User:ViperSnake151/Children's educational television programming in the United States

The broadcast of children's programming by terrestrial television stations in the United States is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Under current FCC regulations, colloquially referred to as the Children's Television Act (referring to the 1990 act of Congress which mandated such rules), E/I or Kid Vid rules, all full-power and Class A low-power television stations must broadcast at least three hours per-week of programming, plus an additional half-hour for every increment of 28 hours of additional free video programming they offer, that are specifically designed to meet the educational and informative (E/I) needs of children aged 16 and younger. There are also regulations on advertising in broadcast television programming targeting children 12 years of age or younger, including time restrictions and prohibitions on broadcasting commercials for products associated with the program currently airing (as to create a separation between program content and advertising, and not make the entire program a promotion for related merchandise).

History
Concern over the impact that television had on children began when television was still a new entertainment medium. During the 1950s, many individuals, particularly parents, asked their legislators to do something about the potential effects of television viewing on young people (such as their susceptibility to claims made in advertisements). There has been academic research that has been initiated since this time to monitor, analyze and explain the relationships between television and children, although the impact of television on academic performance continues to be debated in scholarly research.

The first attempt to address these concerns were during Congressional hearings in 1952 that addressed violence. Besides Congress, there were government commissions that also pursued this agenda. Included in these discussions were the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Trade Commission, and advocacy groups formed by concerned citizens. The FCC intended to change a number of policies regarding children's programming.

Children's Television Act
No serious action took place until the 1990 enactment of the Children's Television Act, an Act of Congress which ordered the FCC to implement regulations surrounding programming that serves the educational and informational (E/I) needs of children, as well as the amount of commercial advertising broadcast during programs aimed towards children. This included that a station's commitment to airing and supporting educational children's programming had to become a factor in license renewals, and that limits had to be imposed on the amount of advertising that can be aired during television programs targeting children. It also called for the Secretary of Education to establish a National Endowment to help support the production of educational children's programming.

The FCC met its statutory obligations by introducing new regulations effective October 1, 1991. Television stations and cable providers would be required to maintain and publish summaries of the children's educational programming that they broadcast, defined as "programming that furthers the positive development of children 16 years of age and under in any respect, including the child's intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional needs".

As ordered, commercial time during children's programming was limited to 12 minutes per half-hour on weekdays and 10.5 on weekends, and advertising during children's programs for products associated with the program currently airing ("program-length commercials") or containing "program talent or other identifiable program characteristics" (host-selling) were also banned. The rule was intended to prevent children's programs that were tie-ins with toy franchises (such as, for example, G.I. Joe) from airing ads for the toys themselves during their associated programs. Broadcasters were also encouraged to establish a clear separation between program and advertising content on-air during children's programming, so that younger viewers are able to distinguish between them.

The CTA was passed despite objections by the Bush administration, who believed that requiring the broadcast of educational programming by all television stations was a violation of their rights to free speech. The restriction on "program-length commercials" was also considered to be too narrow, with critics (such as Peggy Charren) having demanded that it apply to any program targeted towards children that was primarily designed to promote products associated with them (such as toys), rather than serve as legitimate entertainment.

The 1990 regulations were considered to be ineffective; many stations failed to keep the required records or had any method for accurate recording. More than 25% of television stations in the U.S. failed to record the time, date, or length of programming considered to be educational in content. The FCC did little to regulate these logs up until 1993, but later on, came up with certain rules and regulations such as the safe harbor provision in order to regulate content for younger audiences. Due to the weak definition used (and in particular, the allowance for programs to potentially be considered educational for meeting social and emotional needs), many stations attempted to assert that non-educational programs such as The Flintstones, Hard Copy, G.I. Joe, The Jetsons, and Leave It to Beaver, were educational based on their acknowledgement of social and moral issues.

1996 regulations
In 1995, FCC commissioner Reed Hundt began campaigning for stricter children's educational programming regulations, arguing that broadcasters were not displaying a sufficient commitment to the 1990 regulations. His proposal included that stations be required to air a minimum of three hours of children's educational programming per-week. Jeff Bingaman issued a letter of support for the proposal, signed by 24 Democratic senators and 1 Republican.

Fox Kids president Margaret Loesch denied Hundt's arguments that broadcasters were not following the rules, stating that most Fox affiliates aired an average of four hours of children's educational programming per-week (which already exceeded the proposed minimum). Edward O. Fritts, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, accused Hundt of being "obsessed" with the proposed quota. In regards to reports that Hundt was struggling to receive FCC majority support for the proposal and was repeatedly "stalling" a final vote, Fritts stated that Hundt was that "acting like a regulatory referee wanting to push the game into overtime even though the final score is lopsided.", and that he "made up his mind long ago that broadcasters were to be castigated on children’s TV, without reservation, and despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary."

Following a push for support from Congress and the Clinton Administration, the FCC adopted the Children's Programming Report and Order in August 1996. The new regulations were intended to provide clearer regulatory obligations for television stations, and promote public awareness of educational programming offered by television stations. The order and regulations defined core educational programming as those "specifically designed" to meet the educational and informative needs of children 16 years old and younger, of at least 30 minutes in length. The FCC ordered that by September 1997, all commercial television stations must broadcast at least three hours of such programming per-week, regularly scheduled between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Beginning January 2, 1997, television stations were required to label these programs on-air and in programming information supplied to TV listings providers.

Commercial stations are also required to compile, publish, and publicize a quarterly Children's Television Programming Report in their public file, detailing the children's educational programming aired during the past quarter, what programs it plans to air during the next, and providing a point of contact for viewer inquiries about the educational programs aired by a station. As they are not under the jurisdiction of the FCC, this regulation does not apply to cable channels. While Non-commercial educational stations (such as PBS members) are also required to comply with the regulations, they are not subject to its monitoring and reporting rules.

2006 changes
In September 2004, the FCC announced revisions to the regulations to account for the then-upcoming digital television transition. An additional half-hour of E/I programming must be broadcast for every increment of 28 hours of additional free video programming the station offers via digital subchannels. The regulations also stipulate that an "E/I" logo must be displayed on-screen during all children's educational programming, a regularly-scheduled E/I program may only be rescheduled 10% of the time, and that if rescheduled or moved to a different multicast channel, the station must announce the new scheduling on-air. The FCC also introduced new rules regarding promotion of websites during children's programming aimed at viewers 12 and younger on broadcast and cable channels; they may only be for pages that do not contain any commercial or e-commerce content, must offer "a substantial amount of bona fide program-related or other noncommercial content", and that pages containing imagery of characters from the program must be "sufficiently separated" from commercial areas of the site.

The implementation of the advertising rules were deferred from February 2005 to January 2006, following concerns by broadcasters over the amount of time given to become compliant. Disney, NBC Universal, and Viacom issued a joint filing to the FCC in September 2005 to urge against the "far-reaching, burdensome and expensive" advertising rules, with Disney also suing over the regulations as being a violation of freedom of speech. On December 16, 2005, the FCC chose to delay the new regulation to March 6, 2006, in order to allow time for further discussion. They were ultimately implemented in September.

Future
FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly has considered the educational programming regulations to be outdated and too onerous; citing the wider variety of platforms available (including cable networks and digital platforms), he stated that "with today's dynamic media marketplace there are very little, if any, additional benefits provided by the Kid Vid rules". In July 2018, the FCC issued proposals regarding changes to the rules, including removing the requirement that a program must be regularly scheduled and at least 30 minutes in length, and providing the option for all of a station's E/I programming to air on a subchannel rather than the main signal.

Effects on programming
The syndication market capitalized on the E/I rules, with distributors such as Litton Entertainment benefiting on the resulting demand for children's educational programming. To save money, many television stations began to cut locally-produced children's programming in favor of those acquired from the syndication market. The Annenberg Foundation found that the number of network television shows deemed to be "highly educational" from 1990 to 1998 fell from 43% to 29%. A research report from Georgetown University said that one issue contributing to this was that what constituted "educational television" programming was defined too broadly, as programming that was only academic or that covered pro-social issues, for example, counted towards station requirements. Another issue was that traditional ideas of what should be taught to children, such as the alphabet or number systems, were lost. There was also a reported increase in the amount of programs focusing on social issues. Writers for these programs wrote stories that often were not academically sound for young viewers, because they were not trained in writing for this audience. One show that was an exception to this rule is The Magic School Bus, as it combined effective writing and educational content for children.

In the wake of the 1997 regulations, the big three television networks began to retool their Saturday morning lineups in order to include more educational programming. CBS relaunched its weekend block with a focus on educational programs (initially with live-action series such as The New Ghostwriter Mysteries, The Weird Al Show, and Wheel 2000—a children's version of the game show Wheel of Fortune), before re-launching it again the following year in partnership with Nelvana, with a focus on cartoons adapted from children's books. In 2000, following its acquisition by Viacom, CBS shifted to a block programmed by new sister Nicklodeon, with preschool programming from its Nick Jr. brand.

ABC, which had recently been acquired by Disney, introduced One Saturday Morning for the 1997-98 season, which featured a mix of Disney animated series, educational interstitial segments (including one featuring actor Robin Williams in character as the Genie from Aladdin), a flagship wraparound program (Disney's One Saturday Morning), and the new educational series Science Court. ABC stated that four of the block's five hours would branded as E/I programming. One Saturday Morning quickly became the top Saturday morning block in terms of viewership, until competition from Fox Kids and Kids' WB (credited to the respective popularity of Digimon and Pokémon), and later on, CBS's Nick Jr. block, began to erode its audience. In 2002, the block was replaced by ABC Kids, which largely drew from the programming of Disney Channel.

At the time, NBC had devoted its lineup to TNBC, which primarily featured sitcoms aimed towards a teen audience. This was replaced in 2001 with Discovery Kids on NBC, which was programmed by the cable channel Discovery Kids. In September 2006, this was subsequently replaced by Qubo, a joint venture with Ion Media Networks, Nelvana owner Corus Entertainment, Scholastic and Classic Media. At the same time, CBS also introduced the female-skewing KOL Secret Slumber Party, in partnership with DIC Entertainment and America Online, due to CBS Corporation being spun-off from Nickelodeon owner Viacom. Following Comcast's purchase of NBC Universal, the network pulled out of Qubo and replaced with it with the preschool-targeted NBC Kids in 2012, which was programmed by new sister network Sprout.

PBS member stations already devote a large amount of their programming to children's educational content under the blanket branding PBS Kids. Member stations may also offer a full-time PBS Kids channel as a digital subchannel service.

Notable fines
In 2007, Univision agreed to a record $24 million fine for violations of the educational programming regulations across 24 of its stations, after falsely asserting that several youth-targeted telenovelas (such as Cómplices Al Rescate) were educational in nature.

Airings of the Pokémon anime on Kids' WB induced notable violations of the program-length commercial restrictions, due to the airing of commercials for products such as Eggo waffles, Fruit by the Foot, and the Nintendo e-Reader accessory for the Game Boy Advance, that contained Pokémon-related tie-ins. The FCC fined individual affiliates of The WB and upheld the fines on appeal (despite WCIU-TV trying to defend itself by arguing that the references were "fleeting"), even though it was the network which transmitted the content. In 2010, KSKN in Spokane, Washington was similarly fined $70,000 for having, on multiple occasions, aired an advertisement for a collectibles shop during Yu-Gi-Oh! that contained references to its trading card game as being among products sold.

In 2004, Disney and Viacom were respectively issued $1 million and $500,000 fines for violating the limits on advertising during children's programming on ABC Family and Nickelodeon.

Shift in demographics and content
In the early 2010's, broadcasters began to change the manner in which they addressed their E/I obligations, shifting to blocks of factual, documentary- and reality-style series aimed at a teen (13-16 years old) audience, in lieu of conventional children's programs (such as cartoons). Throughout the decade, ABC (Litton's Weekend Adventure), CBS (CBS Dream Team), The CW (One Magnificent Morning, which replaced Vortexx—the last major Saturday morning block to contain any non-educational programming),  and NBC (The More You Know) all leased their weekend morning blocks to Litton Entertainment to air such programming, while Fox entered into a similar arrangement with Steve Rotfeld Productions to produce Xploration Station. The moves came alongside changes in viewing habits across all of television, with cable channels and video on-demand becoming the preferred distribution channels for children's programming as opposed to broadcast television.

As they are only applied to programs targeting viewers 12 and younger, these programs are not subject to the advertising restrictions prescribed by the Children's Television Act. Litton faced criticism from Peggy Charren's daughter Claudia Moquin, for including product placement from "underwriters" in some of its programs (such as Electronic Arts, Norwegian Cruise Line, and SeaWorld), which, when combined with the lack of restrictions on commercial time, were described as a contravention of the spirit of the CTA. Litton defended its practices, stating that its programming was designed to meet "child psychologist-developed standards that did not exist prior to 1990", and considered them to be a preferential alternative to airing ads for "junk food" and toys instead.