Some producers and broadcasters like to go right to the audience to test their show titles, and OTX Research has got ’em covered. This L.A.-based outfit has worked with all the major US kidnets and studios, and regularly conducts title studies for TV shows and movie projects through online polls with kids to find out which titles stick and which ones fall short.

OTX’s team approaches their surveys in many ways, depending on what kind of info a client wants to dig into. But a typical survey starts by presenting the poll group with a list of titles and asking them to rank the choices. Then they may be given a description of the series and/or shown a brief clip and asked whether the title up for evaluation increases or decreases their interest. Sometimes OTX even asks them to brainstorm some potential title ideas of their own.

Sample sizes range between 450 and 900 kids, broken down into subgroups by age (six to eight, nine to 11, and 12 to 14) and then again by gender. And depending on headcount and how much feedback the client wants, the cost can run anywhere from US$6,000 to more than US$10,000.

MD and EVP of media and entertainment insights Bruce Friend says OTX’s surveys are conducted with sample companies that run web communities for kids and parents, many of which have reward systems in place to incentivize kids to participate in the polls in exchange for points that can be redeemed for cool stuff. The sites are all COPPA-compliant, so up to age 12, parental permission is a must, and parents control any points earned.

All in all, OTX has access to between three and four million kid respondents and works through local partners in international territories including the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Australia and Japan, and the company is working hard to widen that footprint. It has also recently expanded into mobile and video games, which is now its fastest-growing segment besides TV.