Summary
This page contains an article written by Kier Lymn Media Assistant Reporter.
Whatever Happened to Childrens Television?
It began around 3 o’clock on two rival channels ITV and BBC one. They fought and fought day in day out for the love of the younger generation. It was big business then. The early to mid nineties was most decidedly the hay-day of children’s television . The ratings were sky high for both BBC and ITV, children craved what they showed and the programme sparked topics of conversation at school and games themed around the various shows in the playground. But it seems to me that somewhere along the way television producers seemed to lose their passion and the time schedule for shows aimed solely at kids was considerably shorter.
At 3:15 p.m. I used to leave my primary school, fully in the knowledge that the programming would start at 3:30 p.m. Luckily enough I lived a short walk away from my school but that didn’t leave me ample time to get back. When home was in sight it was time to run towards the ‘box’ and bask in its glory. The guide was out and so was the remote as it was time for some fun. Would it be CBBC or would it be CITV, well it would usually depend on what favourite shows of mine were on. CBBC would usually specialise in imported series of comedy and the cartoons were always better, but ITV’s forte was children’s game shows and comedic parodies of shows. Monday to Thursday would have my usual favourites to indulge in but Friday held the key. A day where parents and children alike could revel in what would have been a hard working week and enjoy a few hours of relaxing with each other. And the channels did not disappoint. It seemed like they would deliberately show us less entertaining shows during the week to save the best until Friday. This was heaven.
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Little did they know that the shows they churned out week after week would go on to become cult classics among students nowadays as we sit in the common room and discuss all of our old favourites. When children’s television enjoyed its glory years there were so many shows to go around and every body had their favourite, there was always something fun to watch as you had your tea.
But as the years went on young children matured quicker with advances in technology helping them to find other things to do rather than watch children’s television. I personally blame one thing for the fall of the great kids television shows, satellite channels. As the popularity of satellite increased and the viewings of terrestrial shows went down the golden generation of children grew up and supposedly became more interested in music channels and reality television.
I hadn’t watched children’s television of any sort for quite a while, mainly because of the fact that I’m now seventeen. It was the holidays, I was alone, and it was around three o’clock so I decided to see what was on. Every show was American and the cartoons seemed random and pointless and did not teach us anything. I had to huff and mutter to myself, and I never do that in front of the television.
We were all happy kids growing up because we were easily entertained. Television gave us ideas of what to do and aspirations of what we wanted to be when we grew up. It would seem that children these days are not happy unless they are spending wads of cash. Its no longer stickers and Crazy Bones, but trainers and Ipods that entertain young people who seem to turn into teenagers by the age of ten.
So how long can the terrestrial broadcasters carry on for before they give up the fight and give in to satellite and cable providers. Children are indeed the future but they are not really children anymore and the new generation of ‘gigakids’ are not impressed by wacky game shows presented by men with mullets. They are just as happy watching un-released movies on their video Ipods. Although I am only seventeen I am showing my age, but I don’t care, television was a big part of my upbringing and I loved it. The youth of today do not know what they are missing.
Kier Lymn
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