A three-year research study from Perth, Australia's Interactive Television Research Institute (ITRI) at Murdoch University may change the way producers and networks approach preschool programming the world over. Although the university is in the process of releasing the study's results, which examined how interactivity can enhance a five-year-old's experience with preschool programming, some initial findings are certain to raise questions about how the biz currently speaks to the youngest of viewers.

One surprising observation from the Children's iTV Project (funded by the Australia Research Council, the West Australian Department of Education, and networks such as Nickelodeon Australia, Nine Network and ABC Australia) indicates the best methods to reach preschoolers were often the least expensive to produce. For example, a peripheral on-screen game played via the television's remote control tends to be a better way to engage and entertain young viewers than asking them to click a button to make decisions about the direction of the plot. And games are cheaper than producing chose-your-own-adventure type scenarios.

Professor Duane Varan, the director of ITRI who headed up the research team, says his staff entered this study believing the size of a TV program's budget and bandwidth would correspond with its impact on preschool viewers. IRTI's similar studies on the television-watching habits of adults and older kids had shown engagement with a TV series increased when the viewer could direct the show's outcome (American Idol, anyone?). But the opposite was the case with preschoolers.

"Most of the compelling applications we found were low cost and low bandwidth, and that was a real surprise," he says, adding choices may be more disruptive to the series' overall flow. "With adults or older kids, a show's structure is mapped out abstractly in your mind and you're able to follow along with the story," Varan says. "But I don't think preschoolers are capable of that same level of abstraction."

The conclusion came after conducting several evaluation phases on interactive-show prototypes. The test field consisted of three existing preschool series - Dora the Explorer, Hi-5, and Play School. Over the course of three years, the team monitored the reactions of 500 five-year-olds, chosen from 21 schools in Perth, as they viewed three different versions of each program. For Dora, there was a Haptic version where kids had the option to play a game with the TV remote control; an Incidental in which the preschooler could customize content such as choosing the color of a wagon; and Central, where the protagonist reaches a fork in the road and the child decides which path Dora should follow. "There is always a debate whether preschoolers understand structure or whether they need a character to hold onto and carry them through," Varan explains. This research helped the team conclude kids don't understand narrative structure and they indeed need guidance while interacting with their favorite TV program.

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