Sprouting Off

Have you watched, or let your kids watch, PBS Sprout, the "24-hour channel for preschoolers and families"? We have, and the 24-hour part of it has always bothered me a bit. Do preschoolers need a 24-hour channel? Are 3-year-olds often up at 1am, watching TV? (I am a little scared to know the answer).

Now, I am one of those parents who let's her kids watch channels like this with minimal supervision. I look at "TV Time" as the time I get things done around the house---laundry, dinner, cleaning---so, yes, TV is absolutely, positively a babysitter. The good news is that I am strict about the channels they watch and how much screen time is allowed each day.

Now, though, I'm a bit disturbed about a channel on our "safe" list. While walking through the family room the other day, I heard a commercial airing on Sprout. "Hmmmmm", I thought, "I didn't think Sprout accepted commercials".

The next thing I noticed stopped me in my tracks. The commercial was an ad for New Orleans. New Orleans? For preschoolers?

I worked in advertising for many years, so I know that, in cable, advertisers often buy a demographic group versus specific programs or channels. So, let's say this advertiser wanted to reach Women 25-44; Sprout may rank very high since many women say they watch the channel, even if they really mean that their kids are parked in front of it.

But, still, shouldn't Sprout have some sort of system that insures that the messages they run are appropriate for a 3 year old? (and, let's be clear: I'm sure there are loads of fun things for families to do in New Orleans, but this was NOT a "family" ad, per se).

Today, I happened to see a commercial for 800-Creditcarddebt. Yes, my kids are so happy to know that if mommy and daddy run up their credit cards to the point of near bankruptcy, there is a company that will help to straighten it out. Never mind that I now need to explain what bankruptcy is.

Thanks Sprout! Although you are one of my kids' favorites, I think we'll now stick with videos.