Children's Television

V

The 1990s

The television landscape in the United Kingdom began to change from the straight competition between BBC and ITV during the 1970s and 1980s, when audiences peaked at 9 million viewers for favourite series. During this decade audiences fragmented as a result of the proliferation of cable and satellite, the popularity of videos and computer games, and the availability of breakfast shows and family soap operas, such as the Australian Neighbours or Home and Away. Competition for children’s attention is fuelled by advertisers and merchandisers who seek to increase sales of toys based on television series. The early ideals of the BBC pioneers who sought to provide high-quality, life-enhancing material are harder to maintain in the frantic commercial marketplace. American cartoons were regular features of cable and satellite channels such as BSkyB, and some of the new cable channels—including Nickelodeon, the Children’s Channel, the Disney Channel, and Fox Kids TV—are dedicated entirely to the young audience. The pace, pop music, and bright visual style of the new networks were designed, like commercials, to grab attention and provide instant gratification.

The well-established terrestrial channels responded to the competition with an increase in their own specially produced programmes for different age groups and time slots. The BBC has extended its popular children’s dramas, such as Byker Grove, The Biz, The Demon Headmaster, The Queen’s Nose, and Juliet Jekyll and Harriet Hyde. ITV’s series Woof and Matt’s Millions and Channel 4’s soap Hollyoaks also targeted the young audience. The BBC’s classic serial was reinstated on Sunday afternoons, with co-productions with the United States such as Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Prince and the Pauper. Other co-productions were made with Australia, and with a group of European broadcasters in the animated series The Animals of Farthing Wood.

In March 1997, the BBC introduced Teletubbies, a radical new children's series—the world’s first to be aimed at children as young as 18 months. Controversially, characters speak in a “baby” language and use extensive repetition: these elements have been shown particularly to appeal to the pre-school age group. The Teletubbies’ world is a technological one—they have television screens in their tummies and aerials on their heads, for example. The success of this series has been phenomenal and it currently airs in over a hundred countries worldwide.

VI

Guidelines

The choice of material for children’s television is governed by guidelines established for home productions. These include an emphasis on high-quality writing and presentation, and the need for a clear distinction between reality and make-believe. Care is taken to avoid gratuitous violence, bad behaviour by role models, racial stereotypes, drug-taking, smoking, consuming unhealthy food and drink, the use of knives, ropes, or criminal techniques, cruelty to children or animals, explicit sex, swearing, and product advertising. Discussion of the possible ill-effects of violent action programmes led to the BBC’s first guidelines on violence, which concern all programmes, especially those before the 9 p.m. “watershed”, which ITV also adopted as the time when some programmes may be unsuitable for children. The guidelines do not ban all violence, but they stress that the consequences of violent behaviour should be shown and that news producers should consider the ages of the audience in the early evening. Alarmingly, a report from the BSC (Broadcasting Standards Commission) in January 2001 found violence, sex, and swearing on television had reached record levels. More than a quarter of incidents of swearing occurred before 9 p.m., the worst offenders being satellite broadcasters, who regularly breached the watershed guidelines. The Family Focus organization commented that “the people that lose out by watching this kind of filth are children who are highly influenced by what they see. Parents need to make a stand and take televisions out of their children’s bedrooms.”

These guidelines may well prove more difficult to maintain in the expanding digital age where problems with the uncensored Internet are already causing concern.

VII

Children’s Television Today

As emphasized by the influential Voice of the Listener and Viewer, the future of public service broadcasting for children is under grave threat as the UK market, already the most competitive in the world for young viewers, becomes even more crowded.

Twenty channels will soon be broadcasting to children in Britain, only five of which bear any positive public service programme obligations in regard to the quality, diversity, or source of their programming. The pressure this puts on programme-makers and schedulers to deliver bigger audiences at less cost threatens the future of many live and original programmes, despite their popularity.

To many working in the field, the future for both children and programme-makers looks grim without the introduction of imaginative fiscal measures to support the industry. Cutting the budgets of children’s programmes, they argue, is a shortsighted policy: there could be no better investment than funding programme-making of the highest quality for the adults of the future.

In 2002 Children’s BBC transmits over 30 hours a week on BBC1 and BBC2. It strives to maintain a high-quality output and diverse schedule with its pre-school programmes such as Bob the Builder, Teletubbies, and The Tweenies for three- to six-year olds; factual series including The Really Wild Show and Short Change; entertainment shows such as Chucklevision and Steps to the Stars; and drama such as Grange Hill, Byker Grove, Pig Heart Boy, and The Magician’s House, plus Newsround and Blue Peter. Children’s ITV is mandated under the ITC licence to transmit a minimum of ten hours a week. There is a varied pre-school schedule including Mopatop’s Shop and Dog and Duck, plus animation like Kipper and Hilltop Hospital. The information strand includes Art Attack and How 2, and entertainment programmes include Jungletots and Twister. Its drama schedule has been strengthened with the popular Worst Witch and My Parents are Aliens. Fungus the Bogeyman will air shortly. For the first time in 12 years ITV had a huge autumn ratings success on Saturday mornings with SM:tv Live hosted by Ant and Dec.

VIII

The New Digital Children’s Channels

More than 50 per cent of children currently live in multichannel households and this figure is expected to rise rapidly over the next few years. The BBC believes children and their parents should have the option of choosing advertising-free programmes made in the UK for UK children. In February 2002 the BBC launched two dedicated children’s services—CBeebies for two- to five-year-olds and CBBC for six- to thirteen-year-olds. Both channels are supported by interactive services and the pre-school channel carries support information for parents and carers. Children’s ITV has plans for a dedicated digital channel but there is currently no fixed launch date.

Channel 4’s educational service launched the Hoobs in January 2001—the first pre-school programme designed to encourage three-to five-year olds to use the Internet. The theme of each 25-minute episode is learning about the world.