Children's Television
Information System
User's Manual

Version 2.0
April 20, 2007

Introduction

Document Contents

This is the User's Manual for the Children's Television Information System. It provides an introduction to the informational reports that access the Children's Educational Television database. It contains the following topics:

Although this document contains some descriptions and examples, each report has its own "help file" that provides more detailed information.

Note: The documentation about the online filing system is contained in a separate document titled:

Related Documentation

For more information about Children's Television Programming requirements, visit the FCC Media Bureau's web page.

Information System Functions

The information system provides the following:

Example

This section gives a quick example of running a report.
  1. Start up.

    Use your browser to open the location of the top-level web page for the children's television information system.

  2. Pick the report to show Core Programs.

    Click on the link in the Information About "Core" Educational TV Programs paragraph to bring up the Map and Query screen for that report.

  3. Use the Map.

    On the map of the United States, click on the state of Colorado to access a map of that state. Click on various locations in the state to run the report on different DMA's for the most recently completed quarterly reporting period. For example, click near Denver to run the report for the "Denver" DMA or near Colorado Springs to run it for the "Colorado Springs-Pueblo" DMA.

  4. Use the Query Form.

    Alternatively, you can scroll down in the browser window to the query form.

  5. Get some help for a query field.

    Get some help for the DMA field by clicking on (the link associated with) the label DMA. The User's Manual for the reports will be opened in your browser window and you will be placed at the section describing the field. When you are done, use your browser's Back command to return to the query form.

  6. Add parameters.

    Since the database currently contains sample data, select Denver for the DMA field and select a Quarter Ending date of 03/31/2007.

  7. Run the report.

    Click on the [Submit] button to search the database and generate the report containing the results of the database query.

Reference

This section contains reference information about the use of the reports. This section includes an index (consisting of hypertext links) to the individual help files that provide the detailed descriptions of the reports. General information about the user interface and the processing steps is provided. Then, definitions for the fields on the query screens is presented.

The following are links to the individual help files for the reports:

Starting the System

The top-level web page for the information system can be found by clicking on the following link:

or by opening the URL http://www.fcc.gov/kidvid

The top-level information web page provides a link to a web page for each report. The web pages contain search forms (and sometimes, clickable image maps) that are used to query the Children's Television Database.

User Interface

There are two interfaces to the reports. All of the reports contain a query screen from which a user can submit search parameters. Some of the reports also contain a clickable map interface. These provide a quick way for a user to specify the location for which information is desired.

The map interface provides the ability to select a location in a state for which information is desired. The user simply clicks on the desired state, and then, when the state map is displayed, clicks on the desired area in the state. The database is queried using the DMA of the selected area for the most recently completed quarterly reporting period.

The web pages for each report also contain areas from which parameters can be specified that are used to search (query) the database.

Hypertext links are available at certain places on the query screens (for example, field labels). By clicking on a link, the User's Manual is opened in your browser window. The window shows the appropriate location in the documentation that covers the topic. To resume filling out the query screen, use your browser's Back command.

Running Reports

The general steps for using the clickable map interface for a report are:

  1. Click on a state on the US map (for small states, you can also click on the state's abbreviation) to access a state map,

  2. Click on the desired area on the state map to run the report for the last quarter.

The general steps for running a report using a query screen interface is as follows:

  1. Select the quarter date for which you would like to view information.

  2. If applicable, select the station's call sign, and/or other parameters.

  3. If applicable, enter the Nielsen Designated Marketing Area (DMA) OR enter the county and state for which you would like to view information (if available for that report).

  4. Press the Submit button. To clear out the values you have entered, press the Reset to Initial Values button.

NOTE: If you enter a Nielsen DMA AND a county and state, the search will be executed using the Nielsen DMA.

Query Fields

The following information defines the fields that appear on the query screens.

A Call Sign is a public identification for broadcast radio and television services station. For example, WCAU or WGBS-TV. This is converted to upper case for queries since this field is stored in upper case in the database.

The County for which you are requesting information. For example, FAIRFAX is a county in Virginia. This is converted to upper case for queries since this field is stored in upper case in the database.

Quarter Ending Date is the last day of a calendar quarter (representing the 4 quarterly reporting periods). A pop-up menu contains the acceptable values.

According to the rules, each commercial broadcast station is required to prepare an FCC Form 398 reflecting children's television programming for each of the four quarters of the year (ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31). On the query screens, a pop-up menu is provided for the Quarter Ending Date field to assist in selecting appropriate values. For example, the first filing of 2007 (for the months of January, February and March) is specified with the last day of the quarterly period: "03/31/2007".

Note that the third quarter of 1997 may contain two filings for a station. The distinction between "Core Programs" and "Non-Core Programs" is not required until September 1, 1997. Consequently, some stations have requested the ability to file twice for the quarter:

A station may file only once (for all three months) if it separates Core and Non-Core Programs throughout the whole quarter.

The query screens provides two values for the third quarter of 1997 to provide the ability to request each piece of a split filing. The following table shows the pop-up menu value that should be used for the different filing approaches:

The Nielsen Designated Marketing Area (DMA) is a geographic market design that defines each television market exclusive of others, based on measured viewing patterns. Each market's DMA consists of all the counties in which the home market stations receive a preponderance of viewing, and every county is allocated exclusively to one DMA - there is no overlap. The total of all DMAs represents the total television households in the U.S. For example, Montgomery County, Maryland is in the Washington DC DMA.

The name of the Program for which you are requesting information. For example, Wishbone is a children's program. This is converted to upper case for queries since this field is stored in upper case in the database.

The State for which you are requesting information. A pop-up menu contains the acceptable values.


Current Problems and Issues

If you have any questions or encounter any problems or bugs, please contact Ron Graser, of the Video Services Division at 202-418-1600.