FCC Hammers Pokemon, Buzz Lightyear

FCC HAMMERS POKEMON, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The FCC proposed fining three TV stations a total of $26,000 dollars and admonished two others for violations of the FCC's kids TV rules. Drawing the biggest fine was drawn by Tribune's WPHL-TV, $15,000, for four airings of the now-infamous GameBoy E-Reader ad, featuring a fleeting glimpse of a Pokemon character, which aired during the Pokemon TV show on the old WB Network. One of the presents left behind by WB was a bunch of fines and admonitions for affiliates who ran the ad. The FCC considers that any appearance of a character from a TV show, fleeting or not, in an ad in that show, turns the character into a host seller, and the whole show into an ad. WPHL also said it had exceeded the FCC's limits on children's advertising----10.5 minutes on weekends, 12 minutes on weekdays--by a minute and a half on one additional occasion.
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