We have been devout PBS Sprout watchers. We are particularly fans of Nina and Star and the "Good Night Show". "Caillou" is one of Abby's top 2 favorite shows (the other being "Blue's Clues"). I like "Kipper" myself, and watching "Kipper" is often a part of our nightly bedtime routine. A few weeks ago we got Tivo in the bedroom because "Kipper" didn't seem to be on at the right time for us. Sure,it cost some money, but the show is on twice from 6pm-9pm and I didn't like missing the first showing and then having to wait until 8:45pm for the 2nd showing. So we got the Tivo.
Now for those of you who don't know, PBS Sprout is all about children's programming. A lot of the shows are made by the same people who produce Sesame Street, and there are no ads DURING the shows themselves. Still, there is a need for them to show some advertising and they have done a great job of doing this by advertising to the parents instead of the kids. We see ads for health insurance, garbage bags, vaccuum cleaners, credit cards, and debt solutions. I am used to this. It's boring, but I tolerate it because I know they have bills to pay.
PBS Sprout has promised, has written in stone practically, that they will not market to our children.
So what happened????? All of a sudden I'm seeing ads for Hasbro,Playskool, and "Pillow Pets". I'm furious! Suddenly my daughter needs a Pillow Pet for Christmas, maybe more than one because there are several kinds. I looked up PBS Sprout website today, and the pledge is still there and yet I saw the ads myself.
So please, call or email PBS Sprout and tell them to DITCH the ads aimed at the kids!! If they don't do it soon, I'm going to ditch PBS Sprout, and probably my whole Directv subscription in the process.
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/home/
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/help/#GQ11
"Does PBS KIDS Sprout include advertising?
Yes, PBS KIDS Sprout is advertiser supported. However, advertisements will never interrupt a program, and we only feature messages targeted to parents and caregivers, not the child viewer."
Please help me get the message to them. This is NOT acceptable.
Thank you!
