 Final logo | |
| Launched | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Closed | July 01, 2014 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
Cable in the Classroom was an American division of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association that assisted the cable television industry in providing educational content to schools. The organization was founded in 1989. A Canadian organization, also called "Cable in the Classroom" ("La câblo-éducation" in French), was founded in 1995, and held the same scope as the US organization.
Cable stations broadcast educational television programs at specific times (usually early in the morning) commercial-free and notified Cable in the Classroom as to when the shows would air, which maintained a master list for educators to reference. This way, educators were able to record the programs for free and use them in school as learning tools for children. Copyrights were cleared so that educators could use the content of the listed programs as they wished for their syllabus and learning plans.
Over the years however, many networks discontinued any effort at promoting Cable in the Classroom or setting aside programming for the organization's purposes, ceding more to direct marketing of their educational television programming to teachers and school districts via their home video departments, their Internet sites, or in the cases of networks such as ABC Family, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, removing their involvement altogether, commensurate with the Internet ending other cable services tied to traditional scheduling such as "near video on demand". Another factor was likely the decline in VHS recorders, as DVRs with non-portable storage became the recording format of choice over DVD recorders, the equivalent successor to VCRs. Streaming video also played a factor in the reduction of Cable in the Classroom, as educators can now access and play content at any time via computers connected to in-classroom televisions, interactive smartboards, and video projectors, rather than on a set schedule requiring pre-recording of content.
In 2014, Cable in the Classroom was entirely discontinued in the United States with CNN Student News the only program left under the effort, and the NCTA redirected the former Cable in the Classroom portal to promote their "Cable Impacts Foundation" charity arm instead. The Canadian effort ended as vertically integrated cable and satellite providers purchased networks and campaigned successfully for the CRTC to relax Canadian content restrictions that defined them to schedule programming in a certain manner, including educational programming.
