Grab kids growing up digital: Nordicity

The Nordicity Group recently released a report on the future of children’s programming. In the section dealing with the current state of the industry, an excerpt from which appears below, Nordicity argues that the genre is the perfect vehicle for reaching younger demographics in the on-demand, multi-platform era.This report will argue that children’s and youth audio-visual production deserves the same policy attention that prime-time drama receives. The reasons for this increased attention are really twofold. First, children’s and youth programming is a vital part of Canadian culture. The images and stories that today’s Canadian children experience help shape the Canadian society of the future. We all want to see Canada continue to be relatively peaceful and tolerant, and remain a shining example for the rest of the world. What’s more, if Canadian children are drawn to Canadian drama programming when they are young, then it is very likely that they will continue to be attracted to it in their adult years. The second argument for heightened support for the genre has to do with technology and the impact it is having on the media sector throughout the world. For decades, policy makers relied on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) and private broadcasters to fulfill Canada’s policy goals in the audiovisual realm. Government then looked to television broadcasters and independent producers to share the responsibility of fulfilling the policy goals of the Broadcasting Act. The federal government and the CRTC gave broadcasters and producers the tools needed to do fulfill these policy goals.In the coming decades, the traditional television broadcaster, as we know it, may no longer be the only conduit for audio-visual content. Television itself will shift toward a more on-demand model – via video on demand (VOD), personal video recorders (PVRs) and other time-shifting technologies. Other mediums such as the Internet, other applications like video gaming, and other platforms such as DVD are driving a wedge between audiences and traditional television broadcasters. These multiple platforms of the digital era are seriously eroding traditional viewership patterns on television. New Web-based distribution technologies that lever broadband networks, and legal peer-to-peer algorithms are poised to turn the Internet into a new path for on-demand access to audio-visual content.These distribution approaches are particularly suitable to children’s and youth programming. Younger people are often early adopters of new technologies; or coax adults to quickly adopt new technologies.Furthermore, much of children’s and youth audio-visual production lends itself to interactivity, which technology can facilitate. Just as television energized the soap-opera format developed by radio – and ultimately pulled it right off radio – the Internet and mobile video devices may help children’s and youth programming find better economic models. The ease with which young people use new technology certainly suggests that the Internet and mobile video may represent a tremendous opportunity for the genre.But in the world of alternative platforms where consumers become the programmers and pull-distribution models operate alongside traditional push models, only the very best content will find audiences. Under such a scenario, the Canadian government’s demand-side policies for promoting Canadian audio-visual content – which have been very effective for many decades – may lose their efficacy. The regulated broadcasting system may no longer stand between audiences and audio-visual content. When this happens, policy makers will have to recognize that support for the production side of the audio-visual value chain is going to become paramount.

Grab kids growing up digital: Nordicity

News | 03/16/2007 4:00 am EDT

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