The Changing Production Ecology of Pre-school Television in Britain

该项目根据20世纪90年代中期以来的发展，调查了英国学龄前电视不断变化的生产生态，这段时期恰逢《天线宝宝》和《建造者鲍勃》等节目在国际上取得成功。这项研究通过对生产商、专员和买家的采访，并结合对一系列生产环境的观察，试图阐明和确定决定学龄前生产的复杂的内部和外部因素。它将展示关键参与者如何管理/创造性地谈判这些更广泛的商业、监管、文化和技术力量以及对内容的影响。鉴于英国最近在学龄前教育领域取得的国际成功，以及国内(CBeebies)和国际品牌学前教育频道(小Nick Jr，Playhouse Disney)的出现，这项研究是及时的。政府和行业报告经常指出，学龄前电视是出口的重要贡献者，国际上的成功预示着主要参与者(Chorion、Entertainment Rights、Hit Entertainment)的增长，这些公司从与节目相关的产品中获得了可观的收入。然而，该项目的时机也恰逢儿童电视领域的一场明显危机，原因是针对儿童的节目禁止在HFSS(高脂肪糖盐)食品周围做广告，以及ITV减少了在其地面服务ITV 1上委托内容和传输儿童节目的承诺。这种国际成功和国内危机之间的对比为进一步调查提供了令人信服的理由。然而，尽管学龄前电视被认为是一个富有成效的调查来源，但最近还没有关于英国学龄前电视及其发展的实践和力量的分析，这与一般儿童电视和实质性影响文学的工作形成了鲜明对比。在更广泛的文化生产背景下，这项研究提出以下问题：-自20世纪90年代中期以来，学龄前电视的生产生态发生了怎样的变化，为什么以及在多大程度上发生了变化？-哪些力量塑造和影响了学龄前电视的组织和生产？-节目制作人和参与委托/获取学龄前内容的人如何管理/创造性地谈判影响生产的更广泛的商业、文化、监管和技术力量？-这种外力和内部战略的组合如何影响所生产的产品的性质？为了满足该项目的目标，研究将满足以下目标：-参照其历史对学龄前电视的背景进行描述，结构、机构关系、工作运作、专业实践和在不断变化的国际市场中的地位--确定政策、内容、委托、日程安排、渠道提供和组织变化方面的趋势。-概述、确定和评估主要参与者及其战略，包括广播公司、卫星频道、制作公司和国际合作伙伴。-概述出口和辅助市场(DVD、消费品)及其对生产战略的影响。-对1995年以来制作和播出的节目样本进行分析，以了解生态的变化如何反映在节目内容中--鉴于技术变革和新媒体平台的出现，评估学龄前儿童的未来。通过将构成不断变化的生产生态的不断变化的关系和依赖置于分析的核心，这项研究有助于更全面地了解学龄前电视。专著《小孩子的电视：帕尔格雷夫·麦克米伦的学龄前电视不断变化的生产生态》的出版将使学术界和制片界的人士受益，他们希望更好地了解学龄前概念是如何产生、调整、制作和利用的，以满足一系列复杂的市场和文化优先事项。

This project investigates the changing production ecology of UK preschool TV in the light of developments since the mid-1990s, a period that coincides with the international success of programmes like Teletubbies and Bob the Builder. Drawing on interviews with producers, commissioners and buyers combined with observations in a range of production environments, the research seeks to articulate and establish the complex internal and external factors that determine preschool production. It will show how key players manage/creatively negotiate these wider commercial, regulatory, cultural and technological forces and the implications for content.This research is timely in view of the UK's recent international successes in preschool and the emergence of domestic (CBeebies) and internationally branded preschool channels (Nick Jr, Playhouse Disney). Government and industry reports regularly identify preschool TV as an important contributor to exports, and international success has foregrounded the growth of key players (Chorion, Entertainment Rights, HIT Entertainment) who generate substantial revenues from programme-related products. Yet the project's timing also coincides with a perceived crisis in children's TV following a ban on advertising for HFSS (high fat sugar salt) foods around programming targeted at children, and the reduced commitment of ITV to commissioning content and transmitting children's shows on its terrestrial service ITV 1. This contrast between international success and domestic crisis provides a compelling rationale for further investigation. However, although preschool TV has been identified as a fruitful source of inquiry, there has been no recent analysis of UK preschool TV and the practices and forces that shape its development, in contrast to work on children's TV generally and substantial effects literature. Within the broader setting of cultural production this research asks the following:- How, why and to what extent has the production ecology of preschool TV changed since the mid-1990s?- What range of forces shape and affect the organisation and production of preschool TV?- How do programme-makers and those involved in the commissioning/acquisition of preschool content manage/creatively negotiate the wider commercial, cultural, regulatory and technological forces that affect production?- How does this combination of external forces and internal strategies impact the nature of what is produced?To meet the project's aims the research will satisfy the following objectives:- A contextualisation of preschool tv with reference to its history, structure, institutional relationships, working operations, professional practices and place within a changing international market - The identification of trends in respect of policy, content, commissioning, scheduling, channel provision, and organisational change. - An overview, identification and assessment of key players and their strategies including broadcasters, satellite channels, production companies and international partners. - An overview of export and ancillary markets (DVD, consumer products) and their impact on production strategies. - An analysis of programme samples produced and broadcast since 1995 to understand how changes in ecology are reflected in programme content- An assessment of the future of preschool in view of technological change and the emergence of new media platforms. By placing the changing relationships and dependencies that constitute the changing production ecology at the heart of the analysis, the research contributes to a more rounded picture of preschool TV. The publication of the monograph Little Kids TV: The Changing Production Ecology of preschool TV for Palgrave Macmillan will benefit those within academia and the production community who wish to better understand how preschool concepts are generated, adapted, produced and exploited to meet a complex set of market and cultural priorities.