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New Play School time gets parents very vocal

ABC is moving Play School to better suit families, but not all families are happy about change.

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Quite a few parents are hopping mad over ABC KIDS plans to change Play School and Sesame Street times around.

From Monday Play School moves to 9am, thirty minutes earlier than it currently screens.

Many parents took to ABC’s Facebook page to give the broadcaster a serve:

We’ll never watch it now. Won’t even be back in time after school run with younger child. Disappointed!

Disappointed regarding Play School. We will miss most of it with the school run! My younger two will miss it.

What exactly is the point of switching playschool & Sesame Street? If you’re going to have them anyway just leave them where they were so you don’t irritate people for no reason

Play school is my daughters fav show but we don’t normally turn the tv on until 9:30 so we will miss it!

Do you ever consider the kids with special needs? They like routine.

Sesame Street @ 9:00 and Playschool @ 9:30 then Bananas straight after….it’s been that way since I was a toddler in the early 1980s! The change will spin me out more than my kids. Not so sure about this month’s line up, especially morning but we’ll see

Oh no, is this ‘in the Night Garden gate’ all over again??

But not everybody was opposed to the idea:

Amazing how smart kids are when it changes. They remember every show in order but usually adapt well to a new line up

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say … I think all of our children will come out of this OK.
It’s not the end of the world. Settle down guys.

Looks better. Play school at 9 and bananas before that. My kids don’t like Sesame Street anyway. So perfect before preschool.

I can’t believe how many people are complaining about tv shows changing time slots! My kids like certain shows but only watch it so I have time to get ready etc

ABC told parents on its Facebook page research indicated more preschool families will be able to watch at 9am rather than 9.30am.

“Play School, the iconic preschool series from the ABC, is the country’s most loved children’s program. Research into our audience’s viewing habits tells us that more preschool families will be able to experience the special magic this program brings Australian children at 9am rather than 9:30. Sesame Street is a much-loved, excellent educational program from the United States and will remain paired with Play School in key slots in our schedule but we are changing the order to better suit Australian families’ needs. Our focus is always to bring Australian kids and families their favourite Australian programs at a time that best suits them, so Bananas in Pyjamas will also move from 10am to 8:45am,” it said.

“We acknowledge that while young children like patterns and familiarity in their day, we also try to balance that with bringing new stories and new styles of shows to our audience. ABC KIDS caters to a diverse audience, which varies in age and daily routines. The new start times for Octonauts, Hey Duggee, and Thomas and Friends help these audiences get to see old favourites, or experience new programs at a time of the day that suit them.”

From Monday April 3:

Hey Duggee has moved to 8.05am
Bananas in Pyjamas will now start at 8.45am
Play School will now start at 9.00am on weekdays
Sesame Street will now start at 9.30am on weekdays
Thomas and Friends will now be shown at 4.10pm
Octonauts has moved to 6.15pm

9 Responses

  2. Really, who doesn’t own some form of PVR these days, whether it’s a combo with Bluray, it’s own box, a hard drive plugged into the TV or an IQ. Plus there is iView.

      1. 2 year olds these days would be well versed in using mum’s or dad’s ipad or other devices. They’d probably teach their parents how to use iview and there is an ABC Kids version of iView.

        Even just the other day on the train I saw a kid in a pusher operating her mum’s ipad. The kid would not have even been 2.

  4. im sure parents can timeshift PS or watch it on iView. either way its not a big deal. but the ABC didnt have good reason for changing the timeslot of PlaySchool and SesameeStreet.

    1. Most parents …with young kids…dont have time to scratch…they just want to turn on the TV and know the program is there…they dont have time to think of alternatives…or chase programs around…

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