Limit child TV viewing to an hour each day, study urges

With evidence such as this proposing that children should watch as little television as possible, the future of the BBC's CBBC Channel may now begin to appear less than certain despite the BBC's eagerness to turn the channel into a success.

There were probably compelling reasons for a CBBC channel to begin with such as providing a commercial-free environment for children that also helps to further justify the licence fee to both parents and children, but the 'licence fee justification' bit is probably lost on an bored eight year-old armed with a remote control. And the "children's channel" EPG argument is lost when children regularly watch 'grown up' channels for other programmes such as Neighbours and The Simpsons.

Don't get me wrong - the BBC should continue to provide commercial-free programming for all age groups including where the commercial sector offers a similar service (eg. News 24), but when the CBBC provision on other channels already far exceeds the recommended daily total, the requirement for a dedicated CBBC channel starts to look very shaky as a result.