E/I

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For the electronic music magazine, see E/i.

Example of an E/I "bug"; this one used for PBS programs.

E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. Federal law requires that every broadcast station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these programs every week.

In addition, stations must identify such shows on-screen with an "E/I" bug in a corner of the screen. Originally, this was displayed only during the first minute of the program, or, as a separate announcement prior to the show, but since 2004, all E/I shows must display the bug during the entire duration of the show, except during commercial breaks.

What constitutes the shows as "E/I" is determined by the Federal Communications Commission, which enforces the regulations. The agency took a more hands-on role in enforcing the rules in 1996, after the first few years of the act were ineffective [1] as stations claimed programs like The Jetsons, The Flintstones, G.I. Joe, daytime talk shows and Leave it to Beaver had educational elements [2].

At regular intervals, each station submits a list of programs that it either airs now or plans to air which it feels will inform, as well as entertain, viewers below age 18, and must occasionally announce on-air that this list is available to the public from the station.

In addition, all children's television programming is subject to limits on the amount of commercial advertising. Stations can air no more than 12 minutes of ads each hour on weekdays and 10½ minutes an hour on weekends. Promotion for related websites are allowed only under certain circumstances.

These programs generally air during the morning between 7 and 10 am Monday through Friday, and all day on weekends, though legally, they can air anytime between 7AM and 10PM local time. However, some commercial stations would show E/I programming during hours when very few kids would watch, such as after 10AM on weekdays, when kids are at school.

When the FCC announced the new requirements, local stations tried to repackage existing children's shows as educational and informative. The FCC turned down many of the requests. On the other hand, producers of true educational shows suddenly found a new market for their products, and reruns of shows like New Zoo Revue and Big Blue Marble suddenly became available on small-scale independent stations, which normally air infomercials, religious shows, and home shopping programs. However, enforcement remains capricious: KDOC, an independent in Irvine, California, was allowed to count Little House on the Prairie as an E/I show. Also, Pax/i's talent showcases (America's Most Talented Kids) and animal rescue documentaries (Miracle Pets) were also counted toward the "E/I" requirement, with Pax/i giving them a special (though not quite true) "rating" of "TV E/I".

For some reason, the E/I Bug for qubo is the same as the one on PBS Kids.

1 Demonstration of the E/I Bug
2 Partial list of E/I programs
- 2.1 Blocks
- 2.2 Programs
3 External links

[edit] Demonstration of the E/I Bug

Example of the placement of the E/I bug from PBS. Any corner of the screen can be used, as long as it is not obscured by other graphics.

Cyberchase promo with an E/I bug in upper right. The bug can be transparent, as long as it is easily visible (FCC standards recommend a maximum transparency level at 85%).