Impact of Cartoons on Children

WHAT CHILDREN WATCH
AN ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING PROVISION
BETWEEN 1997-2001, AND CHILDREN’S VIEWS

Kam Atwal, Andrea Millwood-Hargrave and Jane Sancho with Leila Agyeman and Nicki Karet

June 2003

WHAT CHILDREN WATCH
AN ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING PROVISION
BETWEEN 1997-2001, AND CHILDREN’S VIEWS

Kam Atwal, Andrea Millwood-Hargrave and Jane Sancho with Leila Agyeman and Nicki Karet

Broadcasting Standards Commission
Independent Television Commission
June 2003

Contents
Executive summary
Introduction
Section I:
1 Quantitative Analysis of Children’s Programming
Provision: 1996-2001
2 Changing Landscape
3 Time Measures
4 Daypart Analysis
5 Diversity in Programme Provision
6 Genre Analysis
7 Genre Analysis by Channel
8 Children’s Viewing Habits
9 New Media
10 Changes since the 1997 Study

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Section II:
Background
11 The Role of Television
12 When, Where and How are Children Watching?
13 Children’s Understanding of Television
14 Terrestrial versus Multichannel
15 Conclusions

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Appendix
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix

I: Methodology
II: Sample
III: Broadcasting Standards Commission
IV: Independent Television Commission

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Executive Summary
1. Households with children living in them contain a wider range of in-home entertainment than childfree households and are more likely to be ‘early adopters’ of such equipment.
2. Children in multichannel homes watch significantly more television per day than their terrestrial only counterparts (an average of 35 minutes more per day at 2 hours and
27 minutes). However, the amount of time they spend specifically viewing ‘children’s programmes’ is comparable with those living in analogue terrestrial-only homes
[Source: BARB].
3. There has been a dramatic rise in the amount of children’s programming on analogue terrestrial and other television services over the