WHAT CHILDREN WATCH - Ofcom

Section 1
1 Quantitative analysis of children’s
programming provision: 1996-2001
The quantitative component of this research is based on statistics from the BARB industry
panel. The analysis builds on the findings of the 1997 report The Provision of Children’s
Television in Britain: 1992-1996 published by the Broadcasting Standards Commission and
is split into four elements:
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Analysis of programming provision by daypart - looking at trends in children’s output
across the terrestrial channels throughout the day.
■
The breakdown of provision by programme genre - this section looks at the total time,
in hours, devoted to each genre by channel, investigating any changes in total provision
as well as the role of each of the channels in providing relevant programming.
■
Genre analysis by channel - analysis of the proportion of children’s broadcasting
hours dedicated to each genre by channel between 1996-2001, illustrating the mix of
programming across the terrestrial and dedicated children’s channels.
■
Analysis of children’s viewing habits, in general, and to children’s programming
in particular
Methodological issues
The objective of this study is to highlight the current trends and the changes seen in the provision
of children’s television in the five years from, and including, 1996 (the period of time since the
previous report) to 2001. The analysis is based on genre classifications defined by BARB for
children’s programmes. The advantage of using universally recognised industry data such as
BARB is that it facilitates any future comparisons of trends. The genre categories used are:
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■
■
■
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children’s drama
children’s factual
children’s animation
children’s light entertainment
children’s pre-school
There are some drawbacks, however, to using the BARB genre classifications for children’s
programming. For example, some shows targeted at young viewers, either within dedicated
slots or on children’s cable and satellite channels, are not classified as such. For example, the
US-originated comedy show Boy Meets World has been classified as ‘light entertainment -
sitcom US’ rather than ‘children’s light entertainment’. By including ‘light entertainment -
sitcom US’ in the analysis, the figures would be distorted by the inclusion of those
programmes within the genre which are not specifically targeted at children. This means
that a number of programmes targeted at and of appeal to younger viewers may be
excluded from this study.
What Children Watch 7