TV
When Teletubbies appeared in 1997, the world got its first glimpse of a TV series produced specifically for babies, as well as its first glimpse of a future utopia in which infants would be born with television screens embedded in their torsos. Many were appalled at the prospect of a program being marketed to a pre-verbal audience, and the show sparked debate about the appropriateness of television for toddlers. Yet, the program was largely embraced by the public, despite the misgivings of such high-profile organizations as the American Academy of Pediatrics, which in 1999 recommended that children under two watch no TV whatsoever. More programming for babies followed, and today, Teletubbies is just one entry in a $1.5-billion market. That's right, billion with a B as in baby.
With numbers like those, even well-respected companies like Sesame Workshop can't resist getting into the act. The Workshop's Sesame Beginnnings competes alongside videos from successful babytainment brands such as Fisher Price, Baby Einstein, and Brainy Baby, and the twenty-four-hour-a-day cable channel for babies, BabyFirstTV, launched eighteen months ago. In 1997, television for babies was shocking; in 2008, it's standard.
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