Parents Still Rely On Watershed

Parents still rely on TV’s “watershed” of 9pm as a major means of controlling their children’s viewing, according to new research commissioned by the BBC, ITC and BSC. Published today, the qualitative research document Viewers and Family Viewing Policy aimed to investigate the relevance of the watershed and family viewing policy in the changing media environment.

The study found that the watershed was used especially in the case of pre-school and primary school aged children. “In an age when children have a good deal of autonomy, parents find the watershed the best guide to the suitability of programmes.” said Sarah Thane, ITC director of programmes and cable.

The research also uncovered a generally positive approach towards the growth of technology within the home, although parents admitted that their own lack of knowledge made it hard to control usage through internet filters and so on. Some of the children interviewed in the course of the research admitted to knowing how to get around these features by finding out pin numbers and passwords. Several comments reproduced in the report also expressed concern about the use of large banner adverts and pop-ups which may lead children, inadvertently or otherwise, to unsuitable web destinations.

Andrea Millwood Hargrave, research director at the BSC said, “These findings also point to the need for a better understanding of the part which other means of protecting children from unsuitable material – such as filtering and labelling systems – can play. We are jointly comissioning a study to explore this.”

Copies of the policy are available from the ITC Viewer Relations Unit, priced £5, or downloaded from the ITC website.

BSC: 020 7233 0544 www.bsc.org.uk ITC: 020 7306 7743 www.itc.org.uk

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