DOCUMENT RESUME ED 375 824 IR 016 885 TITLE Children's Television (Part 2). Hearing before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, Second Session (June 10, 1994). INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance. REPORT NO ISBN-0-16-045897-8 PUB DATE Jun 94 NOTE 140p.; Serial No. 103-121. Reproducibility varies widely. AVAILABLE FROMU.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington DC 20402. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Children; *Childrens Television; Educational Media; *Educational Television; Elementary Secondary Education; *Federal Legislation; Hearings; Television Commercials IDENTIFIERS Congress 103rd ABSTRACT The topic of this hearing was the Children's Television Act of 1990. This act was designed to increase the choices for children and to give parents and families the possibility of finding educational programming to supplement other children's programs. The Act has two major provisions. First, it established time limits on the amount of advertising that could be shown during children's programs. The second requires broadcasters to serve the educational and informational needs of the child audience including programming specifically designed to meet these needs. This hearing focused on whether this law has changed the landscape for children in the almost four year it has been in effect. Testimony was presented by:(1) Rosanne K. Bacon, Executive Committee member, National Education Association; (2) David V. B. Britt, President, Children's Television Workshop;(3) Linda Cochran, Vice President, WSYT-TV, Syracuse, New York;(4) Margaret Loesch, President, Fox Children's Network;(5) Linda Mancuso, Vice President, Saturday Morning and Family Programs, NBC;(6) Kathryn C. Montgomery, President, Center for Media Education;(7) Kent Takano, Producer, "Scratch" Teen Magazine Program; and (8) Paul Zaloom, actor, "Beakman's World." A statement submitted for the record by Jeanette P. Trias, President, ABC Children's Entertainment, concludes this hearing report. (JLB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** CHILDREN'S TELEVISION (Part 2) U $ DEPARTMENT OFEDUCATION 011.ce of Eclocauonal Researcn endImprovement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES SINFORMATION CENTER ) reptodoced as C Ths document has been recepred from the person ororganastron br.gmating .1 C mmor changes have beensage to .morove reoroductroo qualttv Posts of vew Or OptntonSStateclinthtsdOCuotbcai ment .01 neCeSSertly represent HEARING OE RI Pos.t.on or orottcy I. BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND FINANCE OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 10, 1994 Serial No. 103-121 Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83.159CC WASHINGTON : 1994 I-or %ale h awl' S. Go% eminent Pnntiht: Office Superintendent 01 I)a,umrnt.. Congressional Sales ()like. Washington. DC 20402 ISBN 0.16-045897-8 9 BEST COPY AVAILABLE COMMITTEEON ENERGY AND COMMERCE JOHN D.DINGELL, Michigan, Chairman HENRY A. WAXMAN, California CARLOS J. MOORHEAD, California PHILIP R. SHARP, Indiana THOMAS J. BLILEY, JR., Virginia EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JACK FIELDS, Texas AL SWIFT, Washington MICHAEL G. OXLEY; Ohio CARDISS COLLINS, Illinois MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma DAN SCHAEFER, Colorado W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN, Louisiana JOE BARTON, Texas RON WYDEN, Oregon ALEX McMILLAN, North Carolina RALPH M. HALL, Texas J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico FRED UPTON, Michigan JIM SLATTERY, Kansas CLIFF STEARNS, Florida JOHN BRYANT, Texas BILL PAXON, New York RICK BOUCHER, Virginia PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio JIM COOPER, Tennessee SCOTT KLUG, Wisconsin J. ROY ROWLAND, Georgia GARY A. FRANKS, Connecticut THOMAS J. MANTON, New York JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho' GERRY E. STUDDS, Massachusetts RICHARD H. LEHMAN, California FRANK PALLONE, Ja., New Jersey CRAIG A. WASHINGTON, Texas LYNN SCHENK, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio MIKE KREIDLER, Washington MARJORIE MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, Pennsylvania BLANCHE M. LAMBERT, Arkansas ALAN J. ROTH, Staff Director and Chief Counsel DENNIS B. FITZGIBBONS, Deputy Staff Director MARGARET A. DURBIN, Minority Chief Counsel and Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND FINANCE EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts, Chairman W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN, Louisiana JACK FIELDS, Texas RICK BOUCHER, Virginia THOMAS J. BLILEY, JR., Virginia THOMAS J. MANTON, New York MICHAEL G. OXLEY, Ohio RICHARD H. LEHMAN, California DAN SCHAEFER, Colorado LYNN SCHENK, California JOE BARTON, Texas MARJORIE MARGOLIES-MEZVINSKY, ALEX McMILLAN, North Carolina Pennsylvania J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois MIKE SYNAR, Oklahoma PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio RON WYDEN, Oregon CARLOS J. MOORHEAD, California RALPH M. HALL, Texas (Ex Officio) BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico JIM SLATTERY, Kansas JOHN BRYANT, Texas JIM COOPER, Tennessee JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan (Ex Officio) DAVID II. MOULTON, Chief Counsel I Staff Director KRISTAN VAN HOOK, Policy Analyst WINIFRED A. LOEFFLER, Legislative Assistant CATHERINE M. REID, Minority Counsel MICHAEL REGAN, Minority Counsel (Hi 3 CONTENTS Page Testimony of: Bacon, Rosanne K., executive committee member, National Education Association 76 Britt, David V.B., president, Children's Television Workshop 100 Cochran, Linda, vice president, WSYT-TV, Syracuse, NY 54 Loesch, Margaret, president, Fox Children's Network 83 Mancuso, Linda, vice president, Saturday Morning and Family Programs, NBC 44 Montgomery, Kathryn C., president, Center for Media Education 12 Takano, Kent, producer, "SCRATCH" Teen Magazine Program 102 Zaloom, Paul, actor, "Beakman's World" 10 Material submitted for the record by: Trias, Jeanette B., president, ABC Children's Entertainment 134 4 CHILDREN'S TELEVISION FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 1994 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND FINANCE, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:45 a.m., in room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward J. Markey (chairman) presiding. Mr. MARKEY. Good morning and welcome to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance oversight hearing on the Chil- dren's Television Act. Last year this subcommittee held its first oversight hearing on the Act. We heard testimony that many licensees were complying with the Act by redefining existing programs as educational. The Flintstones taught about life in prehistoric times, those simpler times when small creatures served as vacuum cleaners and gar- bage disposals. Maybe there really was a Grand Poobah. The Jetsons taught about life in the 21st century. We all grew up watching these programs. There is no doubt that kids love them, but they are not educational. The Children's Television Act was designed to increase the choices for children, to give parents and families the possibility of finding educational programming to supplement the Ninja Turtles. Young children in this country spend almost 4 hours a day watching television on average. By the end of high school, they will have spent far more time watching television than in the class- rooin. While television cannot be expected to be the primary educator of children, it has a critical influence on their lives, and broad- casters have a special obligation to meet the educational needs of children under the law. We are here today to review their compli- ance with that law. The Children's Television Act of 1990 gives parents and citizens a role in increasing the amount of educational children's program- ming. The bill requires television broadcasters to serve not only the general audience but the special child audience with programs de- signed specifically to meet the educational and informational needs of children. Parents can then direct their childr tn's viewing to these programs. The law is not about who controls the clicker but about the num- ber and diversity of programs available to the Nation's children. With the passage of the Children's Television Act, we looked for- ward to new, creative, and innovative programming signaling the. (I) 2 dawn of a new era of children's television programming. Witha few notable exceptions, including several beforeus today, there has not been a dramatic increase in children's educationalprograms. Last year I said that children's television was the video equivalent of a Twinkie. This year the Twinkie is served withan occasional vita- min, but most children's television today remains the equivalent of a trip to Toys R Us. A recent ad pointed out that children will be responsible for $130 billion of their parents' purchases thisyear. They will buy billions of dollars of toys, and they will seevery few children's educational programs. We recognize that the forces of the marketplace will notserve the needs of children well. That is why the Actwas passed. But has the law served as an effective balance to the powerful impera- tives of advertisers and toy companies? Certainly there are educational programs that generate largeau- diences. The PBS program, "Where in the World is