Engaging, critical, entertaining: Transforming public service television for children in Denmark

Christa Lykke Christensen

doi:10.1386/iscc.4.3.271_1

Engaging, critical, entertaining: Transforming public service television for children in Denmark

Department of Communication

Abstract

This article offers a critical periodization of the children’s programming offered by Denmark’s primary public broadcaster, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Through a careful analysis of content produced by DR and its youth section since 1951, the article argues that four distinct periods of children’s television can be identified, leading up to today’s competitive period. The article shows how Danish public service children’s TV has played an important role in the modernization of the view of children, serving as an experimental platform for putting the perspective of active and independent children on the agenda. The argument is that this agenda has been contested by the increased demands for entertaining content due to increased competition among TV channels and due to obeying demands for ever more content to complete programming schedules.

Original language	English
Article number	6
Journal	Interactions (Bristol)
Volume	4
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	271-287
Number of pages	17
ISSN	1757-2681
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1386/iscc.4.3.271_1
Publication status	Published - 2013

Keywords

Faculty of Humanities

Access to Document

10.1386/iscc.4.3.271_1

Cite this

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title = "Engaging, critical, entertaining: Transforming public service television for children in Denmark",

abstract = "This article offers a critical periodization of the children{\textquoteright}s programming offered by Denmark{\textquoteright}s primary public broadcaster, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Through a careful analysis of content produced by DR and its youth section since 1951, the article argues that four distinct periods of children{\textquoteright}s television can be identified, leading up to today{\textquoteright}s competitive period. The article shows how Danish public service children{\textquoteright}s TV has played an important role in the modernization of the view of children, serving as an experimental platform for putting the perspective of active and independent children on the agenda. The argument is that this agenda has been contested by the increased demands for entertaining content due to increased competition among TV channels and due to obeying demands for ever more content to complete programming schedules.",

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AB - This article offers a critical periodization of the children’s programming offered by Denmark’s primary public broadcaster, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Through a careful analysis of content produced by DR and its youth section since 1951, the article argues that four distinct periods of children’s television can be identified, leading up to today’s competitive period. The article shows how Danish public service children’s TV has played an important role in the modernization of the view of children, serving as an experimental platform for putting the perspective of active and independent children on the agenda. The argument is that this agenda has been contested by the increased demands for entertaining content due to increased competition among TV channels and due to obeying demands for ever more content to complete programming schedules.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Children's television

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