The real cost of
low-fat kids television

Ad dollars dry up for kids shows in the UK

By Toni Fitzgerald
Jul 27, 2007

There is rising pressure in the United States to clean up kids’ TV advertising by curbing or banning commercials for unhealthy foods. But there may be an unforeseen and unfortunate cost in this seemingly noble task, and we’re already seeing it play out across the Atlantic.

The British government banned ads pushing junk food to kids in hopes of curbing the nation’s childhood obesity problem, but the greater effect has been to put kids’ TV programming on a diet.

Already this year, more than $60 million in ad spending has been slashed from kids' programs, with devastating results.

Spending on children’s television development has been cut way back, fewer kids' shows are airing, and more and more of the shows that remain on the air are imports.

Now there is a growing movement to persuade the government to offer financial incentives to broadcasters to offer more kids’ programming.

Just this week former BBC children’s show host Floella Benjamin appeared before a leading UK think tank urging the government to subsidize the development of kids’ TV shows. For months, a coalition created by parents, producers and educators called Save Kids’ TV has been urging the same.

“We believe that our kids need programmes which reflect their lives back to them,” says the Save Kids’ TV web site. “We believe that funding needs to be found to replace the revenue which will be lost when advertising is restricted to ensure that our children get even better television.”

According to a report issued this week by Screen Digest, the London media research firm, investment in children’s TV development in the U.K. has fallen over the past five years, despite the fact that the number of channels aimed at kids has risen. More and more U.K. networks are relying on imports from the U.S. and other foreign sources.

ITV, a public channel, has canceled long-running kids shows like “My Parents are Aliens” and “My Life as a Popat,” replacing them with drama reruns, at a reported savings of $60 million per year.

Many other ITV kids’ shows have been shifted to its digital channel. It's a move the BBC reportedly has mulled as well as ad dollars diminish.

In attempting to win government funding for kids programming, Save Kids’ TV is pulling at heartstrings wherever it can find them. That includes offering testimonials from famous British authors, and it recently released its first viral video on YouTube, depicting Ebenezer Scrooge as an evil kids’ TV money-slashing tyrant and Tiny Tim as his helpless victim.

The movement has drawn in kids as well. Pupils at Darrick Wood School in Orpington, angered by the cancellation of “Parents,” have spent the summer filming a pilot about misfit kids called “Second’s Best.” The project involves two dozen students overseen by a teacher.

They plan to screen it on numerous web sites to raise awareness of the campaign and hope it will become popular enough to become a regular feature.

Meanwhile, in other younger viewer ratings for the week ending July 22:

Among teens 12-17: Fox was first with a 1.3 rating and 6 share, followed by the CW and Univision at 1.0/4, NBC at 0.9/4, ABC at 0.8/3, CBS at 0.7/3, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.1/1, and Azteca at 0.0/0.

Among kids 2-11: Univision led with a 1.1/5, followed by Fox at 1.0/4, ABC at 0.8/3, NBC and the CW at 0.6/3, CBS at 0.5/2, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.2/1, and Azteca at 0.0/0.

The top five shows among kids 2-5: 1. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Disney, Wednesday 8:30 a.m.); 2. “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Nickelodeon, Monday 2 p.m.); 3. “Blue’s Clues” (Nickelodeon, Monday 10 a.m.); 4. “Max and Ruby” (Nickelodeon, Friday 11:30 a.m.); 5. “Handy Manny” (Disney, Wednesday 9 p.m.)

The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (Disney, Sunday 8:30 p.m.); 2. “High School Musical” (Disney, Sunday 9 p.m.); 3. “Return to Halloweentown” (Disney, Thursday 8 p.m.); 4. “Hannah Montana” (Disney, Saturday 8:05 p.m.); 5. “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (Disney, Sunday 8 p.m.)

The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (Disney, Sunday 8:30 p.m.); 2. “High School Musical” (Disney, Sunday 9 p.m.); 3. “Hannah Montana” (Disney, Saturday 8:05 p.m.); 4. “Return to Halloweentown” (Disney, Thursday 8 p.m.); 5. “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (Disney, Monday 4 p.m.)

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE Kids 2-5 Week Ended July 22
	Program	Net	Rtg%	(000)
1	MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-07/18/2007	DSNY	5.8	912
2	SPONGEBOB-07/16/2007	NICK	5.8	910
3	BLUES CLUES-07/16/2007	NICK	5.7	905
4	MAX AND RUBY-07/20/2007	NICK	5.7	902
5	HANDY MANNY-07/18/2007	DSNY	5.6	892
6	SPONGEBOB-07/16/2007	NICK	5.5	874
7	BLUES CLUES-07/20/2007	NICK	5.5	871
8	SPONGEBOB-07/16/2007	NICK	5.5	864
9	SPONGEBOB-07/19/2007	NICK	5.4	853
10	SPONGEBOB-07/16/2007	NICK	5.4	852
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE Kids 6-11 Week Ended July 22
	Program	Net	Rtg%	(000)
1	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/22/2007	DSNY	9.4	2269
2	HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL-07/22/2007	DSNY	8.8	2137
3	RETURN TO HALLOWEENTOWN-07/19/2007	DSNY	8.1	1976
4	HANNAH MONTANA-07/21/2007	DSNY	7.5	1827
5	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/22/2007	DSNY	7.5	1827
6	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/19/2007	DSNY	7.3	1783
7	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/16/2007	DSNY	7.3	1764
8	HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR-07/17/2007	DSNY	7.2	1757
9	HALLOWEENTOWN HIGH-07/18/2007	DSNY	6.8	1660
10	HALLOWEENTOWN-07/16/2007	DSNY	6.8	1647
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – CABLE Kids 9-14 Week Ended July 22
Rank	Program	Net	Rtg%	(000)
1	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/22/2007	DSNY	9	2202
2	HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL-07/22/2007	DSNY	8.7	2132
3	HANNAH MONTANA-07/21/2007	DSNY	7.9	1935
4	RETURN TO HALLOWEENTOWN-07/19/2007	DSNY	7.4	1812
5	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/16/2007	DSNY	6.8	1666
6	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/22/2007	DSNY	6.7	1652
7	SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-07/16/2007	DSNY	6.7	1637
8	HALLOWEENTOWN HIGH-07/18/2007	DSNY	6.3	1541
9	HANNAH MONTANA-07/17/2007	DSNY	6.2	1535
10	SUITE LIFE ZACK & CODY-LN-07/22/2007	DSNY	6.1	1492
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research