'Informal' Kids Rules Kick in March 1

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Wednesday March 1 is the date Viacom, CBS, Disney, Fox, NBC Universal, Time Warner, Discovery, 4Kids Entertainment, and the Association of National Advertisers have agreed to come into compliance with a compromise on new kids rules struck with kids TV activists. The deal, which both sides say they have presented to the FCC, would leave in place the requirement that broadcasters air three hours of children's TV per channel in both analog and digital. In addition, the media companies agreed not to challenge limits on the display of commercial Web sites during children's programming. Under the rules, scheduled to kick in Jan. 1, those displays would count toward the ad limits in kids programming. The groups agreed to a modified form of host selling in which the use of TV characters to sell products to kids would be confined to specific areas of a Web site if that Web address was displayed in shows that featured those characters. The key is that there will have to be a buffer between the character and a sales pitch. Arguably the biggest deal was on program promotion in kids shows. The FCC rules as currently constituted count any program promotion in a kids show as an advertisement, reducing the amount of paid ads that can air during the show. Under the agreement, show promos for kids shows on the same channel or educational kids shows on any channel would not count as ad time. In addition, there would be no numerical limits, as the current rules contain, on the ability of broadcasters to preempt kids shows for live sports and other programming.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6310815?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

* FCC Proposes More Kids Fines
Of course, some stations still have problems with the old rules...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6310770?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)