Digital children’s channels: A comparative analysis of three locally launched services

Abstract

There are over two billion children worldwide under the age of 18, who are targeted by an increasing number of television channels solely dedicated to them. As such globally circulated programmes and networks expand their reach using digital platforms, is there a need – and room for – locally produced television content for young people? From the perspective of national media policy advocates, locally developed, produced and broadcast programmes can provide children with a sense of their own place in an increasingly complex globalized media landscape and ensure that programmes are developed with the interest, perspective and views of local children in mind. This article explores the dichotomy between ‘local’ and ‘global’ television content targeting children in the context of debates on media globalization. Our three case studies from radically different media policy environments, focus specifically on locally produced content offered on dedicated national children‘s digital television channels launched locally to promote the cultural heritage of a specific nation or region. They provide concrete examples of how local content is conceptualized and what types of content children have to choose from. Our findings are paradoxical. Although each channel has been created to speak back to dominant audio-visual children’s flows from the periphery, our findings are that the better funded nationally based dedicated children’s channels have grown into successful market players beyond original national boundaries. The first case study examines dedicated local children’s provision in New Zealand, focusing on TVNZ6, a digital children‘s channel that operated as part of the public service broadcasting sector. The second case study focuses on children‘s television content in Hungary and uses the case of Minimax Hungary, an Eastern European regional commercial network targeting children growing up in a dynamically transforming post-communist media system. The third case study looks at television content produced in the Middle East by focusing on Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC), a pan-Arabic non-commercial edutainment channel established in Qatar and funded by the Qatar Foundation.

The future isn’t coming; the future is here: The New Zealand Children’s Screen Trust’s engagement with media policy for children

“…Kidsonscreen: New Zealand Children’s Screen Trust was set up by Janette Howe, a documentary maker, Screen Director’s Guild of New Zealand Board member and mother, as a response to the demise of a brief public service digital channel, Kidzone (2006–2011) targeting young children (Lustyik and Zanker, 2013) and the loss of a short-lived Television New Zealand, Limited (TVNZ) Charter (2003–2011), which foundered on the clash between public service charter requirements and commercial imperatives. The Trust grew out of the impulse to represent children’s interests within the commercially driven and adult focussed media environment.…”

“…One of NZ On Air’s first moves in 1991 was to call for proposals to replace Playschool , the locally re-versioned BBC show, with an indigenous programme. Kidzone targeting early childhood, appeared on a short-lived public service channel TVNZ6 from 2003 to 2011, then reappeared behind the pay wall (Lustyik and Zanker, 2013). It is now again available free, this time on TVNZ’s ‘on-demand’ platform.…”

Production studies, transformations in children’s television and the global turn

“…As scholars, we also need to think about workable solutions and toolkits that propose rather than simply document. The institution of public service broadcasting might not work for all situations, but the principles underpinning a public service ethos are still valid for a variety of platforms and content, not least because at their very best they prioritise children as young individuals with their own sense of identity, place and community, which mean different things in different places (Lustyik and Zanker, 2013a). The abiding takeaway from this session was that the combination of positive regulatory interventions and funding could provide the framework for diverse, distinctive productions within a supportive ecology of relevant stakeholders.…”