Teen Kids News
Encyclopedia
Teen Kids News, initially titled EKN Worldwide Kids News, is an educational newsmagazine series
aimed at children and teenagers that debuted in first-run syndication the weekend of September 27, 2003. Teen Kids News discusses important issues in a format intended to educate and inform both children and adults. In-studio segments are shot at studios in Manhattan with field reports done on location around the country. The series meets the federal guidelines for educational and informational programming
made mandatory by the Federal Communications Commission
; the majority of affiliates that run the series typically air it on Saturday or Sunday mornings depending on the station, though a few air the series on Fridays in the morning or daytime
time periods.
The series airs on over 200 TV stations to approximately 91% of the country and is seen in 175 countries worldwide through the American Forces Network
and is seen in 8,100 schools in a special in the classroom education feed. Although the TV Parental Guidelines
do not permit news programs to receive a rating, all episodes of the series are given a "TV-PG" rating.
, former news director for KYW-TV
in Philadelphia and WABC-TV
in New York City and inventor of the popular Eyewitness News
format, who launched the series as a project to give young people the opportunity to develop an interest in the journalism industry by delivering news and information to their peers. Teen Kids News was originally known as EKN Worldwide Kids News for the first half of the series' first season, before adopting its current name (though some viewers have found the title to be somewhat confusing in part due to its grammatical incorrectness). The series was the first attempt at a syndicated news show aimed at children since the cancellation of the similar News for Kids in 1996.
publication. From its launch until the 2009-10 season, the series began each telecast with a summary of the week's news stories with footage supplied by Fox News via its Fox News Channel in the Classroom initiative; this was dropped in favor of airing special-interest stories on issues important to today's children, and features of children and teenagers helping out special causes, which was already featured following the news summary prior to that point. The series is formatted similarly to a newsmagazine and features special-interest, sports and entertainment stories; before certain news segments and before most commercial breaks, the series features specialized short pieces about environmental issues and offbeat stories. Sports segments are also provided during the show also in the form of special-interest pieces, and NBC Sports
produces a segment that airs in the months leading up to the Olympics called "Olympic Insight" that began in 2008 prior to the Summer Olympics
, featuring interviews and footage of American athletes competing in the Olympics.
The show also features educationally-based segments such as "Word", a game in which three words (many not commonly used in the vocabulary of the show's target demographic) are illustrated by their meaning. Entertainment stories have also been a common use on the series, generally aired as the final story of the telecast, and often featured interviews with up-and-coming actors and musicians which have included The Jonas Brothers, Corbin Bleu
and Modern Family
cast member Sarah Hyland
, among others.
The show's primary anchor, Mwzanaa Brown, has been with the series since its September 2003 debut. All anchors and reporters for the program range in age between 10 and 20 years of age; the series never discloses the anchors' and reporters' last names, unlike other newscasts, so they are only identified on a first name basis. At the end of most seasons of the series, reporters who had grown too old or simply decided to leave the series were replaced by new reporters.
and Fox News journalist Paula Zahn, Jenna Ruggiero, reporter from 2003 to 2009 and daughter of popular New York City anchor/reporter Rosanna Scotto
of Fox
owned-and-operated station
WNYW
, and Cody Gifford, sports anchor during the 2007-08 season and son of Kathie Lee
and Frank Gifford
.
.
The show has also been acknowledged by People Magazine, TV Guide
, the New York Daily News
and featured on NBC's Today and Comedy Central
's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Despite the positive reception among adults, the show is viewed as poor among teens due to its outdated nature and lack of interest among actual teen topics.
, Teen Kids News received a 1.0 national rating for the November 2009 sweeps period. The series performed well among adult viewers with an estimated 600,000 women aged 18–54 and 400,000 men aged 18–54.
Toy companies and food companies are excluded from buying commercial space for the series and are not allowed to be sponsors on the series, certain other syndicated children's series also follow this policy as well and therefore ads airing on the show generally appeal to adult viewers instead of the program's target demographic.
in the Republic of Georgia approached Al Primo to create a version of Teen Kids News for the country. The Georgian version of the series titled Sabavshvo Ambebi, debuted on March 22, 2009.
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
aimed at children and teenagers that debuted in first-run syndication the weekend of September 27, 2003. Teen Kids News discusses important issues in a format intended to educate and inform both children and adults. In-studio segments are shot at studios in Manhattan with field reports done on location around the country. The series meets the federal guidelines for educational and informational programming
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
made mandatory by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
; the majority of affiliates that run the series typically air it on Saturday or Sunday mornings depending on the station, though a few air the series on Fridays in the morning or daytime
Daytime television
Daytime television is the general term for television shows produced that are intended to air during the daytime hours on weekdays. This article is about American daytime television, for information about international daytime television see Daytime television....
time periods.
The series airs on over 200 TV stations to approximately 91% of the country and is seen in 175 countries worldwide through the American Forces Network
American Forces Network
The American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide...
and is seen in 8,100 schools in a special in the classroom education feed. Although the TV Parental Guidelines
TV Parental Guidelines
The TV Parental Guidelines system was first proposed on December 19, 1996 by the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal Communications Commission , and went into effect by January 1, 1997 on most major U.S...
do not permit news programs to receive a rating, all episodes of the series are given a "TV-PG" rating.
Background
The series was created by Al PrimoAl Primo
Albert T. Primo is a television news executive who was credited with creating the Eyewitness News format.-Biography:He was born in 1937 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, former news director for KYW-TV
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
in Philadelphia and WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in New York City and inventor of the popular Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
format, who launched the series as a project to give young people the opportunity to develop an interest in the journalism industry by delivering news and information to their peers. Teen Kids News was originally known as EKN Worldwide Kids News for the first half of the series' first season, before adopting its current name (though some viewers have found the title to be somewhat confusing in part due to its grammatical incorrectness). The series was the first attempt at a syndicated news show aimed at children since the cancellation of the similar News for Kids in 1996.
Production and content
Educational content for the show is provided by the child-oriented Weekly ReaderWeekly Reader
Weekly Reader is a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children in grades Pre-K–12. It began in 1928 as My Weekly Reader....
publication. From its launch until the 2009-10 season, the series began each telecast with a summary of the week's news stories with footage supplied by Fox News via its Fox News Channel in the Classroom initiative; this was dropped in favor of airing special-interest stories on issues important to today's children, and features of children and teenagers helping out special causes, which was already featured following the news summary prior to that point. The series is formatted similarly to a newsmagazine and features special-interest, sports and entertainment stories; before certain news segments and before most commercial breaks, the series features specialized short pieces about environmental issues and offbeat stories. Sports segments are also provided during the show also in the form of special-interest pieces, and NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
produces a segment that airs in the months leading up to the Olympics called "Olympic Insight" that began in 2008 prior to the Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, featuring interviews and footage of American athletes competing in the Olympics.
The show also features educationally-based segments such as "Word", a game in which three words (many not commonly used in the vocabulary of the show's target demographic) are illustrated by their meaning. Entertainment stories have also been a common use on the series, generally aired as the final story of the telecast, and often featured interviews with up-and-coming actors and musicians which have included The Jonas Brothers, Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu Reivers , known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor, model, dancer, producer, and singer-songwriter. He performed in the High School Musical film series, the Discovery Kids drama series Flight 29 Down, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In!...
and Modern Family
Modern Family
Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...
cast member Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Jane Hyland is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...
, among others.
The show's primary anchor, Mwzanaa Brown, has been with the series since its September 2003 debut. All anchors and reporters for the program range in age between 10 and 20 years of age; the series never discloses the anchors' and reporters' last names, unlike other newscasts, so they are only identified on a first name basis. At the end of most seasons of the series, reporters who had grown too old or simply decided to leave the series were replaced by new reporters.
On-air personalities
The series has featured over the years a few reporters who are children of well-known television personalities and journalists including Haley Cohen, the show's original anchor from 2003 to 2007 and daughter of former CBSCBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
and Fox News journalist Paula Zahn, Jenna Ruggiero, reporter from 2003 to 2009 and daughter of popular New York City anchor/reporter Rosanna Scotto
Rosanna Scotto
Rosanna Scotto is an American news anchor. She currently anchors WNYW's Good Day New York with Greg Kelly. Previously, Scotto anchored at 5 and 10 P.M. with Ernie Anastos and Fox 5 Live at 11 A.M. Scotto has been the lead female news anchor since 1990...
of Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
WNYW
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
, and Cody Gifford, sports anchor during the 2007-08 season and son of Kathie Lee
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin...
and Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
.
Critical reception
The advocacy group Children Now acknowledged Teen Kids News as one of eight children's programs which truly meet FCC educational requirements for children's programming and is listed as a preferred program by the group along with others such as Sesame StreetSesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
.
The show has also been acknowledged by People Magazine, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
and featured on NBC's Today and Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Despite the positive reception among adults, the show is viewed as poor among teens due to its outdated nature and lack of interest among actual teen topics.
Ratings
According to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, Teen Kids News received a 1.0 national rating for the November 2009 sweeps period. The series performed well among adult viewers with an estimated 600,000 women aged 18–54 and 400,000 men aged 18–54.
Sponsorship
The series is very restrictive in its selection of sponsors for specific segments and those seen in its commercial break, and follows strict guidelines and maintains the distinction between editorial and sponsorship. Sponsors generally come from the fields of apparel, entertainment, health/beauty, electronics, retail and the U.S. government.Toy companies and food companies are excluded from buying commercial space for the series and are not allowed to be sponsors on the series, certain other syndicated children's series also follow this policy as well and therefore ads airing on the show generally appeal to adult viewers instead of the program's target demographic.
International versions
Impressed by the positive message of the series, a programming executive at Rustavi 2Rustavi 2
Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company , better known as Rustavi 2, is the most successful private television broadcasting company in Georgia. The Rustavi, based in Tbilisi, was founded in 1994 in the town of Rustavi. It is a privately owned free to air terrestrial broadcaster that currently reaches around...
in the Republic of Georgia approached Al Primo to create a version of Teen Kids News for the country. The Georgian version of the series titled Sabavshvo Ambebi, debuted on March 22, 2009.