A new national survey reports that kids are spending more time watching television despite added distractions such as the Internet. An annual survey by Solutions Research Group for YTV, showed that tweens – kids ages 7 to 12 – spend 45% of their media time watching TV, 14% on the Internet, 12% on video games, 11% on music, 11% on radio, 6% on DVDs and 1% on cell phones.

According to the report, 92% of kids report that they watch television compared to only 55% of the surveyed population who surf the net. The trend lines show that kids are using more media, including text messaging and gaming; it’s just not cutting into their TV time. Kids watch about 17 hours per week of television, according to BBM Nielsen Research. That’s about the same amount of time they spent in front of the tube 15 years ago.

Another report, conducted by Lisa Quan at Magna Global analyzing Nielsen Media Research data, offered similar insights. According to this US report, Tweens ages 9 to 14 and teens ages 12 to 17 have not reported a change in their TV viewing habits over the last year. The American report states that TV viewing by younger kids ages 2 to 11 is higher than it was five years ago.

Even the advent of new videogames and increasing online options have not altered television viewing habits, according to the Magna report.

Age is a key factor in media usage. The Solutions Research Group survey reports that although tweens are spending 14% of their media time on the Internet, teens ages 12 to 19 spend 25% of their media time on the Internet.