Save Kids TV

[Detomah]

As seen: http://www.savekidstv.org.uk/

Children Deserve The Best TV

Save Kids' TV is a coalition of parents, producers, artists, educators and others concerned about screen-based media for children in the UK. We aim to press broadcasting regulators and the Government to acknowledge the value of children's television, and protect it in the face of growing financial pressures.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

British children’s television - on the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Five - has in the past been widely acknowledged as amongst the most creative and innovative in the world. But changes in children’s viewing patterns, and the very real threat of a ban on certain types of advertising to children, are putting huge strains on commercial broadcasters.

Channel 4 no longer makes children’s programmes and ITV (the UK’s second largest kids’ TV commissioner) has ceased all new children’s production. The mainstream channels are walking away from the children’s audience. The international channels produce some programming in the UK, but not enough to fill this gap. Despite the appearance of enormous choice in children’s viewing, the many channels available only offer a limited number of new high-quality programmes produced in the UK with British kids’ interests at their core.

The Issues

Basically, kids’ TV doesn’t make money. For years commercial broadcasters have been stretching ever smaller budgets and chasing decreasing audiences as kids spread their viewing around the growing number of channels and other media outlets such as video-games and the internet.

Until recently ITV was the UK’s second largest commissioner of children’s programmes - with an annual spend over £20m. But it has commissioned no new programming since December last year. They are closing their in-house production unit, and pulling out of discussions with independent producers about new shows. Programmes like How2, Art Attack, My Parents Are Aliens and Jungle Run, have been axed.

ITV approached the regulator Ofcom to ask for a reduction in their Public Service Commitment from 8 hours to 2 hours of children’s programmes per week. ITV claimed that their children’s channel would take up the slack and provide children with a substantial diet of programmes. But the reality is that the channel will not commission new shows either. With no new programmes being made in Britain, CITV will soon become a channel of repeats and cheap imported programmes. Fortunately Ofcom denied them their reduction in hours. But there are still no rules about how much they spend, what sort of programmes they schedule, whether they make them or acquire them form other territories or when they transmit them. So in essence the problem remains the same.

ITV wants to abandon its children’s schedule in the afternoons so that it can compete with C4’s aggressive scheduling of game-shows. (C4 which makes no children’s programmes at all itself). If ITV does this, other commercial broadcasters may follow suit, especially under the pressure of reduced revenues from advertising. This will lead to the BBC being left as a monopoly supplier with only marginal production of programmes undertaken by the cable and satellite channels. Monopolies are not healthy. They lead to questions like - “why do we need to put out programmes for children when we could compete with daytime shows instead?” and “Why do we spend so much on children’s programmes when our competitors only spend a fraction of what we do?”

Save Kids’ TV is devoted to convincing Ofcom and all other stakeholders that children’s programming is far too important to be left to the market alone.

British kids would be the losers if their choice is diminished and their televisual diets restricted to American imports. Not only that, but a successful production industry will be decimated, leading to millions of pounds of lost revenue to the British economy.

No-one in our campaign would suggest that American programmes are all bad. Many of them are entertaining, stimulating and excellently produced. What we argue for is a mixed diet of programming so that kids get a window on their world and the wider world.

British society will be the ultimate loser as kids are divorced from their own cultural heritage and immersed in programmes from outside the UK. In some households television is the only way in which kids “connect” with the worldand about the society they live in, its values and the way people interact. To damage that connection would be potentially disastrous in the long term.

Children’s television is part of the “glue” which holds our society together. At a time when we are debating the quality of childhood, and the values we want our children to understand and accept, why would we take away from them a vital ingredient of a healthy personality and one of the bonds which draw us together in mutual understanding?

What We'll Lose

There has been a fifty year history of great public-service television for children on ITV, and more recently C4, Channel Five and the British production activity at Nickelodeon and Disney. Without adequate funding these channels are either already getting out of kids’ TV production or will have to severely reduce what they make here in the UK for our kids.

CITV Shows Past & Present
These are just some of the funny, inspiring, entertaining and informative programmes which commercial TV made for kids. You may have stories about how these or others affected you, which could help us explain why great kids’ TV is so important. Send them to admin@savekidstv.org.uk

A Beetle Called Derek
Animal Kwackers 1975
Art Attack
Bernard’s Watch
The Adventures of Black Beauty 1972
Blockbusters 1983 -1993
The Book Tower
Brendan Chase
Brilliant Creatures
Button Moon 1980
The Big Bang
The Little Bang
Catweasle 1970-71
Children’s Ward
Chorlton and the Wheelies 1976-79
Cloppa Castle 1977
CopyCat Kids 2002
Cockleshell Bay 1980
Danger Mouse 1981- 91
Do it!
Do Not Adjust Your Set
Dramarama
Educating Marmalade 1981 -83
Emu’s World 1982- 88
Engie Benjy -current
The Famous Five
The Flockton Flyer 1977-8
Follyfoot 1971 -73
Fraggle Rock 1983 -87
Fun Factory 1982
Fun Song Factory - current
Finger Tips - current
Girls in Love (adaptation of a Jacqueline Wilson book)
Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids
Harry Hill’s Shark Infested Custard
Here Comes Mumfie 1975 -78
Hickory House 1973
How & How 2 1966
Jamie and the Magic Torch 1978
Just William 1977
Jungle Run
Knightmare
King Arthurs Disasters
Larry The Lamb 1972-74
Let’s Pretend 1982
Madabout 1981
Magpie
Michael Bentine’s Potty Time 1973 -80
Mike and Angelo
Motormouth
Mr Majeikca
Mr Trimble 1973
My Life As A Popat
My Parents are Aliens
Number 73
Panic station
Pocoyo
Noddy
Out Of Sight
Paperplay
Picturebox 1971
Pipkins 1973 81
Planet Sketch
Press Gang
Puddle lane
Rainbow
Razzamatazz 1981-86
Rooted
Runaround 1975-81
Sally and Jake 1973
Saturday Banana
Seal Morning
Skillz
SMTV
Spectrum
The Sooty Show
Tiswas 1974-82
Tomorrow People 1973 - 79
What’sd Up Doc
Wolf it
Woof
The Worst Witch
Worzel Gummidge
Zappp

“Save Kids TV’s first aim is to get its message out to as many parents, educators and other interested parties as possible - and through them to lobby regulators and politicians on the key issues facing children’s TV in the UK.

This is our message to parents. You can download a copy of this (PDF), paste it into an email and send it to all the parents you know and anyone else who might be interested.

The letter is also a call to action asking you to write in support of the campaign’s aims.

September 2006Dear Parent,

Did you know that ITV has decided to stop making children’s television? They have closed down their children’s department and haven’t commissioned a new show since last December, which means pretty soon Citv will only show repeats. You might think there’s far too much kids’ TV anyway, so isn’t that a good thing? Sadly, the answer is ‘No’.

British children’s TV has been strong for decades because the government requires broadcasters to make it so. ITV has a legal obligation to provide 8 hours of kids’ shows a week. In doing so, it has enriched the lives of generations of children with programmes as diverse as My Parents Are Aliens, Art Attack, Magpie, Children’s Ward, How?, Tiswas, Press Gang, Jungle Run, Engie Benjy and Robin of Sherwood.

But ITV has stopped commissioning new kids’ programmes because quality kids’ TV is expensive to make and rarely recoups its costs. With a likely ban on some forms of advertising to kids, the pressure on commercial broadcasters is even greater. What they would like to do is stop showing children’s programmes on ITV1 altogether and replace them with cheaper adult shows that attract more advertising revenue. There is the new digital CITV channel and with 10 hours of programmes a day ITV will try and tell you this fulfils its commitment to kids. But without new shows, what will be shown in those 10 hours? Repeats and cheap foreign imports.

It’s true there are many commercial kids’ channels but they are all owned by foreign multi-nationals, which don’t have the resources or the commitment to make UK shows for UK kids. Relying solely on the BBC is hardly giving children a choice. Besides, without ITV’s competition the BBC could reduce its commitment to kids. The BBC is already discussing moving kids’ television off BBC1.

At its best, British children’s TV nourishes young minds and spirits with culturally relevant drama, news, factual shows, and fun. But without new sources of funding, our children face an unhealthy diet of low quality repeats and imports.

It’s not too late. To help save quality children’s TV in this country, ask OFCOM, at Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA, to hold the broadcasters to their legal obligation to support quality and diversity in children’s television. Write to your local MP, (to find your MP, go to www.writetothem.com), urging him or her to support proposals to create the additional funding needed to guarantee quality UK programmes for UK children. Finally, sign up at www.savekidstv.org.uk for more detail, future news and campaign ideas.

Yours faithfully,
Save Kids’ TV, a campaign set up to defend children’s television
www.savekidstv.org.uk

Our children deserve the best television…

Get Involved

Save Kids’ TV needs your help in a number of ways to keep the campaign going.

Funding…
If your organisation supports the aims of the campaign and would like to consider corporate sponsorship, or a donation, please contact structuregroup@savekidstv.org.uk

Join a working group…
If you feel you have an interest or expertise which could help any of the four working parties and are prepared to commit to joining them, please contact their co-ordinators:

• Structure, organisation, finance: Greg Childs, structuregroup@savekidstv.org.uk
• Policy, lobbying and liaison with associated bodies: Rachel Murrell, policygroup@savekidstv.org.uk
• Funding models: Richard Langridge, fundinggroup@savekidstv.org.uk
• *Press and PR: Maddy Wiltshire, prgroup@savekidstv.org.uk

Venues…
We are looking for venues for future General Meetings of the Campaign Group. If your organisation has a room that will accommodate upwards of 35 people which you can volunteer for use at least once - we’d be very pleased to hear from you. meetings@savekidstv.org.uk

Budding Journos…
The Save Kids’ TV Newsletter is looking for interesting personal perspectives on the campaign - please send your contributions to the Newsletter editor: Greg Childs. admin@savekidstv.org.uk

Viral…
Don’t forget - you can pass on this web address to like-minded individuals who might want to join the campaign.

Events…
For more news of events being held by Save Kids TV or of interest to our members check our list of events.

[Detomah]

While I wouldn't normally post protests or anything that could be seen as such, I feel that this particular subject is a slightly different scenario and as such deserved a mention. This is not about protesting for the sake of it, or trying to be contraversial or anti government or establishment, this is about trying to protect something which is an institution, a part of British heritage and an important part of childhood and to take it away would be wrong.

I can't and don't want to imagine my childhood without half the programs that were listed above and I can imagine that the kids of today will say the same when they get to my age. But if it were to stop, what would the kids of tomorrow have their childhood TV memories of? Richard and Judy? Loose Women? The Paul O'Grady Show? Personally I hope not.

[Idle_hands]

Zappp! used to be badass back in the day and Mike and Angelo.

[Sash]

Most of the main channels show repeats after repeats after repeats. CBeebies shows 4 hourly repeats of the same stuff, sometimes for days on end. NickJr shows repeats every 6/8 hours. You eventually either turn it off, or flick thru the numerous kiddie channels to find a program that hasn't been on at least 10 times. (These are the channels my kids generally watch)
To me, these companies make millions out of parents from the merchandise they sell and advertise on their channels in between programs, why can't they put a bit of it back into them.

Some of these programs they show atm need to be axed imo. Tracy Beaker, which my kids rave over, glorifies childrens homes and the system of being in care as a good thing, hence in a row with my oldest son, he yells " I wanna go live in a kids home" , well the show got axed in my house.
My parents are Aliens are very close to knuckle on some of the things they show regarding family life and growing up.

Every company wants money for nothing, they don't care what is shown as long as it doesn't make them break the law. Then thats society, money for nothing.


Switch it off tbh.

[Detomah]

Originally Posted by Sash

Switch it off tbh.

That's part of the problem in my opinion. If you look at the list of programs that used to be shown, a heck of a lot of them were part education part entertainment and I was addicted to them, things like How, Think of a Number, Magpie and the likes. I mean, even Grange Hill was more educational back then and Byker Grove always pointed out moral issues and the best way to deal with them. Most the stuff these days is aimed at getting the kid to sit there quiet.

Tracey Beaker is one of the few kids programs on mainstream tv that I actually like. It kind of reminds me of what I went through as a kid and although in some ways it does glorify it, it is actually pretty accurate in a lot of ways and although a lot of the time they are happy, it does highlight a lot of the reasons why kids are in home and some of the sad times that kids have in there.

What it seems to me, is that kids tv programmers have lost the plot, they don't know what is good for kids any more and they concentrate so much on sticking to budget and gettig their awards and high viewing figures that the real reason for kids tv is being lost, so with that, it's kind of no wonder they do want to axe it completely.

I mean, i'd rush home as a kid to avoid missing Thundercats, Ulysses, Dogtanion, Magnificant Cities of Gold and the various other amazing cartoons that used to get shown, but to get to them, you always had to sit through the more educational shows too and that was always fun too, unlike today, they weren't repeated on several other channels, if you missed it, it was tough louck. One of the problems now, is that most kids don't have to sit with the 3/4 channels and wait patiently, if the program isn't on, the kids go straight to music channels or the dozen kids tv channels, or just flick the tv off completely and play console games.

It sounds like something a grandparent would say, but life really was so much simpler when I was a kid. You'd get home from school and eat your tea while watchingfthe compulsary BBC or ITV kids TV(like there was any other choice, so thankfully it was mostly good stuff), then you'd do homework and then if there was any of your mates around, you'd go play in the street till it got dark, then bath time and bed. If only it was still that simple.

[Tagred]

I wouldnt mind saving kids TV, but I would prefer it if they actually made some decent kids TV, not keen on the stuff thats been produced in the last 10yrs, I think it sort of died from when the tellytubbies came out.

Bring back trap door, chorlton & the wheelies, dangermouse, dukula. Not your "missy" the 6yr old witch scientists mega intelligent superhero girly pink wearing girly girl bratz modelling brand selling dumbing down TV character... What about the decent Grange Hill where it was actually good, and not too PC?????


Theres no character anymore, its all fashionista rubbish now