For several years now, cable operators have been arguing that the FCC needs to recognize the shift in children‘s video consumption from “traditional linear television” to “unregulated online programming” and deregulate accordingly.

The 1990 Children's Television Act set limits on ads in children’s programming and the Federal Communications Commission in 2004 limited the display of website addresses during children's programming.

NCTA told the FCC this week, as it did in 2018, that it was time to eliminate those restrictions.

Also: FCC’s O’Rielly Says Kids TV Rules Have Not Produced Great TV

In a July 1 filing, in response to a request for comment on the FCC's upcoming report on the state of competition in the communications marketplace, NCTA said that video competition among MVPDs is “vibrant” and video regulation should reflect that.

It said that means that Congress’s concerns — some 30 years ago — about a lack of competition to cable and potential anti-competitive conduct by cable have been obviated by that robust competition, including from over-the-top video providers like Netflix.

NCTA suggested that children’s regulations imposed on cable (and broadcast) but not over-the-top “artificially distort and suppress the pro-consumer benefits of competition.”

“[E]ntities that compete in the provision of like services should not face different public interest or customer-service obligations, which is both arbitrary and capricious and skews the marketplace,” NCTA said. “For example, the commission should take a fresh look at its children’s television advertising rules, which should at the least be revised consistent with NCTA’s prior recommendations. None of the new online video providers that target children — such as YouTube, Netflix and Amazon — are burdened by FCC restrictions on advertising. This disparity negatively impacts competition in children’s television programming. This is particularly detrimental given that cable networks have invested countless hours and billions of dollars in developing trusted brands that serve the programming needs of parents and children.”

And while not calling out program access and carriage regs by name as some others in need of jettisoning, NCTA might as well have. “[I]t is time for regulations premised on a lack of competition in the video marketplace to be repealed,” NCTA also told the FCC in its advice on the upcoming competition report. ■

The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) says it plans to ask Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate whether Netflix programming has violated any federal laws regarding "child sex, indecency and human trafficking."

Netflix has seen a recent defection of subs and PTC suggests the reasons are not the usual suspects — "competition from other streaming services, the lifting of COVID stay-at-home orders, a bad economy." Driving family audiences away, PTC says, is that Netflix is marketing content to children that exploits children.

PTC says exhibits A, B, and C are Cuties, Big Mouth and Sex Education, all shows it says damage the brand through content that sexualizes children and exploits child actors for the sake of entertainment.

PTC has complained about the shows before but it is tying its latest volley to the June 2 annual shareholders meeting. It has drafted an open letter to those shareholders telling them to use their power to prevent Netflix from alienating family audiences, saying that despite PTC's protestations, Netflix has "doubled-down on offensive content that will only serve to further drive family audiences away."

Also: Ricky Gervais Netflix Special Causes Controversy

It won't be the first complaint to Justice about Netflix original content.

Saying that the Sundance award-winning Cuties met the definition of child pornography, almost three dozen Republican members of Congress led by Rep. Jim Banks (Indiana) called on then Attorney General Bill Barr back in 2020 to prosecute Netflix for distributing the show. Justice did not do so.

At the time, Netflix defended Cuties as "an award-winning film and a powerful story about the pressure young girls face on social media and from society more generally growing up — and we’d encourage anyone who cares about these important issues to watch the movie.”

At the time, PTC called for hearings on the media's sexualization of children, but that didn't happen either. ■

Netflix could more than double its total subscriber additions in the second half of 2021 as its original content slate expands, while Q2 growth, fueled by children’s programming and international series, should be in line with guidance, according to Canaccord Genuity media analysts Maria Ripps and Michael Graham.

In a note to clients issued Wednesday (July 14), the analysts estimated that Netflix would report about 1.1 million customer additions in Q2, slightly above company guidance of about 1 million additions. But Ripps and Graham expect bigger gains in the second half of the year — about 14 million customer additions (more than twice the five million added in the first half of the year) — fueled by the return of several popular series and a slew of new originals.

Netflix is scheduled to report its Q2 results on July 20. 

Ripps and Graham expect Netflix to end 2021 with almost 223 million total paying subscribers, up 19.2 million from the prior year, but still behind the 36 million it added in 2020. In 2022, the analysts predict Netflix will have nearly 250 million global customers, up 26.6 million.

After a sluggish first half in 2021, Canaccord expects Netflix’s second half content lineup to have “significantly more firepower,” with the July return of series Atypical, Virgin River, Never Have I Ever, and one of its most popular shows of 2020, teen drama Outer Banks.    

Reality dating show Sexy Beasts debuts on July 21 and similarly themed reality hit Love Is Blind comes back a week later for a three-episode reunion. On the film side, the third installment of teen drama The Kissing Booth premieres on Aug. 11 followed by He’s All That (featuring the acting debut of Tik Tok star Addison Rae) on Aug. 27, and action comedy Red Notice, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gal Godot and Ryan Reynolds on Nov. 12. Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Tick, Tick … Boom!, season two of The Witcher, and Don’t Look Up are also slated for fourth quarter release.

New episodes of past hits after a COVID-induced hiatus should goose next year’s subscriber rolls even further, according to the analysts. 

“The content pipeline for 1H22 and beyond is also robust as COVID-driven production delays pushed out new seasons of some of the biggest titles like Stranger Things, The Crown and Ozark into next year, and Netflix continues to invest in unique content both in the U.S. and around the world which is helping to strengthen its competitive positioning and differentiate its library from those of rivals,” Ripps and  Graham wrote. 

Netflix has been shaking up its content mix of late, which is reflected in Canaccord’s own top 10 rankings. Animated children’s fare like The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Dog Gone Trouble and Wish Dragon have dominated Canaccord’s TV Power Rankings, while at the same time strengthening Netflix’s position against rival Disney Plus, the analysts wrote.

Original content is still a core growth engine for Netflix, and despite a lighter than usual slate in the past few months, about 64% of the SVOD service’s top ten shows in Canaccord’s power rankings were originals, compared to 63% in Q1 and 59% in Q4. 

As production for its tentpole titles was on hold, Netflix boosted its commitment to children’s content, licensing The Mitchells vs. The Machines from Sony Pictures, which stayed in the top ten rankings for each day of the quarter after rights were purchased. Kids movies also made up six of the top ten films in Canaccord’s power rankings  during the quarter, including Netflix-produced Dog Gone Trouble and Wish Dragon joining licensed fare like Home, Madagascar 3 and The Secret Life of Pets 2. 

Ripps and Graham expect that trend to continue, adding that Netflix already has a handful of kids series in the pipeline — A Tale Dark & Grimm and Dogs in Space slated for fall 2021 and Super Giant Robot Brothers expected in 2022.

Investments in local language content also are showing results across the board, with the popularity of series like Mexican mystery Who Killed Sara? placing second during the quarter in Canaccord Genuity’s TV Power Rankings and French thriller Lupin, Norwegian fantasy drama Ragnarok and Spanish teen drama Elite spending significant time in the top ten.

Netflix began producing local language series back in 2015 with the Colombian Cartel-themed Narcos, and followed that somewhat surprising hit with shows like Money Heist (Spain), Dark (Germany) and others. Now such shows are regular hits with viewers.

“...This segment of Netflix’s library serves not just as a tool to drive subscriber acquisition and engagement in international markets, but also as a key differentiating factor compared to other streaming services,” Ripps and Graham wrote. 

The analysts noted that Netflix plans to step up its already impressive local language output on several fronts.

In South Korea, where it has about 3.5 million subscribers, Netflix has invested about $700 million in two product facilities and local language content, and plans to spend another $500 million on movies and TV series produced in the country. The SVOD pioneer has spent about $420 million in India on content over the past two years and said that it plans to spend more than that on 41 new shows and movies it will release in 2021. 

Other countries will see similar investment. Netflix is opening a new office in Italy in the second half and plans to double the number of Italian original series next year; in the Nordic region, where it has 4.5 million subscribers, Netflix has already produced more than 70 original series and plans to open an office there in the second half of 2021. 

Netflix already has spent about $175 million producing shows in Colombia over seven years and plans 30 new projects before the end of the year. In Spain, where it has produced more than 50 titles and opened its first European production hub in Madrid in 2019, plans are to double the number of sound stages from five to 10 in addition to building new post-production facilities, a film lab and high-tech editing suites. In Russia, Netflix has announced plans to produce its first Russian original series — Anna K — a retelling of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, while in Mexico it plans a remake of hit comedy movie Nosotros Los Nobles.

YouTube announced the pickup of eight new children’s shows as part of its $100 million commitment “to invest in the future of quality kids, family and educational programming,” said the streaming giant. The series, premiering later this year, are BookTube Jr., featuring children’s book authors; The Eggventurers, with animated egg characters; The Guava Juice Show, an animated series featuring a 14-year-old version of YouTuber Roi Fabito; child journalist-featuring Kid Correspondent, Lottie Dottie Mini, a learning series featuring a chicken; Millie and Lou, about a girl and a cat; animated soccer series Super Strikas: Rookie Season and exercise show The Workout Badges.

“Coming from an incredible caliber of creators, our new roster of shows celebrates the diversity of kids and empowers them to pursue their dreams and care for each other and the world around them,” said Nadine Zylstra, head of Family, learning and impact for YouTube Originals. “Each of these projects is in lockstep with the tone of the YouTube Originals Kids & Family brand. "In essence, shows that are entertaining, compelling, embrace big ideas, have strong takeaways and ultimately bring the positive spirit of YouTube to life for our youngest audience.” 

Animated series Super Sema, featuring a young superhero girl on some world-changing adventures, premieres March 8. 

YouTube added that 25 more children’s series are in development, including musical travel show Jam Van and Corpse Talk, an animated talk show whose guests are historical figures.

ViacomCBS said it is adding new features to CBS All Access for kids and families ahead of the streaming service being rebranded as Paramount Plus early next year.

CBS All Access is letting subscribers create as many as six profiles per account and manage each profile with “Kids Mode.” Kids Mode allows parents to limit access to programming for older or younger children based on content ratings. Parents can also use a PIN code to control access to mature content.

Related: ViacomCBS Sets Investor Event for Streaming Plans

At the same time, more library programming from the company’s Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. kids channels is being added to CBS All Access.

“We are thrilled to bring even more popular kids hits from Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon to the service, in advance of our upcoming rebrand as Paramount Plus,” said Rob Gelick, executive VP and general manager, streaming services and chief product officer, ViacomCBS Streaming. 

“We’ve already seen incredible growth in viewership since we began expanding our offering of children’s programming on the service,” Gelick said. “With today’s new product enhancements, like ‘Kids Mode’ and multiple profiles, we can create customized experiences for each member of the household, while giving our subscribers even more opportunities to discover and watch family programming together, and allowing parents additional peace of mind with the ability to further customize what programming is available to their kids.” 

The additional programming includes 800 episodes of Paw Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Blue’s Clues, Bubble Guppies, Dora the Explorer and Shimmer and Shine

All CBS All Access children’s programming is available commercial-free.

Children's privacy and welfare advocates are calling on Google to spend its planned $100 million YouTube children's content production fund on commercial-free programming and on content from diverse producers.

That is according to a copy of a letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojciki from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, ParentsTogether, the Center for Digital Democracy, Free Press, and the Writers Guild of America, East.

The fund is part of a settlement Google struck with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

"This fund has the potential to stamp an imprint on children’s online content, which will have influence for years to come," they said. "We ask that YouTube adopt policies to ensure this fund will operate in the best interests of children worldwide."

They said the fund should:

1. "Reflect the perspectives and interests of children from different countries and cultures
2. "Underwrite content makers who are diverse and independent, with at least 50% of funding dedicated to historically underrepresented communities
3. "Promote educational content and content which reflects the highest values of civil society, including diversity
4. "Not support content which promotes commercialism
5. "Facilitate union representation of creators of scripted and nonfiction content for YouTube
6. "Be advised by a team of leading independent experts who can ensure programming is commissioned that truly serves the educational, civic, and developmental needs of young people."

In September 2019, YouTube agreed to pay a record $170 million to settle allegations by the FTC and the New York Attorney General's office that YouTube "illegally collected personal information from children without their parents’ consent."

"Google purposefully positioned YouTube to be the leading global platform targeting children and teens around the world," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, in a statement. "The company has a special responsibility to ensure that its new fund is governed by policies that enable young people to access an array of quality content that benefits them—not Google’s bottom line."

AT&T has added a new wrinkle to its $10 million distance learning initiative in the time of COVID-19.

The company, starting Wednesday (June 17), will be holding a 10-week virtual AT&T Summer Camp.

It will feature activities for kids K-12 with content from various nonprofits. That will include instruction on how to code their own games, hone their writing skills and films from the HBO Max library (Mercy, Hairspray).

And to keep the diversity conversation going, it is launching Standing for Equality, in conjunction with CommonSense resources, to teach families about voting rights, influential Black artists and more.

With kids’ videos among the most watched on YouTube, it’s no surprise many companies have begun tapping into the growing market to create digital content for tiny audiences. Well-known children’s entertainment companies such as Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon have long produced animated and live-action content for children with the same approach — colorful, with relatable characters and storylines. However, we’ve come a long way since traditional formats, and without a doubt, brands must adjust to fit the demands of kids today.

To live up to the “iGeneration’s” expectations, many companies have been introducing digital entertainment with an interactive twist. In its broadest sense, the term interactive entertainment refers to products and services on digital, computer-based systems, which respond to the users’ actions as they click and/or point to the activity at hand. Though not strictly interactive entertainment, it's arguable that the precursors to this medium were “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, also known as gamebooks, which debuted in 1979. Gamebooks were written from a second-person perspective with the reader assuming the lead role, making choices to determine the outcome of a story.

For many young parents today, their first exposure to this format might have been the classic Goosebumps books written by R.L Stine. Its “Give Yourself Goosebumps” series allowed readers to choose how a story progressed and ended, allowing them to control the destiny of the protagonist. Nowadays, instead of books, tots can put the “Choose Your Own Adventure” concept to the test by simply tuning in to content on Netflix. The streaming giant is hoping to capture the fickle attention spans of the iGeneration by offering a new, interactive way to consume content. Netflix has even partnered up with Dreamworks to introduce Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale as well as launched its own original interactive programming, Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile.

Across the pond, American interactive content streaming advances have caused a stir, and after noticing a decline in children’s TV viewership in the U.K., BBC, the iconic British broadcasting network, announced substantial investment in developing children’s content over the next three years. The network believes its efforts will withstand the undeniable influence American streaming companies have on the children’s entertainment industry in the U.K. market. The project will focus on reviving content found on its CBeebies and CBBC channels. In addition, its online platform for children will expand, offering live online programs, online video blogs and interactive digital content.

Shifting from traditional TV formats to incorporate interactivity not only helps retain attention, but also boosts creativity and imagination in children. In some instances, it could also go a long way toward developing motor skills. However, like any new concept or technology, there are pros and cons. Depending on the platform, content creators should be mindful that interacting with storylines could have a different affect on children than what was hoped for.

YouTube, for example, could prove that this format thrives on its platform by allowing children to pick and choose what they watch. This type of interactivity is successful due to the power children are able to exert. On the other side of the same coin, when tuning in to Netflix, most people, children included, like to relax and zone out, thus rendering interactivity pointless. Some platforms are hubs for longform serialized content, more suitable for living-room experiences where minimal exertion is the norm. Others are inherently more flexible and therefore more attractive to children in terms of interaction. That’s not to say the idea of interactive digital content is half-baked or a failure; rather that some platforms are just intrinsically more prone to ushering in its success.

In any case, though the concept of choosing your own adventure isn’t exactly new, its shift to digital platforms is. While it’s still too early to tell which players will come out on top, it will certainly be interesting to keep an eye on the space and see if audiences respond favorably.

Bin Jeong is vice president of SmartStudy, a developer of mobile apps for children.

WASHINGTON — Broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors are trying to get more marketing flexibility in a world where online video is on the rise, and where new video competition is not subject to a host of regulations that apply to traditional TV. However, they face pushback from children’s advocates who argue that would be going in the wrong direction.

At the direction of new chairman Ajit Pai, the Federal Communications Commission voted May 18 to launch a review of all its rules and regs applying to media outlets — broadcast, cable and satellite.

That included input from broadcasters and cable operators on its rules mandating weekly quotas of educational kids shows on TV and the longstanding limits on integrating advertising into those shows.

The National Association of Broadcasters, including programmers Disney, CBS, Fox and Univision, sought more “flexibility” in meeting children’s TV requirements. They said imposing children’s-TV programming mandates on broadcast and cable when such content is readily available and not regulated on the internet should be up for reconsideration. They also want the FCC to reconsider the prohibition on including web links in kids’ shows.

Cable and broadcast outlets suggest the FCC get out of the children’s TV ad-limiting business entirely and leave that job to the Federal Trade Commission.

NCTA: The Internet & Television Association also wants the FCC to lighten up on the kids TV ad limits, which apply to cable as well as broadcast.

In response, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Center for Digital Democracy have told the FCC that kids TV rules remain a necessary check on commercialization by big media. They argue that the fact that edge providers can market to kids without consequences is no argument for leveling that playing field.

“The fact that YouTube and other internet and mobile providers ignore child development research and longstanding children’s media principles is no reason for the FCC to weaken important safeguards for the many children who watch programs on cable or broadcast television,” Angela Campbell, counsel for CCFC and CDD, told the FCC.

Pai has not signaled any response at present.

HBO will launch the 47th season of its iconic children’s series Sesame Street, the network said Monday.

The series, which HBO acquired this past January, will feature a “reimagined Elmo’s World segment, which will include live action films and interactive thinking game such as matching, sorting, and counting, said network officials.

The 25 five-minute Elmo installments will feature the beloved character accompanied by an animated cell phone and learning tool as they tackle daily topics, said HBO.

Sesame Street will also introduce an important kindness curriculum to foster behaviors that can have significant outcomes throughout a child’s life.

“We’re excited to bring back an inventive and interactive take on one of the most successful children’s television segments, Elmo’s World, for today’s kids,” said Brown Johnson, EVP and Creative Director, Sesame Workshop in statement. “Kids love to learn with Elmo, and they are sure to enjoy the beautiful new chalk-drawn world Elmo creates in his imagination. We are also thrilled to be working with the legendary ‘original’ Mr. Noodle, Bill Irwin, and proud to bring two new diverse and multi-talented Mr. Noodles into our ‘World.’”