The relationship of children's TV channels and advertisements in Turkey: Structuring advertisements on children's TV channels

Mass media played an important role in the establishment and spread of consumption culture. Especially the development and spread of television broadcasting and the increasing relationship of the advertising industry have been the main developments in this regard. The visual and auditory quality of television has played a fundamental role in transforming the quality of interaction with the audience. In this context, it has brought fundamental transformations in the restructuring of the advertising industry and in the way advertising content is delivered to the audience. The fact that advertisements are the biggest source of income for media organizations within the commercial media structuring has been one of the most basic elements that makes the relationship between advertising and television emphasizing and controversial in almost every period. The main starting point of this study is the relationship between television broadcasting and the advertising industry. Especially with the establishment of private television channels in Turkey in the 1990s, the relationship between television and advertising is one of the main issues to be examined today. Advertising debates between two basic broadcasting models such as public service broadcasting and commercial broadcasting, and on the basis of the tendency of broadcasting to a dominant structuring in the context of market relations, continue to exist today. In the context of new media technologies, the relationship between television and advertising takes on a more complex and multidimensional structure in this environment where the traditional television broadcasting format is transformed and new content distribution channels come to the fore. Starting from this general framework, in this study, the relationship between television and advertising is examined, especially through children's channels, where the subject of advertising is much more controversial. In the context of the transformation of television broadcasting, the emergence of thematic broadcasting channels brought along the establishment and spread of children's channels. This situation is important in terms of giving the opportunity to analyze the general logic of television broadcasting, which is shaped by industrial structuring and market relations, through children's channels. The necessity of financing television channels with advertisements brings with it an intense interaction with the advertising industry in terms of children's channels. In this context, in this study, the relationship between television broadcasting and advertising was analyzed through the advertisements in the broadcast stream of children's channels. Depending on the ratings among the children's channels, the 12-hour broadcasts of the Cartoon Network, Disney Channel and Minika Go children's channels were analyzed separately. The advertisements were analyzed by content analysis method according to the categories determined within the framework of the structuring logic of the advertisements in these channels. As a result of the findings, it has been observed that the role models presented by the advertisements on children's channels are not suitable for children, and the advertisements are broadcast frequently and for a long time. In terms of the qualities of the advertisements, it has been determined that the structuring logic of the advertisements broadcast on children's channels generally leads children to consumption. In this framework, it has been concluded that the dominant market logic and entertainment understanding of television broadcasting also come to the fore in children's channels.