The aim of this study is to identify which values and emotions are transmitted in the favorite fictional TV programs of children aged between 8 and 12, according to their particular type of structure. Based on the analysis of media consumption reported by participants and their parents, as well as the ratings of children's fictional programs, two fictional programs were selected for this age group (Doraemon and Code Lyoko, with a narrative and non-narrative structure, respectively), and a content analysis of 86 episodes was conducted and validated by inter-rater agreement. The results show that a wide range of ethical and competence-based values are conveyed by both programs, although greater emphasis is placed on life-skill values, with aesthetic and transcendental values hardly being represented at all. While more complex emotions and some basic emotions (surprise, anger, happiness and fear) were found to be present in Code Lyoko, sadness was present to a greater extent in Doraemon. The results reveal that the level of empathy represented by the characters in both series is low, although it is slightly higher in Code Lyoko. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that it provides a useful method for measuring the appropriateness of media content in relation to the psychological characteristics of children, and contributes to establishing a solid basis for media literacy programs from early childhood. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar los valores y emociones que se transmiten en los programas televisivos preferidos de niños y niñas de 8 a 12 años, de acuerdo al tipo de estructura. Sobre la base del análisis del consumo mediático referido por los participantes y sus progenitores, así como los índices de audiencia de los programas de ficción infantil, se seleccionaron dos series de ficción televisiva para este grupo de edad («Doraemon» y «Código Lyoko», de estructura narrativa y no-narrativa respectivamente), y se llevó a cabo un análisis de contenido de 86 episodios que fue validado por acuerdo inter-jueces. Los resultados muestran que en ambos programas se exhiben una amplia gama de valores éticos y competenciales, sobre todo valores vitales, mientras que los valores estéticos y trascendentales apenas son representados. Por otra parte, en «Código Lyoko» tienen mayor presencia las emociones complejas y algunas emociones básicas (asombro, ira, alegría y miedo), sin embargo la tristeza aparece en mayor medida en «Doraemon». Destaca que el nivel de empatía representada en los personajes es bajo en ambas series, aunque ligeramente más elevado en «Código Lyoko». La relevancia del estudio radica en el hecho de proveer un procedimiento útil para medir la idoneidad de los contenidos mediáticos respecto a las características psicológicas de la infancia, y contribuir a fundamentar con base sólida los programas de competencia mediática desde las primeras edades.

This research explores the narrative abilities demonstrated by children aged between 8 and 12 in the production of television stories. The results reveal that not all television stories viewed by children foster the informal education process. One type of story, termed narrativizing, enables children to produce coherent stories which clearly articulate the causal, temporal and motivational relations, as well as the means-end structures, the proximal relations of the intrigue and the distal relations of the plot. Other television stories, denarrativizing stories, tend to induce disarrangements and incoherence at all structural levels of the stories produced by children. This in turn hampers the development of their narrative abilities, which are necessary to the correct development of narrative thought. These results indicate the need to exercise social control over this latter type of fictional television narrative, to which children are exposed throughout their development within the framework of informal education.