Quality Standards in Children's Programming: An Independent Observation of Industry Claims

There is no standard definition for "quality children's programming" currently. This study sought to build from the work of Alexander, Hoerrner, and Duke (1998) and others in constructing a standardized definition. The Alexander et al. study defined the television industry's definition of quality. This project analyzed the attributes of the shows used in the 1998 study to determine if the content actually contained the aspects of quality stated by the industry. In doing so, this project sought to validate the television industry's self-imposed definition. The results were quite encouraging; consistency exists among several researchers' and industry definitions.Six categories set the standards for quality: instructional excellence, distinctive program characteristics, production excellence, age appropriateness, diversity, and prestigious participants