New Children's Programming Rules Effective January 2, 2007
The FCC's Order implementing the recently adopted changes to the FCC's Children's Programming Rules has now been published in the Federal Register, meaning that the effective date for the new rules is January 2, 2007. These new rules are summarized in our earlier entry of October 24, below, and in our recent Bulletin. Most notably, the Order affirms the requirement that DTV stations broadcasting multiple streams of programming must increase the amount of kid vid programming in proportion to the amount of additional free video provided. Accordingly, DTV stations that are multicasting programming on multiple streams should ensure that they have enough children's programming lined up by January 2nd to meet the new requirements.
A revised version of the FCC Form 398 Quarterly Children’s Programming Report has already been approved for use, and licensees will begin using the new form to report their core children’s television programming, including their digital core programming, as of the first quarter of 2007. Beginning with the report filed on April 10, 2007, stations must report their DTV children’s programming as well as their analog programming.