Home-grown children's television in peril
· Programming soars, but little is made in UK
· Market failing British parents, producers say
A looming crisis in home-grown children's television will be forecast today by the media watchdog, leading to warnings from TV producers that "the market is failing British parents and British children".
The Ofcom report says that while there is more children's programming than ever thanks to the explosion in digital channels, an ever smaller proportion of it is made in the UK - and the proud lineage stretching back to Watch With Mother is in danger of petering out.
"The future provision of high quality programming for children appears to be under threat," said Peter Phillips of Ofcom. From fewer than 1,000 hours a year in the 1950s and 1960s, the total volume of children's programming broadcast on British television exploded to 113,000 hours in 2006, thanks to the proliferation of dedicated children's channels.
But by last year only 17% of all programmes broadcast were from the UK, and programming made in the UK and broadcast for the first time on a UK channel accounted for only 1% of the total. ITV recently ditched children's programming from its afternoon schedule on its main channel, arguing that it no longer makes commercial sense, and the BBC is believed to be considering a plan to move its children's programmes from BBC1 to BBC2.
Independent producers have warned that the sector has been thrown into crisis by the decline in investment from the BBC's commercial rivals. Ofcom's research shows that investment in original programming by ITV, Channel 4 and Five has halved in real terms since 1998.
While the total hours of original UK programming have remained stable, they have been buoyed up mainly by the BBC's decision to launch two dedicated children's channels. Hours broadcast on ITV1 have fallen by 60% and on Five by 58%.
"The market has been transformed by increased competition and audience fragmentation. Parents are understandably concerned and we need a national debate on what measures, if any, can or should be taken," said Ofcom's chief executive, Ed Richards.
Fewer than half of all parents believe the purposes and characteristics of public service programming as defined by Ofcom are being delivered adequately to their children.
Ofcom's research also shows the pace of media fragmentation, with 82% of children's viewing in 2006 going to dedicated digital channels, and only 18% to the main public service channels.
As a result, audiences for individual programmes have fallen. Fifty years ago Pinky and Perky was watched by more than 10 million, and by 1976 more than 8 million tuned in for Basil Brush. By 2006 the top rated programme was Newsround with 2 million viewers.
While parents were generally pleased with the provision for pre-school children, Ofcom identified a gap in programmes for teenagers and said factual programmes and dramas aimed at a UK audience were particularly under threat. Part of the solution might be to expand Channel 4's remit to include younger teenagers, it said.
Pact, the trade body for independent producers, said that without immediate action British children's television would die out, "leaving future generations nothing more than a series of reruns and imports".
The Ofcom report, one of a series that will feed into a broader review of public service broadcasting in Britain, laid out a number of possible solutions. They include doing nothing and leaving the bulk of home-grown children's programming to the BBC, a dedicated fund from the public purse to pay for more children's programmes, tax breaks for independent producers, redrawing the remit of existing public service broadcasters, and creating a new publicly funded children's channel.
Owen Gibson, media correspondent
Wednesday October 3, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
· Programming soars, but little is made in UK
· Market failing British parents, producers say
A looming crisis in home-grown children's television will be forecast today by the media watchdog, leading to warnings from TV producers that "the market is failing British parents and British children".
The Ofcom report says that while there is more children's programming than ever thanks to the explosion in digital channels, an ever smaller proportion of it is made in the UK - and the proud lineage stretching back to Watch With Mother is in danger of petering out.
"The future provision of high quality programming for children appears to be under threat," said Peter Phillips of Ofcom. From fewer than 1,000 hours a year in the 1950s and 1960s, the total volume of children's programming broadcast on British television exploded to 113,000 hours in 2006, thanks to the proliferation of dedicated children's channels.
But by last year only 17% of all programmes broadcast were from the UK, and programming made in the UK and broadcast for the first time on a UK channel accounted for only 1% of the total. ITV recently ditched children's programming from its afternoon schedule on its main channel, arguing that it no longer makes commercial sense, and the BBC is believed to be considering a plan to move its children's programmes from BBC1 to BBC2.
Independent producers have warned that the sector has been thrown into crisis by the decline in investment from the BBC's commercial rivals. Ofcom's research shows that investment in original programming by ITV, Channel 4 and Five has halved in real terms since 1998.
While the total hours of original UK programming have remained stable, they have been buoyed up mainly by the BBC's decision to launch two dedicated children's channels. Hours broadcast on ITV1 have fallen by 60% and on Five by 58%.
"The market has been transformed by increased competition and audience fragmentation. Parents are understandably concerned and we need a national debate on what measures, if any, can or should be taken," said Ofcom's chief executive, Ed Richards.
Fewer than half of all parents believe the purposes and characteristics of public service programming as defined by Ofcom are being delivered adequately to their children.
Ofcom's research also shows the pace of media fragmentation, with 82% of children's viewing in 2006 going to dedicated digital channels, and only 18% to the main public service channels.
As a result, audiences for individual programmes have fallen. Fifty years ago Pinky and Perky was watched by more than 10 million, and by 1976 more than 8 million tuned in for Basil Brush. By 2006 the top rated programme was Newsround with 2 million viewers.
While parents were generally pleased with the provision for pre-school children, Ofcom identified a gap in programmes for teenagers and said factual programmes and dramas aimed at a UK audience were particularly under threat. Part of the solution might be to expand Channel 4's remit to include younger teenagers, it said.
Pact, the trade body for independent producers, said that without immediate action British children's television would die out, "leaving future generations nothing more than a series of reruns and imports".
The Ofcom report, one of a series that will feed into a broader review of public service broadcasting in Britain, laid out a number of possible solutions. They include doing nothing and leaving the bulk of home-grown children's programming to the BBC, a dedicated fund from the public purse to pay for more children's programmes, tax breaks for independent producers, redrawing the remit of existing public service broadcasters, and creating a new publicly funded children's channel.
Owen Gibson, media correspondent
Wednesday October 3, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
