You are invited to...
Inaugural lecture by Jeanette Steemers at the University of Westminster, Old
Cinema (LT1), Regent Street, London, 10 December 2008
TOYETIC AND FUN: ARE PRE-SCHOOL TELEVISION SHOWS JUST GIANT TOY ADS?
Around the world small children are regularly captivated by TV programmes
produced especially for them by adults who inhabit a distinctive production
community. Alongside popular series such as 'Sesame Street', more recent
arrivals such as 'Bob the Builder', 'Dora the Explorer', 'Teletubbies' and
'In the Night Garden', have become enduring favourites with children and
their parents.
The global presence of series and the extent to which they generate revenues
from consumer products, particularly toys, underlines the phenomenal changes
experienced by pre-school television in recent years, particularly in
relation to funding models and the extent to which very young children and
their parents have been discovered as a valuable target audience.
In her inaugural lecture Jeanette Steemers examines how pre-school
programming is shaped by a mix of commercial and creative considerations,
and how these affect the range and diversity of content. Far from being
simply ads for toys, she argues that there is a broad spectrum of producer
responses based on a variety of motivations and production contexts.
Jeanette Steemers is Professor of Media and Communications at the University
of Westminster, and is the author of several books including 'Selling
Television: British Television in the Global Marketplace' (2004), 'Changing
Channels' (1998) and 'European Television Industries' (2005 with Petros
Iosifides and Mark Wheeler)
The lecture is at 6.00pm. After that you are invited to join us for a drinks
reception (from 7.00pm). The event is free but you will need to register by
sending an email to Events Officer Niki Pushkey at
[log in to unmask] (Ph: 0207 911 5789).
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