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Following a trail blazed by the "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" videos, a new satellite-TV channel designed for the diaper set debuts today.
With some pediatricians and educators across the country looking on skeptically, BabyFirstTV is slated to utter its first words at 10:30 a.m.
The new round-the-clock channel debuting on DirecTV will offer programming for tots from 6 months to 3 years of age - sparking concerns that parents will use it as a virtual nanny.
But the channel's creators see it as entertaining and educational.
"There'll be no commercials, no sponsorships, no violence, no over-stimulation - just hundreds of high-quality programs tailored to the needs of babies," said Sharon Rechter, executive vice president of the new network. The programming - which, Rechter said, will focus on "areas of child development, such as language, math, sensory skills and creative play" - is designed to work best when mom or dad are watching with their tots, using the subtitles and other "interactive tools" that flash on the screen to help them understand what's going on.
"We're transforming TV for children from passive viewing to active viewing, and providing another tool for parents and babies to bond together," said Rechter.
The channel is now available through DirecTV for $9.99 a month, and will be offered through cable TV in the months ahead, she said.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics, which disapproves of TV for kids under age 2, isn't buying Rechter's pitch.
It fears the network will become just another version of nanny TV - one whose educational claims will make parents feel less guilty about plopping their pint-size progeny in front of the tube.
"Experience tells anyone that it's not going to be used [in an interactive way]," said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital in Boston.
"Parents park their kids in front of the TV so they can get things done," he said.
Among the pediatricians agreeing with him is Dr. Philip Hyden, director of the child-protection program at New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center.
"We don't want TV to ever be a baby-sitting service," he said.
The company may have the best of intentions, but I worry that parents may grab onto this thinking they'll be making their children smarter when what [kids] really need is nurturing and guidance," he said.
Julie Halpin, head of a youth-marketing firm and mother of a 3-year-old boy, also is leery of the new channel.
"I don't believe that these videos and programs have an educational value," she said.
She noted, "My son loved the 'Baby Einstein' videos and it gave me time to take a shower . . . But I did not kid myself that just because it's called 'Baby Einstein' that my kid would learn Chinese."
One of the companies behind BabyFirstTV is Regency TV, a production company that is a partner of Fox Entertainment.
News Corp. is the parent company of Fox Entertainment, DirecTV and the New York Post.
marsha.kranes@nypost.com
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