Children's Television Act
The Children's Television Act, enacted by Congress on October 18, 1990, was a legislative response to growing concerns about the impact of television on children. Highlighting that children aged two to six watched an average of three hours of television daily, the Act aimed to enhance the educational and informational content available to young viewers. It mandated broadcasters to air a minimum of three hours of core programming each week, ensuring these programs support children’s intellectual and social development. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) played a key role in defining core programming and establishing requirements for its broadcast. Additionally, the Act introduced restrictions on advertising during children's programming to protect young audiences from excessive commercial influence. While the effectiveness of the Act is debated, it succeeded in making educational content more accessible and provided parents with tools to monitor their children's viewing habits. Overall, the Act reflects an effort to balance the entertainment value of television with the developmental needs of children.
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Subject Terms
Children's Television Act
Identification Federal legislation designed to improve television programming for children
Date Enacted October 18, 1990
The Children’s Television Act was an attempt by the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to increase the educational value of television programming provided children.
In 1990, Congress reviewed a study revealing that children between the ages of two and six watched an average of three hours of television per day, and the by age eighteen, the average American child has viewed 15,000 to 20,000 hours of television. An additional study of 750 ten- to sixteen-year-olds found that two-thirds of the respondents felt that their peers were influenced by television, and 60 percent felt that it was negative. Based on these findings, Congress determined that television potentially could be beneficial to society by meeting the educational and emotional needs of the nation’s youth. To ensure these needs were met, Congress enacted the Children’s Television Act on October 18, 1990, with the goal of increasing educational and informational core programming broadcast to children.
To aid the act’s implementation, in 1991 the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) defined core programming as “programming that furthers the positive development of children 16 years of age and under in any respect, including the child’s intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional needs,” and created criteria for programs to qualify.
To retain their licenses, broadcasters had to air a minimum of three hours of core programming weekly between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.; the programming had to be at least thirty minutes and regularly scheduled. In addition, stations had to log all aired core programming, complete a publicly available quarterly report listing their compliance, and submit in writing programs that met the criteria prior to airing so that television guides and listings could identify them.
Advertising was also monitored under the act. Commercials were limited to 12 minutes per hour on weekdays, and 9.5 minutes (increased to 10.5 in 1993) on weekends. Broadcasters were expected to cease “host selling” (advertising with program characters) and “product tie-ins” (advertising products from the program) within core programming.
In 1996, the FCC created additional guidelines to be followed. Broadcasters had to indicate the age group the core programming was targeting, reveal what the core programming’s significant purpose was (education no longer being the sole purpose), and place an E/I (educational/informational) icon and/or a verbal announcement prior to its airing.
Impact
Although the overall effectiveness of the Children’s Television Act remains debatable, the act did achieve its main goal of providing programming that was beneficial educationally, emotionally, and/or socially to children sixteen years and younger. The act also provided parents with the necessary tools to help monitor their children’s television viewing through written descriptions in television guides and through iconic and verbal announcements.
Bibliography
Minow, Newton N., and Craig L. LaMay. Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television, and the First Amendment. New York: Hill & Wang, 1995.
Steyer, James P. The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media’s Effect on Our Children. New York: Atria Books, 2002.
Winn, Marie. The Plug-in Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.