Are Canadian babies ready for their own TV channel?
CBC January 30, 2007 A TV channel aimed at babies under age three that has caused controversy in the U.S. and U.K. could soon be launched in Canada. The CRTC, the federal regulator in charge of television, has approved the channel for distribution and Rogers Cable, one of Canada’s largest cable carriers, is considering carrying it. “We’re having discussions with the channel to offer it to our customers,” said Nancy Cottenden, a spokeswoman for Rogers, which serves viewers in Ontario and New Brunswick. The channel offers commercial-free, educational programming that encourages interaction between parent and child, the broadcasters say. It would be available with a subscription fee. But experts in child development say infants and toddlers should not be left in front of a television. The American Academy of Pediatrics says infants and toddlers need to play and talk with others, and should be kept away from TV. A 2003 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a U.S.-based independent health
