FCC Reaffirms Program-Length Commercial Definition

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A two-second shot of Donald Duck on a videotape box in an ad in a TV program that features Donald Duck still turns the show into a program-length commercial in violation of FCC rules, the commission reaffirmed Monday. The FCC made that point in admonishing -- essentially an official reprimand -- Meredith's WHNS(TV) Greenville (SC) for exceeding the ad limits in kids shows on three occasions (by 30 seconds each time), and for Buena Vista's insertion of the national ad -- back in 1998 -- for The Spirit of Mickey Videotape, which included Donald, in the TV show Quack Pack, which also included Donald. The FCC said that the fact that the syndicator, not the station, had inserted the ad was not a mitigating factor, nor was the fact that Meredith said Buena Vista informed it of the possible problem too late. And while the FCC did not challenge Meredith's assertion that the 30-second ad overages were also human error and inadvertence, that did not get the station off the hook either.)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6307488?display=Breaking+News...
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