Are the kids alright? An RTS London event debated the future of children’s TV in the online age
The Tiger Who Came To Tea
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hildren are the canar ies in the mine, picking things up first,” obser ved Greg Childs, direc tor of the Children’s Media Foundation, as he introduced an RTS debate on how children’s TV and content movers and shakers are adapting to the fact that young people have migrated online. An optimistic tone was established from the start by Alice Webb, the out going head of BBC Children’s and Education, who asserted: “Yes, the kids are absolutely fine. They have more choice than they ever had. They are exercising choice and are after things that interest them. “Kids love consuming large amounts
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of content. But they love variety, too. Overall, kids are consuming as much or even more public service broadcasting.” Her confidence was grounded in the research she led for the BBC Children’s Big Digital Plan around 2015. This resulted in an extra £34m being pumped into a range of new content from 2017, including strands aimed at teenagers up to the age of 16, rather than stopping at around 10. The initiative has embraced apps and YouTube, with shorter content and animation, but also encourages other BBC commissioners to consider, for example, making more youthful drama. “As the biggest producer, we are relentlessly focused on them. We think we are the prime choice for children.…
We changed ourselves so we are fit for the future,” said Webb, who will leave the BBC in March after 15 years. The only option, she added, was more of the same “relentless activity”. “The risk is if we stop.” Richard Bradley, executive producer of Horrible Histories and Managing Director of Lion TV, responded: “If the kids are alright, I am just hoping the producers and broadcasters are. The conundrum is, [even] with all this demand… why is it so bloody hard to make a living from children’s? The public service broadcaster world, the creative ecology, is out of balance. The BBC is the only home.” Netflix, he continued, had opened a door into another world. Productions
