Digital Television: Sharpening the Focus on Children

This is a 6-page report of the June 2004 "Digital Television: Sharpening the Focus on Children" conference hosted by Children Now at the Ntional Press Club in Washington D.C. and co-sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychological Association. With this event, Children Now aimed to facilitate a spirited discussion about the public policy implications of digital television technology and interactive programming for children and families.

The event featured:

• Media industry leaders working on new digital technology, creating new programming for kids
• Academics exploring the impact of interactivity on cognitive development
• Advocates looking to shape digital television to serve the public interest
• Broadcasting and advertising representatives explaining the business of broadcasting and making a case that the child audience can be served effectively without regulation

There were 3 panels during this one-day event. The first panel discussion explored the interactive capabilities of DTV and the unique effects that interactive advertisements can have on children. Participants discussed how marketers can collect personal information from young viewers and specifically tailor their marketing to children and how advertising practices affect the business of television. The second panel featured experts from academia, advocacy and the media industry who discussed ways to ensure that children benefit from the technological advances of digital television. The final panel featured three of the five FCC commissioners. The commissioners agreed that broadcasters must fulfill public interest obligations to children in a digital world and suggested that there would soon be proposed FCC regulations. They promised to make new rules a priority.

In Sept 2004, exactly three months after the conference, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued new rules to improve children’s television as the nation’s broadcasters make the transition to digital television (DTV). By a unanimous vote, the five FCC commissioners established rules to help ensure that children have access to educational television programming and parents are able to identify educational shows. According to Children Now, this victory represents over four years of persistence and hard work to ensure critical issues are addressed and children's needs are not overlooked.