Kid stuff hot programming topic
Meeting FCC requirements a worry
Broadcasters are clearly worried about kids turning increasingly to cablers, like Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, which are able to "create a destination for kids -- 24 and 7." Despite their additional hours, cablers are also not tied to the mandatory three hours per week of FCC-friendly educational programming, which have proved difficult for broadcasters to produce and schedule -- not to mention attracting viewers.
But all the kids TV execs gathered at Wednesday's NATPE panel, "Gatekeepers to the Kids Empire," spoke of increasing opportunities for independent producers and a greater appreciation for kids programming in general.
"Broadcasters can't afford to give up three hours a week and not get ratings," warned Carol Monroe, senior VP of program services, at Fox Kids Network. A greater focus on kid fare, the thinking goes, will make for better shows. Allotting more financial resources to kids shows also increases their potential for success, several panelists noted.
"Kids are going to watch good shows. If you spend $300,000 or more on a half hour, and you don't just put on issues that put them to sleep, they'll watch," said John Claster, former prexy of Claster Television.
Vanessa Coffey, prexy of King World Kids/Coffey-Ballantine, pointed out that toys are no longer driving kid shows.
"During the 1980s, I thought shows were just commercials for the toys, but we've moved away from that," Coffey said. Others on the panel said a "good marriage" between programs and toys is the formula for megahits like the Power Rangers.
Most kid projects at ABC and the Disney Channel are coming from the outside, according to prexy Anne Sweeney, dispelling the myth that the majority is done inhouse. Fox's Monroe added that 10 of her network's 14 shows are co-productions with other studios.
After scrapping their entire Saturday morning schedule earlier this month, CBS also signed a two-year deal with Toronto-based Nelvana to produce a block of six animated programs which will air from 7-9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to noon.
FCC guidelines still loom largest in the minds of all kids TV programmers, however, and panelists and audience members alike were looking forward to today's NATPE panel, "Children's Educational TV 101: Complying with the New FCC Rules." The Children's Educational Television Committee, a group of leading producers, broadcasters and execs, has been working since April to help clarify the FCC rules.
The panel is expected to release the group's findings today.
