Nonprogram content of children's television

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Abstract
Three analyses were done of the nonprogram content of children's television broadcast on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons. The samples consisted of 86.5 representative hours of children's television collected during 1983, 1985, and 1987. Variations in nonprogram content were traced across the 3 years sampled, and by time slot, season, and network. The significant findings included: an increase in the total number of messages per hour, especially the number of product commercials; an increase in the percentage of commercials for toys and a decrease in the percentage for cereals; and a rise in the percentage of commericals with a program tie‐in in 1985, followed by a decline of such commercials in 1987.