A programação para crianças na televisão por cabo em Portugal : estudo da oferta dos canais temáticos infantis em 2005

Television for children is a topic that has been widely debated not only among academics but also by educators, parents and all responsible for the development of children. Nowadays television is part of the daily routine of families and it plays a very import role in children’s social development, due to its presence in their lives. There is a great amount of television consuming by children and this has led to different investigations about the effects and the relations between television and children. Children are not passive viewers at all, and therefore, they need, like adults need, quality programming that can answer their questions and needs and also contributes for their social and intellectual development. Taking into consideration this scenario about the relation between children and television, there has been an increase of discussion and debates towards the effects and the provision of quality television programming for children. Therefore, within the Master course of Communication, specialization in Communication, Citizenship and Education, this investigation aims to contribute to a better understanding of the current provision of television programming for children in the Portuguese cable TV, during the year 2005. For that purpose, one has proceeded to the depiction and analysis of the following four children thematic channels available on the Portuguese cable television: Panda, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Additionally, this work is also a complement for a better understanding of the current state of the television programming for children in Portugal and it can also be a step forward for other investigations about the same topic.