Early regulations on educational programming were implemented by the FCC in 1991, as ordered by the Children's Television Act—an Act of Congress passed in 1990.

The regulations were described by then-FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly as "onerous" and outdated due to the cable and new media platforms that have emerged since their introduction,[2] which led to changes in 2019 to provide more flexibility in compliance.

[8][9] Newton Minow was one of the first federal officials to speak of the need for regulation of children's programming, openly denouncing cartoons as being unfit for the airwaves in his 1961 landmark speech "Television and the Public Interest".

He did not take any direct action because he believed that improvements could be made without force and could be resolved by increasing competition through UHF television and expanding non-commercial educational options.

[17] It also criticized the networks for airing cartoons that they considered to be promotional tie-ins for associated toylines rather than legitimate entertainment, such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Transformers[18] and My Little Pony.

[17] Captain Kangaroo creator and host Bob Keeshan disagreed, arguing that children were "just too important to be left to the networks and their profit motives."

[23] The CTA was passed despite objections by the Bush administration, who believed that requiring the broadcast of educational programming by all television stations was a violation of their rights to free speech.

", and that he "made up his mind long ago that broadcasters were to be castigated on children's TV, without reservation, and despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

"[27] Following a push for support from Congress and the Clinton administration, the FCC adopted the Children's Programming Report and Order in August 1996.

O'Rielly also argued that the "onerous" nature of the regulations were also making stations reluctant to air other, more viable programs on Saturday mornings, such as newscasts and sports.

O'Rielly felt that the 30-minute minimum length "killed off shorter, high-quality programs that were once popular and educational", and does not reflect current viewing habits.

[2][40] A group in favor of maintaining the existing policies, which included the Benton Foundation, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and Common Sense Kids Action, among others, issued a letter of opposition to the FCC.

or focus on news, weather or sports (whether nationally distributed or locally originated) as few subchannel services target a general audience or children.

One show that was an exception to this rule is The Magic School Bus, as it combined effective writing and educational content for children.

[48] Owing to the success of PBS' Barney & Friends from both a critical and commercial standpoint, Disney and Nickelodeon had a greater interest in producing preschool programming that was engaging and had educational value.

It featured a mix of Disney animated series, educational interstitial segments (including a history-oriented segment starring comedian Robin Williams, reprising his role as the Genie from Aladdin), the educational series Science Court, and a flagship wraparound program (Disney's One Saturday Morning).

[50][52][51][53] CBS relaunched its Saturday morning block for the 1997–98 season as Think CBS Kids, with a focus on live-action educational series such as The New Ghostwriter Mysteries, The Weird Al Show (which only unwillingly, and with great difficulty, complied with the E/I mandate as a condition of being picked up),[54] and Wheel 2000—a children's version of the game show Wheel of Fortune.

[55][56][57] NBC had already abandoned cartoons as Saturday morning programming in 1992 with the introduction of TNBC, which was a block that featured live-action teen sitcoms.

The network would continue to provide airings of The Magic School Bus for E/I compliance at the discretion of affiliates,[65] and entered into an agreement with 4Kids Entertainment to program a new Saturday morning block beginning in the 2002–03 season.

[78][79] In October 2007, The CW reached a five-year agreement with 4Kids for it to program its Saturday morning block,[80] resulting in the replacement of Kids' WB with The CW4Kids (later branded as Toonzai) in the 2008–09 season.

[88] In 2012, Saban Capital Group acquired some of 4Kids' assets as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy, which included the company's contract to program The CW's Saturday morning lineup.

Toonzai was subsequently re-launched by Saban as Vortexx in August 2012, with a mix of animated and live-action series (the latter including the Power Rangers franchise, and the WWE wrestling show Saturday Morning Slam).

Fox entered into a similar arrangement with Steve Rotfeld Productions to produce the STEM-based block Xploration Station for its affiliates, which premiered in September 2014.

[94] Peggy Charren's daughter Claudia Moquin criticized Litton for contravening the spirit of the CTA by including product placement and host-selling from "underwriters" in some of their programs, such as Electronic Arts, Norwegian Cruise Line, and SeaWorld.

[94][95] PBS member stations have been an exception to this trend, with the network's PBS Kids block continuing to largely air animated, educational series catered towards a broad range of children's audiences ranging from preschoolers to preteens; as a non-commercial educational network, it does not rely on advertising revenue in the traditional sense, and its underwriting spots are not directly tied to ratings.

The fine acted upon complaints by the United Church of Christ and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, alleging that youth telenovelas claimed by Univision as E/I programming did not meet the requirements for core educational programming, citing their lack of actual educational content, and themes inappropriate for a youth audience.

The network aired several commercials during the Pokémon anime for products with Pokémon-related tie-ins (such as Eggo waffles, Fruit by the Foot, and the Nintendo e-Reader accessory for the Game Boy Advance).

[31][104][105][106][107] In 2010, KSKN in Spokane, Washington was similarly fined $70,000 for having, on multiple occasions, aired an advertisement for a local collectibles shop during Yu-Gi-Oh!

[108] In 2004, Disney and Viacom were respectively issued $1 million and $500,000 fines for violating the limits on advertising during children's programming on the cable channels ABC Family and Nickelodeon.

The largest fine of $2.65 million was directed to Sinclair Broadcast Group, who was also identified by stations as the originator of the program and advertising.