WHAT CHILDREN WATCH - Ofcom

3 Children’s programme provision:
time measures
Terrestrial television
Total hours of children’s programming on terrestrial networks
Hours
5,000
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Hours 3,494 3,986 4,566 4,449 4,524 4,657
■ GMTV ■ Five ■ C4 ■ ITV1 ■ BBC2 ■ BBC1
Source: BARB, Monday-Sunday
■ The overall provision of children’s television across the terrestrial networks has
changed significantly between 1996-2001, with total output increasing by 33% from
3,494 hours to 4,657 hours as a result of the launch of Channel 5 (now Five) and an
increase in time devoted to children on BBC2.
■ Between 1996-1999, skewed by its provision of dedicated schools programming
in the early morning (included, in this analysis, within the children’s factual genre),
Channel 4 was the main provider of children’s programmes.
■ Over this time, BBC2’s role became increasingly significant, overtaking Channel 4
in 2000.
■ BBC1 has steadily increased the number of hours devoted to children since 1997,
making it the second largest supplier of children’s programming, while ITV1’s provision
has fluctuated over the years between a low of 386 hours in 1998 and a high of 448
in 2000.
■ As a result of growing output during breakfast time, GMTV has been facing
increasing competition over the years.
What Children Watch 11