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A Good Week for Kids as Three Cable Initiatives Get Promoted

The cable industry furthered its commitment to families last week with initiatives to assist kids - and likely impress parents. Cox Communications signed a deal with the Connecting with Kids (CWK) Network; Charter Communications' teamed with West Virginia police to help find missing kids; and the History Channel partnered with New York City schools to develop curriculum.

Cox will bring eight half-hour documentaries to students in its markets this year - among them Invisible Weapons, which explores the hot-button topic of bullying, produced by the Atlanta-based CWK. Cox cable systems will also provide local schools with daily vignettes and weekly news reports on other issues facing kids, plus a CWK-created curriculum based on national standards, a video library and professional development for teachers.

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As a test-run for the national rollout, the Cox/CWK partnership was launched last fall in five Phoenix schools. This year the half-hour specials will run on Cox Phoenix's local origination Channel 9, so families can view them at home.

Cox last year partnered with CNN under its Line to Learning program, which fosters media awareness among students. The MSO has contributed more than $50 million in cash and services to education since 1992, according to Tawn Albright, manager of business development.

Cox is exploring how CWK content can be leveraged on different Cox products. For instance, CWK programming will be available in homes via VOD and FreeZone, and as streaming video on Cox's broadband service. Cox Business Services will also make the content available to school districts buying wide-area networks from Cox.

The History Channel is also giving a high-tech boost to middle and high schools in New York City, though a multiyear partnership funded through Save Our History, the channel's campaign for historic preservation. City schools can tap into quarterly training sessions for 25 teachers, taught by the channel's resident historians, to help them develop lesson plans. The channel has also donated about 300 video libraries featuring its programs to city schools. Three $1,000 grants for history teachers and three $1,000 scholarships for students also will be given out annually. Additionally, the network will produce and air four PSAs about the initiative on A&E's family of networks.

Caroline Kennedy, chief executive of the New York City department of education's office of strategic partnerships, was on hand as network officials announced the new partnership. "This is especially meaningful to me because history was really such a big part of my life, and my father's," said the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy. "This partnership will help students throughout the city connect to the past."

Meanwhile, Charter in West Virginia is providing the broadband backbone for the Lost Child Alert Technology Resource (or LOCATER), which will help local law enforcement agencies locate lost children and other missing persons. Charter is providing a free dedicated high-speed Internet link for the 24/7 computerized alert service, while about $1,500 for a dedicated computer terminal and support child-finder software was provided through federal funding.

The broadband connection will help law enforcement officials quickly access and distribute missing child data on a local, statewide or national basis. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, approximately one in six children are recovered as a result of the technology.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

*Do young beneficiaries of cable largesse influence mom and dad to take - or upgrade - cable service?

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A Good Week for Kids as Three Cable Initiatives Get Promoted

Cable World, Jan 20, 2003

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