be direct or indirect, violent or non-violent, but is always a part of every game. • Safety – it assumes that the con lict in a game does not have the same consequences as a con lict in real world (death in a game does not mean real death). Crawford considers digital games to be a safe way of experiencing real situations. This is practically often used in training of activities that could have fatal and tragic consequences if not being handled adequately, e.g. training of a take-off or landing of a plane.
„Commercial games can serve as effective tools for learning, greatly reducing the cost of introducing educational gaming into a classroom environment. However, care needs to be taken in doing so—the potential of commercial games varies greatly according to the outcome desired, and naïve game-playing will not yield good results.“5
2 Interconnection of television and digital games
“Cyberspace determinates contemporary education in two ways: by new understanding of information and by its new organising.“6 A game itself (not only a digital game) is essentially a leisure-time activity and entertainment, similarly to other free-time activities, like for example watching television or ilms and listening to the music. Digital games are being designed with a purpose of an effective spending of free time, relaxation and fun. Players play them voluntarily; they are consciously deciding to participate on a playing activity. Digital games often become an interest of a particular group of people and are a part of their free-time activity based on consuming of
4 IMROVIČ, M.: Participation at the Municipal Level and Social Networks. In Slovak Journal of Public Policy and Public Administration – Slovenská revue pre verejnú politiku a verejnú správu, 2016, Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 120. 5 PUENTEDURA, R.: I Taught It, Bought It at the Game Store: Repurposing Commercial Games for Education. In 2007 NMC Summer Conference Proceedings. Indianapolis : Indiana University, 2007, p. 33. 6 GÁLIK, S.: In luence of Cyberspace on Changes in Contemporary Education. In Communication Today, 2017, Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 37.
427 MARKETING IDENTITY commercial products created by the entertainment industry. “Educational games are argued to, for example, enhance learning, engage learners and provide such learning methods that correspond better with students’ requirements and habits.“7 Digital games are among the means of spending free time, consuming products of the entertainment industry and fun.8 “There are clearly many elements that games share with other representational or signifying systems. On one level, this is a well-known symptom of the ‘convergence’ that increasingly characterises contemporary media: games draw upon books and movies, and vice-versa, to the point where the identity of the ‘original’ text is often obscure.“9
Nowadays, the activities of watching television and playing digital games are often being combined. “There are emerging the completely new genre types – the online content and multi-platform genres. They re lect extraordinary abilities of the technical and technological realities and possibilities of the internet environment.”10 Specialized TV channels aimed at children and adults offer digital games that are connected to the content and are available on the channel in a form of an online version. Television market of children’s television networks is growing faster with a rapid growth of designated digital platforms. A recipient today is not reliant on passive reception of a limited amount of television channels. We are living at the age when TV stations are required to adapt to the demand of a spectator and he increasingly becomes an active participant of television content consumption. It is this factor that provides children with a greater possibility to choose what they want to watch. While, in the Western Europe, children’s television channels of a local leading network have a tendency to exceed the domestic ones, the most watched channels are those established in the USA. These are TV networks like Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.11
In Slovakia, popularity of foreign television production is increasing due to its availability through retransmission. Retransmission means: “reception and a simultaneous transmission of complete and unaltered original programme services or other audio, video or audio-video information from broadcasters, designed to be received by the public, carried out through telecommunication networks or devices, or through other technological system designed for reception and simultaneous transmission of programme services.“12 In a child’s concept of a story (from age two to seventeen), two types of response to storytelling exist. These can be found in early childhood and are being developed through subsequent cognitive phases. This combination evokes a position of a double player – a child watches a cartoon in the television on a Saturday
7 KIILI, K., KETAMO, H.: Exploring the Learning Mechanism in Educational Games. In Journal of Computing and Information Technology, 2007, Vol. 15, No. 4, p. 319. 8 FINE, G. A.: Shared Fantasy: Role-playing Games as Social Worlds. Chicago : University of Chicago, 1983, p. 25. 9 BUCKINGHAM, D., BURN, A.: Game Literacy in Theory and Practice. In Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 2007, Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 3. 10 PRAVDOVÁ, H.: The Convergence of Traditional and Internet Media – Challenges and Pitfalls. In Marketing Identity: Brandswe love I. Conference Proceedings. Trnava : FMK UCM in Trnava, 2016, p. 347. 11 CASSI, A., KARSENTY, J.: Eurodata TV Worldwide: International Kids’ TTrends. [online]. [2017- 04-12]. Available at:
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3 Specialized children’s television channels available in Slovakia
These specialized children’s television channels are currently available in Slovakia: • Rik TV started broadcasting on 1st of January 2015. It is a channel from the group of television JOJ, intended for a spectator of the age group from 4 to 12 years. This television broadcasts foreign content dubbed into Slovak 24 hours a day. Its programme is structured into ive blocks. The project of a children’s television Rik TV comes from a concept of a German company Your Family Entertainment AG. The German version also offers programmes for children (often of an educational character). Its guarantee of no violence in the programmes promises the parents that children are spending their time meaningfully. Its parent company Your Family Entertainment has approximately 3 500 half-hour programmes in its library.14 • Déčko ČT :D is a children’s television channel of the Czech Television for children from 4 to 12 years of age. The programme structure of the network is multi-genre and safe for children. The network broadcasts from 06:00 until 20:00 and offers live-action and animated ilms and fairy tales of an entertaining and educational character. It also offers various shows, competitions, daily news and other programmes designed for a child and adolescent spectator. • Disney Channel is a world leading brand of television broadcasting for children. In Slovakia it started broadcasting on 19th of November 2009. Disney Channel Slovakia targets two different age categories: 2 to 5 years old children and children aged from 6 to 14 and their families.15 • Duck TV is a television transmitting cartoons, animated ilms and mini series that bring entertainment for the youngest television viewers. It is a holder of a certi icate kidSAFE. This means that the television has been independently checked, certi ied and added to the list of kidSAFE products as safe and therefore approved.16 • Baby TV is a TV channel for toddlers, children of a pre-school age and their parents. It is distributed worldwide through FOX Network Group. It has been launched in 2003. It is broadcasting in 18 languages in over 100 countries. Baby TV is trying to offer high-quality educational programmes and inspiring television formats developing cognitive and emotional elements of child’s personality. • Megamax is a children’s television network aimed at children, mainly boys of an age of 8 to 12. It is shared through AMC Networks International Central Europe registered in Prague. Its programme consists of adventure, action, fantasy and
13 KINDER, M.: Playing with Power in Movies, Television, and Video Games. Chapel Hill : University of Carolina Press, 1991, p. 7. 14 Hospodárske noviny – Rik TV prichádza, aký program ponúkne nová televízia. [online]. [2017-04- 22]. Available at:
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comedy programmes, while minimum of 60% of the production comprise animated programmes.17 • Minimax is a central European television channel aimed at mostly animated TV series for children. It has been broadcasting in Slovakia since 2003.18 • Nickelodeon is a children’s television network targeting older children, launched on the territory of the Slovak Republic in 2010. The network is focused on programmes for children – both live-action and animated.19 • Nick Jr. is a television aimed at pre-school children.20 • Disney Junior is a TV network aiming at children of a pre-school age and younger school age. It belongs to the Disney Channels Worldwide group owned by Disney Company. It provides educational and entertaining animated programmes designed to be watched by children and their parents together.21
All these networks offer also online games for children, available at websites of these televisions. They are mainly connected to a theme of an animated ilm resulting in children’s clearer understanding of the videogame rules and recognizing characters in the game. According to Švelch,22 games based on ilms are selling well but neither critics nor real gaming enthusiasts, except for some exceptions, take them very seriously. Immersion in the linguistic and cultural environment is clearly a very important factor in the acquisition of a second language.23 This means that adaptation of one medium to another is a wasted effort to “get” deeper to the principles of computer games, to the roots of their aesthetics and to a dramatic development of relationships between younger and older medium. When playing the game, a player tries to form appropriate playing strategies in order to solve the problems that the game provides to him/her. In the beginning of the game the player forms a playing strategy based on his/her prior experience. 24
4 Objectives and methodology
This study uses a quantitative research strategy aiming at digital games available at websites of domestic and foreign television networks that could be obtained through Slovak operators of retransmission in cable distribution networks. Our objective is to determine an actual state of television networks for children and adolescents and accessibility of digital games through Slovak cable operators, to categorize obtained data in regards to thematic focus of the games, their age appropriateness, language version and interconnection of digital games to television programmes and ilms
17 Megamax. [online]. [2017-04-22]. Available at:
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5 Results
Table 1 shows 10 specialized children’s television channels that are broadcasting through retransmission in Slovakia and are offering digital games for children and adolescents at their websites. The table shows number of online games available at the website of the network and language mutation of digital games available. By quantitative content analysis we have found out that network with the highest number of digital games is Minimax. Overall, there are as many as 96 games available to children, thematically connected to animated programmes broadcasted by this channel. Games are available in Czech language and are aimed at children and adolescents regardless of gender, ergo at both boys and girls. The provider of this television network is a Czech company AMC Networks Central Europe s.r.o. Except for the Czech language; the games are available in other languages of Central European countries – Slovene, Hungarian, Romanian and Bosnian. The games are not available in Slovak language probably due to a strong relation of Czech and Slovak languages and also due to the fact that children in Slovakia commonly watch children’s television channels in Czech language. Another interesting inding is that the only specialized TV channel broadcasting from Slovakia – Rik TV – does not offer any games to the visitors of its website. Provider of this channel is a Slovak network of commercial TV channels - JOJ Group which, in its portfolio, also has television services JOJ, Plus, Wau, JOJ Cinema and Huste.tv aimed primarily at adult viewers.
Table 1: Number of digital games at websites of children’s television channels and language mutation in Slovakia Number of TV channel Language games Rik 0 Slovak Déčko 92 Czech Disney Channel 11 Czech Duck TV 6 Slovak Megamax 24 Czech Minimax 96 Czech Nickelodeon 13 English Nick Jr. 30 English Disney Junior 38 English Baby TV 20 English Source: Own processing
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By a quantitative content analysis of websites of the TV networks we have found out that a Czech television network Déčko has the second broadest proportion of digital games in its portfolio. It is a specialized television channel of Czech Television which is a public service broadcaster on the territory of the Czech Republic. It is, though, also possible to watch its channels in most Slovak households, as they are offered by the Slovak providers of retransmission. Déčko television, whose target groups are children and adolescents, has 92 digital games in its portfolio. Majority of them is aimed at children of age between 4 and 12. The games are of an educational and entertaining character and are all available in Czech language. Some games are related to the structure and content of regularly broadcast programmes that are a part of the programme structure of this television network. Déčko television also provides special edition games, like Christmas edition, ergo games that are being offered in pre-Christmas and Christmas time.
According to our indings, television network Disney Channel divides games into three thematic categories: games based on television programmes, games based on ilms and mobile applications. The last category consists of games for mobile devices, most of them paid. All the games are thematically designed on the basis of the programme content, i.e. the actual content of the children’s network Disney Channel. There are 11 different games to be chosen from. They are aimed at age categories that this channel specializes in. Following a content analysis of programme structure in the period of last 6 months we have concluded that programmes and TV series offered by Disney Channel are aimed mainly for older children and adolescents. More than 70% of the programmes consist of live-action series starring older children and teenagers, i.e. protagonists of the same age group as audience targeted by this TV channel. The network is provided by global group Disney Channels Worldwide which is a part of media group of companies Disney. For younger spectators it offers a television channel Disney Junior. On the website of this television, 38 digital games are available. All games are strongly interconnected with themes from live-action and animated series broadcast by the above mentioned channel. The games are mostly of an entertainment character, some are also educational. All games are in English and target children of pre-school and younger school age.
Another television channel for children is Megamax, providing 24 videogames, all available in Czech language. These are animated games aimed primarily at boys of age 8 to 12. Themes and characters come from animated ilms broadcast by this television channel. Provider of this TV network is a Czech company AMC Networks Central Europe s.r.o. A similar group of spectators is targeted by a globally operating television Nickelodeon, its portfolio dominating programmes for an older age group of children. By a content analysis we have learned that a website of this television includes 13 basic games thematically linked to a programme structure of this television. Versions of the games are created and inspired by fairytale protagonists but also programmes broadcast by this television. The games are of an entertaining and educational character. On the TV website, applications are also available (they can be bought also in a version for mobile devices). For Slovak spectators the games are not available in Slovak language, they are available in English through Slovak providers of retransmission. Provider of this television network is Nickelodeon, a company which is a part of a global media group Viacom Media Networks. Slovak
432 #EDUCATIONandGAMES cable operators offer also another television channel for children from this media group – Nick Jr. This TV channel provides 30 digital games on its website. All are related to topics of animated series offered by this television network. The games are of an entertaining and educational character, aimed at younger categories of children of a pre-school age. They are colourful and bright, available only in English in Slovakia. A part of the collection of television networks available through Slovak retransmission providers are also channels specializing in the youngest age category of children. By a content analysis of its production we have determined that Baby TV owned by a globally operating Fox Networks Group, provides 20 different games of exclusively educational and non-commercial character. They are divided into four groups: video games that can be played after buying a corresponding application, Interactive book, Fun games and Activity games. The television broadcasts in 100 countries and offers its programmes in 18 language mutations. In Slovakia and Czech Republic it is, however, available only in an English version of its programmes and individual digital games.
A TV channel Duck TV is designed for the youngest age group, i.e. children in a toddler age. Its programme is fully adjusted to particularities and needs of this target group. It does not contain any advertisements, violent elements or dynamic and action scenes. This internationally broadcasting television for the youngest is provided by Mega Max Media Company. On its websites we can ind 6 simple games in several languages including Slovak. Duck TV also divides its games into three categories: 1. online games (this category offers 6 games of an educational character. Protagonists are connected to the heroes of the stories promoted by Duck TV network). Second category consists of a game Duck school. It is a game dedicated to older viewers. The third category comprises mobile applications available in several versions. They can be bought for a chosen time period – one month, three months or twelve months. Duck TV presents a choice of 2 possibilities of games – mobile application Duck mobile and Kiddo. Kiddo is an educational game for children up to 5 years of age which explains and familiarizes children with daily activities. An example could be a simple game called Tidying-up which aims at developing children’s sense for tidiness and a systematic approach towards sorting their things. Player’s assignment is to collect toys scattered around children’s room and place them in a box assigned for this purpose. For every collected object a child receives a star. After completing the collection of stars a child gets a present.
Conclusion
The phenomenon of computer games has recently become a popular activity among children and adolescents. A wide variety of digital games naturally brings them positive and negative experience. In contrast, the role of context in learning games is a potential area of study that, to date, has not drawn focus, despite the fact that the game design process, and games themselves, use context to great effect (immersing players in other worlds, or in deep narratives, or realistic simulations).25 Playing
25 MOSELY, A.: Learning in Context Through Games: Towards a New Typology. In 7th European Conference On Games-Based Learning. Conference Proceedings. Porto : Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, 2013, p. 409.
433 MARKETING IDENTITY games can help but also can impair real relationships with other people or obstruct social and emotional development of a child. Nowadays, children meet with digital games at an early age, parents give them a mobile phone or a tablet and these give them an opportunity to own and intuitively control for a moment.
The main topic of our paper was showing the particularities of digital games that are a part of online presentation of television channels aimed at child and adolescent audience. The objective of the study was to determine a current offer of games and to categorize data obtained from the point of view of a thematic focus, age appropriateness, language version and interconnection of digital games to television programmes and ilms offered by individual television networks. All these networks provide online games for children available at their websites. Most of these are interlinked with a theme of an animated ilm which leads to children’s clearer understanding of the rules of the videogame and knowing the characters of the game. Our quantitative content analysis has showed that the highest number of digital games is offered by Minimax television. Overall, children have 96 games at their disposal, thematically connected to cartoons broadcast by this television channel. The games are available in Czech language and are aimed at children and adolescents regardless of gender, i.e. girls and boys. The games are also available in some other languages of countries of Central Europe - Slovene, Hungarian, Romanian and Bosnian. An interesting inding is that the only specialized TV channel broadcasting in Slovakia – Rik TV – does not offer any games to visitors of its website. Television network Minimax has the most extensive representation of games at its website; the games in Slovakia are available in Czech language. Second most extensive offer of digital games can be found in a portfolio of a Czech TV channel Déčko. The games are of an educational and entertaining character and are all available in Czech language. According to our indings, a television network Disney Channel has divided its games into three thematic categories:games based on television programmes, games based on ilms and mobile applications. All games are thematically designed in relation to the content of the programmes, i.e. an original content of the children’s television Disney Channel. Television network Megamax offers 24 videogames, all being available in Czech language. On its website, TV network Nickelodeon has 13 basic games thematically connected to the programme structure of this television. Nick.Jr, contains 30 digital games and Baby TV provides overall 30 games that are on principle of an educational character. Website of Duck TV contains 6 digital games divided into three categories, all of an educational character.
References: Baby TV. [online]. [2017-04-22]. Available at:
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GRANT, S.: Immersive Multi-user Virtual Environments: A New Platform for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. In VICZIANZY, A. M., CRIBB, R. (eds.): Proceedings of the 17th Biennial Conference of the ASAA. Conference Proceedings. Melbourne : ASAA, 2008, p. 1-5. [online]. [2017-05-14]. Available at:
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Contact data: assoc. prof. Mgr. Norbert Vrabec, PhD. University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava Faculty of Mass Media Communication Námestie J. Herdu 2 917 01 Trnava SLOVAK REPUBLIC [email protected]
Mgr. Marija Hekelj University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava Faculty of Mass Media Communication Námestie J. Herdu 2 917 01 Trnava SLOVAK REPUBLIC [email protected]
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