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| ENTERTAINING AND EDUCATING CHILDREN What lessons does the history of children's TV hold for the online world? June 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
How does your educational programming compete with "mind-candy?" To what extent do you listen to child psychologists and apply child development theories? How do you compete with small and independent producers? What are your priorities for children's programming? How do you decide which technologies to experiment with?
NewsHour Backgrounders
The NewsHour reports on the new television ratings and how they're playing with parents.
A new Federal Communications Commission rule requires networks to air three hours of educational programming for children each week.
Will V-chips make TV land safe for children? The NewsHour explains the technology.
The NewsHour reports on the impact of television violence.
February 8, 1996
The NewsHour reports on the new telecommunications act.
By the year 2002, 20 million children will be going online, according to communications analysts. Not surprisingly, the entertainment industry is scrambling to create attractive and suitable destinations for that massive sector of the population. Most Web sites for children are in their infancy. And it is unclear how successful they will be at both entertaining and educating young minds.
Many online producers come from the worlds of print and television. The new frontier of the Internet has given them the freedom to reaccess ideas of effective ways of reaching children, or as the President of Nickelodeon, has stated: "to do well on the Internet what was not done well on television." But can they?
When television was first introduced into Americans' lives, expectations were high that it would become a great educational tool. But it did not evolve that way. Instead, parents have complained for years that prime time TV programming has been filled with excessive and gratuitous violence, strong language and sexual content, and shows that glamorize harmful behavior and stereotyping. Creating quality online content will be a challenge. And making money out of it may even be more difficult.
The direction of children's television programming illustrates the dilemma. To increase its ratings, CBS recently announced that it would replace its Saturday morning cartoons with a news program for adults. NBC dropped its cartoon line-up in 1992.
In an attempt to revive quality children's television, President Clinton and child advocates have worked towards a new Federal Communications Commission rule that requires networks to air three hours of educational programming for children each week.
What can online producers learn from TV's struggle to provide quality content? Will they also find themselves facing a federal mandate requiring them to clean up their act?
Our forum asks: What are the problems with children's television?
As online entertainment competes with television for kids' time, how can online producers make sure they take the best of television and avoid the pit falls of sensationalism and appealing to the lowest denominator?
Our guests are Lucy Johnson, Senior Vice President and head of Children's Programming, CBS, and Drew Kristofik, Director of Content, Nickelodeon.
A question from Rick Nieber of Stamford, CT
I've watched my grandson watch TV and I can't believe it, but he likes "Married with Children" and "Baywatch" How do you compete? How can you make shows that educate while being entertaining? With all the mind-candy (a word I picked up from him, but he still doesn't avoid it) out there.. I admire your efforts, but I feel that you have an impossible task
Lucy Johnson, CBS, responds:
I'm not certain how old your grandson is, but many of the children we speak to who are in sixth grade or above do watch prime-time shows geared towards adults. You're right that it's very difficult for us to compete, but we know that kids love to learn and that some of their favorite programs have educational/informational integrity. With that in mind, we've strived to develop and air shows which are wildly entertaining while remaining educational in nature, among them: Sports Illustrated for Kids, Wheel of Fortune 2000, and Beakman's World. You'll see these new shows this Fall. There are many examples of these types of programs which have been successful with children and we're confident that we can add to the list.
Back to the top....
A question from Maria Barbera of Eureka, CA
What kind of academic research, if any, do you look at when you develop your TV shows? Are there child psychologist consultants? Do you take child development theories seriously?
Lucy Johnson, CBS, responds:
Understanding children from a variety of viewpoints is critical to doing our job well. We approach this process from three different perspectives by working with and talking to academics, adults (parents and teachers) and kids themselves. Our board of advisors (some of whom are child psychologists) look at all of our shows and give us valuable feedback on the characters, stories, themes, and settings. Each show has its own educational objective which these advisors help us to develop and adhere to. In addition, we talk to parents and educators-- two groups who have constant interaction with kids! Finally, we talk quite extensively with children to hear what they like and don't like. We do this in formal research centers and informally at schools.
Relative to your questions about academic research, we do our best to work closely with the producers of each of the shows to insure that the information which is given is accurate, and the behaviors exhibited by our characters is child appropriate. Child development theories often come in handy!
Drew Kristofik, Nickelodeon, responds:
Our programming is not designed to be "educational" or instructional, per se (except in the way that all information is educational). Therefore, we do not use educational consultants at this point.
Back to the top....
A question from Patricia Schwarz of Pasadena CA
I think the big difference between producing for the Internet and for television is that anyone with a computer and an Internet hosting service can become a producer.
Parents frustrated with kids TV could easily create their own Web sites that will make no money at for networks or the companies who sponsor kids TV. Plus, kids can create their own Web sites now with technology designed just for them.
I'd like to know how the television networks plan to compete with the vast low-cost army of Web enthusiasts out there eager to prove that they can do better?
Lucy Johnson, CBS, responds:
You are right! The Internet has wonderful possibilities for parents and children to create Web sites which reflect their own creativity and interests. The technology, while developing rapidly, is still somewhat in its infancy relative to images which can move in the same way as images on television. Also, the networks have access to a very large viewership which individual Web sites have not yet achieved. However, we're actually quite excited by Web enthusiasts who will force us to better ourselves in a number of ways including telling better stories and providing more family viewing time.
Drew Kristofik, Nickelodeon, responds:
I don't know how the TV programmers would answer this question. If you're asking how Nickelodeon Online will compete with a low cost army of Web enthusiasts, my response would be:
One of the most valuable resources we have is our relationship with our television group. If an Internet user wants to know more about Nickelodeon programming, s/he will not be able to find that information on a civilian Web page. There are licensing issues, and cost issues in game development, that the average Web enthusiast will not want to shoulder. And there's no reason they should shoulder that cost, since we will be present already. I also believe that just because a lot of people CAN produce content in this medium, that does not mean they can all do it well and support it. A few people will produce a few wonderful things, but there will not be SO much great content that we lose our place in the universe.
Back to the top....
A question from Jack Peakner of Santa Rosa, CA
With all the competition from cable and the like, do the networks have a plan to improve children's programming? Do they talk to one another about their responsibilities to children and the public and what programming should be all about?
Lucy Johnson, CBS, responds:
I can only speak for CBS in regards to your questions. We are committed to providing quality programming for children. Beginning this Fall, we will be broadcasting three hours of children's programs which are educational and informational. The competition (as your noted) is quite intense for young viewers and we're hoping that our shows will hit home with kids. We're working with some really terrific writers and producers to make educational shows which are wildly entertaining.
Back to the top....
A question from Rachel Warshaw of Newton, MA
Just out of curiosity, what is your favorite children's TV program, and what are some winning formulas? (As close to your trade secrets as you can get!)
Lucy Johnson, CBS, responds:
Wow! What a tough question-- I have so many favorite kid shows, from "Beakman's World" to "Rugrats" to "Life with Louie" to "Kratt's Creatures." I think the reason these types of shows have hit home with kids (and adults) is that they were made by people who really do love children. We try our best to work with writers and producers who care deeply about kids, understand them and know how to tell great stories. The winning formula to creating and making great children's programs starts with the desire to do something special for kids-- from their perspective.
Drew Kristofik, Nickelodeon, responds:
Kids love to communicate, share their ideas and show the world how creative they can be. Juicy, our kid 'zine at Nick.com, is a great example of a way to give this kind of communication and creativity an outlet.
Back to the top....
A question from Frank Piglia of New York, New York:
How do you decide which technologies and programming languages to use? Java may be hot one week, but overshadowed by shockwave plus the next. How do you decide which languages to commit to?
Drew Kristofik, Nickelodeon, responds:
The great thing about this medium is that it allows us to do something the higher-ups at Nickeldeon insist on: MAKE A MESS! We used a lot of Java for the first iteration on our Web site, but Java hasn't been as wonderful as we hoped, so we're going to do an interim iteration without Java so that the experience will be fun (and less buggy!) while we experiment with what we'll do in Phase II.
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