Ofcom Gives Green Light To Less Kids TV For ITV1
Ofcom has given ITV1 the go-ahead to cut the amount of children’s shows it broadcasts this year from around eight hours on average to about five hours per week.
The five hours each week are not subject to scheduling restrictions, and ITV1 does not need to run the programmes in its traditional afternoon weekday slot. A proportion of the programmes will run on weekends.
“Having taken into account the opinion of Ofcom, ITV confirms that children’s output across 2007 will average around five hours of programming per week across ITV1 hours,” said the broadcaster in a statement.
“Including GMTV, the ITV1 channel is on course to broadcast in excess of 500 hours of children’s programmes in 2007.
“In addition, ITV continues to invest in the CiTV channel, which includes a high volume of UK-produced material and is available to around 90% of UK children.”
The broadcaster unsuccessfully approached Ofcom last summer to lobby for a significant reduction in the amount of children’s programming on ITV1.
The decision was seen as a blow to the broadcaster, which had been hoping to boost ITV1’s audience figures on weekday afternoons by getting rid of its CiTV programming and replacing it with daytime output aimed at a wider adult audience (see Ofcom Rejects ITV Cutting CiTV Programming).
The broadcaster has arrived at a compromise with Ofcom after taking into account a range of factors including the restrictions on junk food and drink advertising to children, which come into force this month (see IPA Claims New Ofcom HFSS Rules Are Flawed).
ITV said that it would continue to provide a wide range of children’s programmes with a “substantial proportion” of British programmes.
While ITV pledged to schedule shows at both weekends and weekdays the broadcaster added that it intended to “weight its children’s output to weekends, where the children’s audience can be reached more effectively on ITV1.”
“This is a substantially greater commitment than any of our main competitors. Indeed, it as much as the total commitment across BBC One and BBC Two combined,” said ITV’s director of television, Simon Shaps.
“All told, we believe that this represents a substantial commitment. There are real challenges for the funding of children’s programmes in the commercial sector to which ITV1 is not immune. Ofcom is right to have launched a review on this important issue and we will seek to play a full part in that process.”
In February, the communications watchdog began a review of the future of children’s programming in the UK as part of its overall programme investigating the future of public service broadcasting in the digital age.
The project will look at the state of children’s media in the UK, examine the role of television within this, explore prospects for future delivery of a wide range of high quality and original content for children and propose potential policy options (see Ofcom Begins Review Of Children’s Programming).
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com