Great Uncle Bulgaria Launches Campaign to Save British Kids’ TV

LONDON - Great Uncle Bulgaria, leader of the Wombles and one of British kids’ TV’s greatest icons, is leading a campaign to save British-made children’s television in the UK.

Despite the Government and Ofcom agreeing that children’s programmes are a vital part of public service broadcasting, new UK-made programmes account for less than 1% of all children’s television in the UK, with imports and repeats increasingly dominating.

Great Uncle Bulgaria said: “Since I was last on telly, Britain is now much more diverse, so UK telly should have programmes that the children of today can relate to. We need to tell those Wombles in government to save British children’s television before it’s too late!”

Media regulator Ofcom, the House of Commons’ Culture Committee and the Lords’ Communications Committee all agree that this lack of home-grown children’s programming needs to be addressed. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham stated in February 2009 that: “We want children to continue to have quality programming.”

However there is widespread concern that no clear proposals for high quality children’s services have as yet emerged from the government’s Digital Britain review.

Great Uncle Bulgaria is urging people to show their support for the campaign by writing to Andy Burnham at www.britishkidstv.com, where you can view a video featuring Great Uncle Bulgaria and the rest of the Wombles highlighting the risks that British kids face if this issue is ignored.

About Pact

Pact is the UK trade association that represents the commercial interests of independent feature film, television, children’s and animation and interactive media companies. Pact is the largest representative group of screen-based content producers in the UK and the largest trade association in the film, television and interactive media sectors.

Images of the Wombles available on request.

Follow Great Uncle Bulgaria on Twitter: @GtUncBulgaria

For further information contact: Clare Naden, Pact Direct Line: +44(0)20-7380-8241 Email: clare@pact.co.uk Website: www.pact.co.uk

Source: Pact

For further information contact: Clare Naden, Pact, Direct Line: +44(0)20-7380-8241, Email: clare at pact.co.uk