A historical perspective on the evolution and presentations of the ideal in children’s television: A study of Kenyan television from 1989 to 2012

This paper aims at offering a brief history of children’s television in Kenya since 1989 when Voice of Kenya (VoK) was rebranded Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). The year 1989 is unique in the sense that broadcasting hours were increased, giving room for more programmes for children. This paper tries to provide a historical progression of Kenyan children’s television programmes, while analysing their portrayal of the world to the child. The paper will also look at notable opinions by Kenyan scholars on what children television ought to be vis-à-vis what it is. This paper concludes that although the Kenyan society (and to a great extent, television stations) still habours the idea that children are innocent individuals being natured to join the society by controlling the content they watch, we may be misleading ourselves. It must be accepted that currently children have multiple venues in which they can access various media with varied content. The paper accepts that children have varied intellect, experiences, interests and come from different backgrounds with different expectations of what is entertaining and what is boring. Although the paper does accept that television is a useful tool for culture transmission, it challenges the idea that children are a homogeneous group that can do with a standard offering.