Sesame Street - brought to you by the letter Q
Now kids shows on public television are touting their Q-scores. As if our concern over traditional Nielsen ratings wasn't enough, we're expected to stand up and cheer because Sesame Street is tops in Q-scores among mothers with children between the ages of 2 and 5.
Is this what public television has come to? Aren't we supposed to be better than that?
Is this what public television has come to? Aren't we supposed to be better than that?
I know that the survey was done on behalf of PBS Kids Sprout, which is technically not "public television", but that's a difficult argument to make with civilians.
posted by Pubnoscenti at
15:32
2 Comments:
If "Sprout" isn't public television -- technically or not -- then the Pope isn't catholic.
The whole ratings, Q-scores, GRPs, AQH menagerie gets trotted out whenever it’s good news. When shows fair poorly, then we tout our mission as the reason we air a given show and measure it in “units of good.”
We need ratings to lure underwriters to get the funds to produce a show which earns a 1.5 rating which is supposed to impress another underwriter for the next project.
I don’t have the answer, but I think that surveys that measure attitude and beliefs are more important than the latest “book.”
By
The Pubcaster, at 22 July, 2006 21:43
The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times are reporting that PBS is under fire from parents, children's advocates and consumer watchdog groups for its plan to resume selling banner ads on its popular PBS Kids Web site, beginning Oct. 1. Critics denounced the move as another example of the public channel selling out to commercial interests, but PBS said the ad revenue is needed to balance unreliable sources of funding.
Unfortunately, the article does not report that the public broadcasting funding model in this country has been broken since its implementation, nor the record-breaking profits of Fox, Disney, and Viacom children's programming that allow advertising specifically targeting children.
By
HoosierBuddy, at 28 August, 2006 13:16
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