Towards Better Children's Television

The Committee on Children's Television (CCT) supports Action for Children's Television (ACT) in its demands for no commercials on children's television and an improvement in programing for children. A survey of children's television in the San Francisco Bay Area determined that from 1961 to 1971, children's programing had declined in quality and also in quantity. Locally produced programs had fallen from 56% to 9%. Instead, the stations ran syndicated cartoons and reruns of poor quality network shows. When license renewal applications of local stations were examined, it was learned that the stations did next to nothing to ascertain children's needs and interests. In addition, most children's television shows contained no minority characters, and the ones that were shown were largely stereotypes. CCT urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to uphold its mandate and require that stations actively ascertain children's needs and interests by consulting experts on children, child advocate groups, parents, and children themselves. (JK)