Save Kids TV
It’s been a while since we’ve blogged from over here in Battersea, those of you who have a Moshi Monster will no doubt know why, we’ve been a bit busy building Friends Trees, Pinboards and other parts of the Moshi world.
Last autumn, I was asked to speak down in Brighton and met Jayne Kirkham who is a great advocate for an organisation called Save Kids TV and I’ve been meaning to write about their campaign ever since.
Those of us who grew up in the Postgate-era (Clangers, Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, Mr Ben etc) loved the wide variety of home grown TV and have totally taken kids TV for granted. It happened for us and I think we’ve all assumed it’ll be just as great for our kids. Talk of the absence of home grown TV sounds a bit “Daily Mail” at first, however I like many people think it’s vital for there to be a balance of kids TV which reflects back the environment kids are growing up in. Grange Hill, though less scenic in so many ways, was far more relevant to my generation then Beverly Hills 90210 and any pertinent issues it dealt with were more easily comprehended and talked about.
The current statistic is that only 1% of new programmes currently shown on UK kids TV are made in the UK with the current levels of funding - a frighteningly small percentage that’s likely to decrease over time. The death of this sector of the UK creative industry would be a great loss and would have a huge knock-on impact in the UK online kids space through brain drain, lack of cross-pollination and absence of unique IP from the UK to create online experiences to accompany.
Those of you who feel concerned about this do have a voice though, there’s a petition on the 10 Downing Street website.