Every week, millions of tiny television viewers tune into Nickelodeon's hit "Dora the Explorer" to watch as a peppy cartoon character rallies them to sing and stomp their feet to her signature song, "We did it!"
Little do the preschoolers know that they are exercising what a Nickelodeon executive calls their "bodily-kinesthetic intelligence." When Dora consults her map, she is promoting "spatial" skills. And when Dora asks her young viewers to help her count planks to build a bridge, she is building "interpersonal intelligence."
Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom Inc., borrowed these concepts from Harvard University Professor Howard Gardner, the father of "multiple-intelligence theory." First advanced in 1983, the theory holds that there are other types of intelligence, such as athletic prowess or musical ability, beyond the traditional math and verbal skills enshrined in standardized tests. Many teachers, particularly those trying to reach problem students, have since embraced the notion.
Now it's television's turn. In a bruising battle for the preschool audience, which logs more hours in front of the tube than any other group of kids, media giants Viacom and Walt Disney Co. are furiously invoking multiple-intelligence theory. By wrapping themselves in pedagogical virtue, the executives hope to have a better chance of winning over the parents who control the TV dial for the under-six set.
Disney is launching a new channel, called Playhouse Disney, built around what it calls the "whole-child curriculum" that promotes emotional, social and cognitive development. Gardner's theories are "one of the founding principles" of the channel's basic learning plan, says Anne Sweeney, president of Disney's ABC Cable Networks Group.
It's a precarious marketing pitch. Some child-development experts say flatly that watching TV isn't good for young children. The American Academy of Pediatrics says television gets in the way of healthy brain development and recommends that kids under two not watch TV at all.
Gardner says he has never watched Dora and doesn't have an opinion about the show. But even he says "one has to retain a healthy skepticism when people say things like bodily-kinesthetic intelligence or spatial intelligence or interpersonal intelligence can really be strongly realized by television as we know it." The professor, who removed the TV set from his own house during his youngest child's first 10 years, adds: "A week in the real world is worth 10 years watching television."
Brown Johnson, head of Nickelodeon's preschool programming, says it's unrealistic to expect that young children won't be watching television, "so you might as well put stuff on that's really, really good." She adds: "It's the 21st century. Media is in our lives."
Not long ago, commercial networks were content to cede the preschool market to public-television programs such as "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." High-minded and commercial-free, the Public Broadcasting System's shows had a vaguely academic aura that relieved parental guilt pangs. Perhaps more to the point, advertisers weren't interested, since very small children don't tend to make purchasing decisions.
But now, preschoolers are hot. Even without much advertising, TV executives have learned to use their programming to churn out a profitable stream of licensed products. Disney estimates that annual U.S. sales of preschool products that could be branded, including everything from videos to one-piece pajamas, top $21 billion.
What's more, since media habits start early, hooking preschoolers can translate later into higher ratings among older kids — not just on cable but on broadcast networks as well. "Dora" already airs not only on weekdays on Nickelodeon but also Saturday mornings on Viacom's CBS network. Similarly, Disney could rerun some of its preschool programming on ABC.
Nickelodeon, which last year captured 16 percent of the audience of 6- to 11-year-olds watching television during a 24-hour period — against Disney's 9 percent — has also been aggressive in pursuing preschoolers. One early hit, "Blue's Clues," has spawned a merchandise empire ranging from sneakers to macaroni and cheese. Annual sales have topped $1 billion for several years now. And "Dora the Explorer" has become the top-rated regularly scheduled show for preschoolers on commercial television, reaching a total audience of 3.2 million preschool viewers in the first week of November. (The most widely watched preschool show on PBS in that period was "Dragon Tales." According to PBS, the show reached a total of 4.3 million viewers.)
Back in 1988, when Johnson was brought in as a production executive, preschool programming was a relative backwater of European imports and other fare. Executives called it the "electronic sandbox," but the shows were mostly a "place holder because we knew older kids were at school," Johnson says. Still, executives resolved to boost viewership, because low preschool ratings were dragging down Nickelodeon's daily ratings averages, a critical statistic the network uses to sell advertising time throughout its schedule.
It's not that the viewers weren't out there. Nielsen research suggests preschoolers watch an average of more than 23 hours of television a week. But Nickelodeon knew that modern moms weren't about to deposit their precious tots in front of just any show. And Nickelodeon would need to tread carefully if it wanted to compete successfully with PBS.
The task was complicated by Nickelodeon's past success. Nickelodeon, after all, became a powerhouse in kids television by creating a this-is-for-kids environment that thumbed its nose at anything that seemed as if it was being spoon-fed by parents. Signature programs such as "The Ren & Stimpy Show," about a smart-aleck cat and dog, were viewed by some parents as slightly "dangerous," recalls Johnson.
So Nickelodeon executives consciously began modeling their efforts after "Sesame Street." It was the "gold standard," says Herb Scannell, Nickelodeon's president. Armed with the idea of a game show for very young kids, they hired education consultants to recommend academic theories that could be included in the show to boost "cognitive" skills, such as finding a circle amid a group of other shapes.
The result was "Blue's Clues" in 1996, which quickly became a major hit, challenging shows such as the sticky-sweet "Barney & Friends." With Blue's Clues, parents felt they could see their kids learning right before their eyes, as excited 4-year-olds shouted answers to questions posed by TV host Steve. One recent episode featured Blue barking out clues about a book she wanted to read.
In August 2000, Nickelodeon launched "Dora the Explorer." As with Blue's Clues, the original idea was to create a game show that would reward kids verbally for figuring out answers to questions posed by an onscreen host. In a nod to the void of shows aimed at the nation's fast-growing Hispanic population, Dora became an adventurous Latina who spoke both English and Spanish. In a final twist that mirrored the explosion of home-computer use, especially by children, Dora would live in an animated world inside a computer. Kids watching at home would be prompted by a talking backpack to choose items like a talking map that would help Dora solve problems, such as finding her way through a magic forest.
Education consultant Valeria Lovelace, who once ran research at "Sesame Street," was hired to create an educational underpinning for Dora. She recommended using multiple-intelligence theory. "Multiple intelligence really is inclusive," she says, meaning that the producers wouldn't have to compromise entertainment values to provide education.
Gardner's theory, as it happens, is conveniently suited to the needs of preschool television. Multiple intelligence is "like reading your horoscope," says Marjorie Kaplan, head of kids' programming at the Discovery channel. "You can read into it whatever you want, and everybody feels comfortable with it."
To reassure parents concerned about Nickelodeon's edgier fare for older kids, Nickelodeon advertised Dora in parenting magazines. The most common complaint among parents about commercial networks such as Nickelodeon is the crush of ads for candy, fast food and toys. To address their concerns, Nickelodeon doesn't interrupt Dora or its other preschool shows with ads and limits commercials running near Dora to four minutes an hour, aired between shows.
Nickelodeon also looked for confirmation from educators not involved in the creation of Dora that the show was indeed educational. A study found preschoolers learned an average of three new Spanish words during the three-month test period and learned more Spanish words the more they watched the show. Nickelodeon distributed the results to the media and to educators.
Emphasizing education also benefits Nickelodeon in other, less obvious ways. Nickelodeon is welcomed into schools and day-care centers around the country, where its own child-development experts preview story boards of each episode before small groups of 4- and 5-year-olds. The idea is to make sure each show will appeal to preschoolers well before it goes into production. About 70 kids review some part of each Dora episode, and goodwill about the show is generated every time. Nickelodeon doesn't pay for access to the schools.
Of course, "Sesame Street" has the most goodwill of all. But the crush of new preschool competitors means Sesame Street's share of the preschool audience has slipped, and product sales from its last big hit, Elmo, have slowed. So the nonprofit concern has given "Sesame Street" the first makeover in its 33-year history, assigning a more prominent role to classic characters such as Big Bird and launching new segments including Journey to Ernie, a hide-and-seek game that takes place inside a computer. The segment lays the groundwork for the launch of educational computer software and interactive games.
Sesame Street has also teamed up with Nickelodeon to launch a commercial-free channel called Noggin that runs old episodes of Sesame Street and other preschool fare all day.
PBS has also responded to the corporate onslaught, dramatically expanding its preschool offerings. It now takes a percentage of revenue generated by the sale of licensed products spun off from shows airing on its stations, reducing its reliance on government funding, grants and viewer donations.
To avoid the whiff of over-commercialization and to carefully build demand for Dora products, Nickelodeon designs its merchandise rollouts to proceed slowly and methodically. In the fourth quarter of 2001, about a year after Dora made its debut, Dora T-shirts and leggings, which feature Dora exclaiming "Hello!" and "Hola!," went on sale in select department stores. Dora plush toys made by Gund also appeared in November. Dora books, licensed through Golden Books, the kids' book giant, made their debut that same month.
The Dora merchandising push widened at the beginning of this year, expanding to department stores such as Sears and J.C. Penney. On its Web site, Nickelodeon sells Dora videos, books and a Dora "placement activity pad." Next, Dora will move into the mass market through a licensing agreement with preschool toy giant Fisher-Price, a unit of Mattel Inc. Hitting Toys "R" Us shelves this fall is a bilingual Dora doll who sings the "We did it!" song in English and Spanish; a Dora Explore and Find playset, featuring a giant roll-out map and plastic Dora figures; and a backpack carrying case modeled after the one Dora always wears.
Disney, for its part, has one of the best merchandising machines in the world for reaching children. But it needs new franchises, so it's pushing ahead aggressively to develop new shows. Disney Channel, for example, already airs eight hours every weekday of preschool programs, now sponsored by McDonald's Corp.
Much of the programming is informed by multiple-intelligence theory, like "The Noodle Dance," a ritual on the cartoon show "PB&J Otter," about three young otter siblings. Every time the otters do their signature dance, they give children a way to develop "metacognitive awareness," according to the official Disney curriculum guide. In the show, "both interpersonal (dealing with others and understanding differences) and intrapersonal intelligences (self-awareness and self-control) are stressed," the guide explains.