The Future Of Children’s TV

Pre – school programming aimed at 2-5 year olds is in danger of losing its place in children’s broadcasting because of growing competition in the TV market, according to a recent study by the Broadcasting Standards Council (BSC) into the future of children’s television.

The survey was carried out between January and March of this year and comprised a number of interviews with broadcasters as well as an analysis of children’s TV over the last ten years. In his research Professor Jay Blumler found that between 1981 and ’91 the percentage of cartoons shown covered almost half of transmission time, whilst factual programming has seen a dramatic increase in that same period. ITV has cut its budget for children’s programmes by 40% to £30m in the last five years and the BBC has also made reductions, going down by 5%.

The main concern stemming from the study is the quality of children’s TV over the next ten years, with an increasing amount of channels available as well as competition between existing broadcasters. Professor Blumler questioned whether the ITC would be able to keep a tight enough rein to ensure that the educational value of children’s TV was not totally over- looked.