Changes to Children's Television Programming Rules
On Sept. 29, 2006, the Commission released its Second Order on Reconsideration and Second Report and Order (“Second Order”) on the issue of Children’s Television Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. This Second Order addresses a few open issues from the FCC's earlier rulemaking on children’s programming that culminated with new rules in the fall of 2004. At the end of 2005, just before many of the new provisions were to go into effect, a joint coalition of television broadcasters, programmers, and public interest groups petitioned the FCC seeking to modify some aspects of the new rules. The FCC put the joint coalition’s proposal out for comment earlier this year and has now adopted a few revisions to its children’s television programming rules, which are discussed further below. These rules will go into effect in approximately 60 days. The specific date will be a function of when the Second Order is published in the Federal Register, which has not occurred as of this writing.
In a nutshell, the Second Order: (1) 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; (2) does away with limitations on the number of preemptions allowed under the rules; (3) adopts rules limiting the display of websites during children's programming; (4) clarifies the definition of commercial matter; and (5) extends the host selling rules to websites displayed during children's programming. Please see our recent Bulletin for the full details regarding the changes to the Children's Programming rules.
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. So beginning with the report filed on April 10, 2007, stations must report their DTV children’s programming as well as their analog programming. Stations are advised to pay careful attention to the certifications being made on the FCC Form 398, and to ensure that it has the proper documentation to back up the certification. Making a false certification to the FCC is much worse than failing to meet the Commission’s children’s programming rules.