Question about law regarding children's programming on network television

salemfan

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I read on Wikipedia that children's programming airing on network television is required to be educational and informative and one can identify this type of programming by a bug at the top of the screen that says, "e/i" and this rule does not apply to cable stations. So why do they allow the Rankin/Bass special Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, and the Rankin/Bass special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as well as the Charlie Brown specials to air on network television if they are not educational and informative?
 

D'Snowth

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Because you can't believe everything you read on Wikipedia.

The only "law" I'm aware of regarding children's programming (especially cartoons) is that they have to have a minimum of 65 episodes to be syndicated... so shows that were either originally network shows that had a fairly long run, you'll only see selected episodes from the series in reruns because most distributors aren't willing to pay the extra money to air all the episodes (ala The Chipmunks' Saturday morning cartoon from NBC had an eight year run at 104 or so episodes, but only the first 65, which its first five and a half seasons, were syndicated in reruns); meanwhile, certain shows are created exclusively for syndication, and therefore, produce 65 episodes specifically in one season.

Besides, the programs you mentioned weren't necessarily aimed at just children... keep in mind, these are programs from back in the 60s or so, back then when ALL of television was supposed to be family-friendly. On top of that, they're not aired as children's programming, they're aired as holiday specials. And most of, but not necessarily all of the Charlie Brown specials DO have some educational value to them. Why Charlie Brown, Why? was originally intended to be a five-minute informational film to show to childhood cancer patients in hospitals, before Charles Schulz proposed to turn the idea into a half-hour special for television.
 

salemfan

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But do the Charlie Brown Christmas specials and the Thanksgiving one have educational/informative value?
One Charlie Brown holiday special contains somebody being told that the Santa who makes public appearances is not linked to the source of your presents...a common thing parents tell their children because they don't want to take their children to see Santa at the mall, it's a gimmick, so is that an educational and informative special?
 

salemfan

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Because you can't believe everything you read on Wikipedia.

Besides, the programs you mentioned weren't necessarily aimed at just children... keep in mind, these are programs from back in the 60s or so, back then when ALL of television was supposed to be family-friendly. On top of that, they're not aired as children's programming, they're aired as holiday specials. And most of, but not necessarily all of the Charlie Brown specials DO have some educational value to them. Why Charlie Brown, Why? was originally intended to be a five-minute informational film to show to childhood cancer patients in hospitals, before Charles Schulz proposed to turn the idea into a half-hour special for television.
And live shows invented in those days weren't meant to be just for kids...people have told me the circus is supposed to be a family show, not just for kids.
 

Drtooth

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I have to make a correction. Several actually.

The TV/EI ruling is actually (and not going hard into this, because you'll be reading conspiracy theories for HOURS from me) a requirement that all TV channels have to put a minimum of 3 1/2 hours of shows that qualify as TV EI. Otherwise they lose the license.

Now, if a station actually wants to run MORE than 3 1/2 hours of Kid's programming a week (not all that likely), they are welcomed to, and any extra time can be spent on Non-educational shows. So basically if a Saturday Morning Line up plus added other programming at other times uses up that time, they can air, let's say Ninja Turtles or something that doesn't qualify.

Of course, (and this is just a sampling of what problems I have about this) many stations want to just blow the entire 3 1/2 hours as lip service and air cheap reruns of nature shows and factory made live action problem solving or career oriented shows that air at odd times of the day just before they fill the rest of the line up with Infomercials. So basically they can get on with a technicality because they don't want to bother with something that isn't profit heavy. Another well meaning but destructive ruling regulated the advertising in the kid's shows. thus, making it hard to make profit off of.

TV Specials are completely different all together. They aren't classified as Children's programming at all. They're classified the same way as all the other Prime Time stuff is... just prime time programming.
 

Gonzo14

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There are also a lot of laws about commercials during childrens programming since kids are much more easily influenced by them then adults (well.....most adults)
 

Drtooth

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BULL

I don't see any kids wanting to sell their gold, buy books on how to get rich quick through the stock market, or that if they feel their lives as suburbanites are so shallow they have to pop happy pills to make badness go away.

Commercials ARE supposed to make you want things you don't need... and sometimes don't even want. That's what commercials are. The whole "Selling junk food to kids is evil because its exactly like Joe Camel" spiel is a cop out. Everything that you can buy can be dangerous. Be it sugared foods, medications that you only sort of need, plastics... all of it. You might as well pull ALL the commercials off the air.

Adults aren't all that much smarter than kids, and are even EASIER to fool than kids by playing off fears and greed. All you say in a kid's commercial is "this tastes good" or "this toy is cool!" Not "You'll be doomed to be a fat old maid unless you replace all your meals with breakfast cereals" or "Your masculinity is in question unless you buy a huge polluting truck that gobbles fuel faster than Cookie Monster in a bakery."

If we need a commercial advocacy group, we need one for ADULTS! Kids buy junk food and get fat... feh. They can excersize it off. At least they aren't poisoning the environment with massive vehicles and killing the economy because they read books by modern day medicine men telling them they can be rich if they throw everything into the market.

All this does is KILL the children's television market for selfish whiny reasons, all the while ignoring the greater, deeper, and true evil roots of obesity.

Really... Only in America can we whine about our kids having too much to eat.
 

salemfan

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The TV/EI ruling is actually (and not going hard into this, because you'll be reading conspiracy theories for HOURS from me) a requirement that all TV channels have to put a minimum of 3 1/2 hours of shows that qualify as TV EI. Otherwise they lose the license.

CBS, ABC, and NBC have complied with this rule by airing programs on Saturday morning that despite qualifying as e/i, are not necessarily aimed at just children. I know because they are rated TV-G rather than TV-Y or TV-Y7.
 

minor muppetz

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I thought this rule started in 1996 or 1997 (when CBS notably only accepted educational programming for Saturday mornings and canceled everything on its saturday morning line-up except for Beakman's World). Then recently The Nostalgia Critic did a video on Garfield and Friends, and he said that there was a ruling about kids/educational programming needing to have some educational content - and this was before when I thought they made it that the networks needed a minimum of three hours of educational children content a week. The video mentioned that's why some action shows had "And Knowing is Half the Battle"-type segments or educational commercials with the main characters during the shows (were the "Turtle Tips" from the original TMNT part of the program or just PSAs that ran during the show? They don't seem to appear on the DVDs).
 
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