Mass media play a significant role in most people’s lives, affecting family routines, social interactions, cultural norms, and leisure activities – all of which impact upon contemporary childhood. Television is particularly significant in early childhood; it is the child’s first and most enduring contact with the mass media and an integral part of the overall environment in which early childhood development occurs.

With more than three televisions in the average household (Edgar & Edgar, 2008), 'children in the twenty-first century typically develop in front of a screen' (Calvert & Wilson, 2008). The interconnection between early childhood development and television begins at the start of life (ibid), making exposure to television one of the most enduring and consistent experiences of childhood, and arguably one of the most powerful.