USA: FOX MEDIA EMPIRE PLANS TO EXPAND INTO CONTROVERSIAL SEPARATE CABLE TELEVISION CHANNELS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS

Record ID: 387894

  • Title: USA: FOX MEDIA EMPIRE PLANS TO EXPAND INTO CONTROVERSIAL SEPARATE CABLE TELEVISION CHANNELS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS
  • Date: 22nd November 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 10, 1998) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) LOGOS FROM FOX KIDS NETWORK AND FOX FAMILY CHANNEL RICH CRONIN, FOX FAMILY CHANNEL PRESIDENT SAYING (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH ) "We do a tonne of research here at Fox channel and at Fox Kids and we have over 600 focus groups a year, and in the research, we talk with boys and girls separately, w
  • Embargoed: 7th December 1998 12:00
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  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA1RJXZ2OS5DLJRZLUTMN77P5PT
  • Story Text: The mighty Fox media empire is expanding once again, this time further into the world of cable television.
    The president of Fox Family Channel on Tuesday, November 10 talked about his company's plans to create two new networks, the Girlz Channel and the Boyz Channel, and the controversy that is coming with that plan.
    Fox plans to launch the two new channels in 1999, running programming specifically targeted to boys on the Boyz Channel and female-oriented shows on the Girlz Channel.After 9 pm at night, both channels will offer shows for parents.
    But, the plan is running into some controversy with critics like media and child psychiatrist Carole Lieberman.
    She believes that it is not psychologically healthy to segregate boys from girls at such an early age, in a time when grown men and women are having trouble communicating with each other.
    Some feel the idea of separating the sexes will push children at an early age to label each other based on gender stereotypes, which would be reinforced by the gender-targeted commercials that would air on each channel.
    Fox Family Channel president Rich Cronin believes all concerns will be answered when he announces the programming line-up for both channels, probably sometime in early December.
    He says the new networks will not be driven by sexual stereotyes but by what children viewers want to see.
    To this end, Cronin is assembling a national advisory board comprised of professionals in a range of disciplines that affect children.He also claims programming decisions will be heavily based on the results of more than 600 focus groups the network conducts with children every year.
    The fear for many, including Dr.Lieberman, is that Fox will pull programming from the extensive library of Saban Entertainment, its partner in Fox Family Worldwide, Inc.
    That library contains the popular show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," which has already been wided criticized for its violent content.Much of Saban's programming is known for its boy-oriented action-adventure shows.
    Dr.Lieberman also sees the plan as not much more than a business move crafted to appeal to potential advertisers and sponsers, who love a chance to target well-defined groups of viewers.While Cronin agrees that advertisers are very enthusiastic about the new channels, he insists the inspiration for them will come from kids and child experts, and not the bottom line.
    Currently, Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., the joint venture of Saban Entertainment and News Corporation, airs Fox Family Channel in nearly 73 million cable homes and Fox Kids Network in 98 million homes via affiliates of the FOX Broadcasting Network.
    These networks currently air such programmes as "Mystic Knights", "Blinded By Love", "The Adventures of Shirley Holmes", "Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego?" and "The Three Friends and Jerry Show.
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