In Children's Television from ABC/123 to I Love
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Changing Definitions of ‘Educational’ in Children’s Television from ABC/123 to I Love You/You Love Me: The Unintended Consequences of the Three-Hour Rule A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Caitlin E. Malone August 2008 This thesis titled Changing Definitions of ‘Educational’ in Children’s Television from ABC/123 to I Love You/You Love Me: The Unintended Consequences of the Three-Hour Rule by CAITLIN E. MALONE has been approved for the School of Media Arts and Studies and the Scripps College of Communication by Norma Pecora Professor of Media Arts and Studies Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii ABSTRACT MALONE, CAITLIN E., M.A., August 2008, Telecommunication Changing Definitions of ‘Educational’ in Children’s Television from ABC/123 to I Love You/You Love Me: The Unintended Consequences of the Three-Hour Rule (110 pp.) Director of Thesis: Norma Pecora This thesis examines the children’s programming being aired by ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX owned and operated stations in Manhattan, New York in compliance with the Three-Hour Rule during the first quarter of 2008. A case study of WABC, WNBC, WCBS, and WNYW comparing children’s programming before the Children’s Television Act, after the Children’s Television Act, and after the Three-Hour Rule revealed that the Three-Hour Rule has not brought significant changes in the amount of programming for children, but that more prosocial programming was produced as a result of the regulation. In addition, this research examines the Form 398 filings from each of the Manhattan stations. The theme of each core program was coded as social, emotional, educational, or other. In sum, this research discovered that stations are meeting the minimum amount of hours required of them by the Three-Hour Rule, but that the expectations of educational programming as defined by Action for Children’s Television, those dealing with academic topics of literacy and mathematics, are not being met and are instead replaced with prosocial programming dealing with issues of friendship, honesty, and self-esteem. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Norma Pecora Professor of Media Arts and Studies iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Norma Pecora, Dr. Duncan Brown, and Beth Novak for allowing me to write this thesis. I know there can be extra work involved with sitting on a thesis committee and your time spent reading my drafts, providing suggestions, and meeting with me was much appreciated. I would have never had the opportunity to write this thesis if not for Dr. Brown who encouraged me to apply to the graduate program. I thank him for his guidance through both my undergraduate and graduate programs and for helping me plan the best route for finishing my degrees on time. I would like to thank Dr. Pecora for her positive attitude and continued support. I knew I could always have my spirits lifted with a visit to her office when I was feeling overwhelmed. Thank you to Beth Novak for always finding the time to help me with this thesis and for being there when I needed advice. To my friends, Regina, Evan, Jing, Lisa, and Tang Tang, thank you for believing in me and for many study breaks and good conversation in the grad lab. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1: THE CHILDREN’S TELEVISION ACT AND THE THREE-HOUR RULE .................................................................................................................................. 1 History of Government Regulations ............................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: CHANGES IN CHILDREN’S TELEVISION BASED ON GOVERNMENT REGULATION .................................................................................... 14 Analysis ABC: .............................................................................................................. 16 Analysis: NBC .............................................................................................................. 21 Analysis: CBS ............................................................................................................... 25 Analysis: FOX .............................................................................................................. 29 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 37 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLGY, DATA & FINDINGS .................................................. 54 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 54 Data ............................................................................................................................... 55 Findings ........................................................................................................................ 68 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... 72 Then and Now: Comparing Past Studies with Original Research ................................ 73 v E/I Program Themes ..................................................................................................... 75 Quantity of E/I Programs .............................................................................................. 76 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 78 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 82 APPENDIX A: TV GUIDE PROGRAM LISTINGS 1987, 1993, 1999 ......................... 86 APPENDIX B: WEBSITE TITLES AND URLs FOR INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE (IMDb) SOURCE ....................................................................................... 88 APPENDIX C: FCC FORM 398 ...................................................................................... 91 APPENDIX D: CODING SHEET .................................................................................. 103 vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1A: 1987 ABC Schedule .......................................................................................18 Table 1B: 1993 ABC Schedule .......................................................................................19 Table 1C: 1999 ABC Schedule .......................................................................................20 Table 2A: 1987 NBC Schedule .......................................................................................22 Table 2B: 1993 NBC Schedule .......................................................................................23 Table 2C: 1999 NBC Schedule .......................................................................................24 Table 3A: 1987 CBS Schedule .......................................................................................26 Table 3B: 1993 CBS Schedule .......................................................................................27 Table 3C: 1999 CBS Schedule .......................................................................................28 Table 4A: 1987 FOX Schedule .......................................................................................30 Table 4B: 1993 FOX Schedule .......................................................................................31 Table 4C: 1999 FOX Schedule .......................................................................................32 Table 5: ABC Programs and Themes .............................................................................56 Table 6: CBS Programs and Themes ..............................................................................57 Table 7: NBC Programs and Themes .............................................................................58 Table 8: FOX Programs and Themes ..............................................................................60 Table 9: Social Themes by Station .................................................................................62 Table 10: Emotional Themes by Station .........................................................................63 Table 11: Educational Themes by Station ......................................................................65 Table 12: Other Themes by Station ................................................................................67 vii CHAPTER 1: THE CHILDREN’S TELEVISION ACT AND THE THREE-HOUR RULE The Children’s Television Act of 1990 was the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) first set of regulations addressing advertising and programming of children’s television. Prompted by complaints and suggestions from parent advocacy groups, including Action for Children’s Television, the FCC set specific guidelines to ensure that broadcast television