A new £60 million fund is being awarded to broadcasters including Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV to help increase the range of home-grown children’s programmes in the UK.
Culture secretary Karen Bradley announced the investment, which will help commercial channels make more home-grown children’s programmes in order to compete with US imports, online content and BBC children’s shows.
“High-quality children’s television… plays a vital role in stimulating learning and giving young people a greater understanding of the world around them,” Karen said. “This significant investment will give our world-renowned television production sector the boost it needs to create innovative content for a wider audience that would otherwise not be made.”
The money will be available for programmes shown by commercial public service broadcasters as well as other ‘free and widely available’ channels and streaming services, and could potentially include online platforms.
Teletubbies creator Anne Wood, founder of the the Save Kids’ Content UK campaign, said she was ‘deeply grateful’ for the move, adding that programme-makers ‘desperately need more support’.
“It shows the government’s awareness of the issue and the importance of children’s television culture to children in this country,” Anne continued. “We in the children’s production sector have never had such difficult times raising finance.”
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the £60m – which will be spent over three years – could be used to pay for up to 50% of the production and distribution costs of original TV shows. Programmes from new and diverse backgrounds, and those made in the nations and regions, will be ‘a particular focus’.
