In 1990, Congress enacted the Children’s Television Act (CTA) to increase the amount of educational and informational programming for children available on television. CTA requires each broadcast television station in the United States to serve the educational and informational needs of children through its overall programming, including programming specifically designed to serve these needs (“core programmingâ€). It also limits the amount of time broadcasters and cable operators may devote to commercial matter during children’s programs.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted rules to carry out this mandate. Under the FCC’s rules, television stations must:
- provide parents and consumers with advance information about core programs being aired;
- define the type of programs that qualify as core programs; and
- air at least three hours per week of core educational programming.
Core Programming
“Core programming†is programming specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs of children ages 16 and under. Core programming must meet the following additional criteria:
- at least 30 minutes in length;
- aired between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.; and
- a regularly scheduled weekly program.
Getting Information About Children's Programming
A central goal of the FCC’s rules is to provide parents and other members of the public with more information about educational television programming. This information helps parents guide their children’s television viewing and also encourages an ongoing dialogue between the public and TV stations about TV station performance under CTA.
To help accomplish this, the FCC’s rules require commercial television stations to identify a core educational program by displaying throughout the program the “E/I†icon denoting that the program is “educational and/or informational.†Commercial television stations must also provide information identifying these programs to publishers of program guides and TV listings.
The rules also require commercial TV stations to complete and file quarterly reports with the Commission regarding their educational programming and to make these reports available to the public. Broadcast licensees must file with the FCC and place in their public inspection files at their stations a quarterly Children’s Television Programming Report (FCC Form 398) identifying their core programming and other efforts to comply with their educational programming obligations.
Commercial Time Limitations
The FCC’s rules limit the amount of commercial matter which may be aired in certain children’s television programming to 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends and 12 minutes per hour on weekdays. These requirements apply to television broadcasters, cable operators, and satellite providers. These limitations are prorated for programs that are shorter than one hour in duration. The programming at issue for the commercial time limits is programming originally produced and aired primarily for an audience of children 12 years old and younger.
Commercial television broadcasters are required to place in their local public inspection files certifications that they have complied with the commercial time limits, and must identify any overages. At the time the station files an application to renew its FCC license, it must certify that no commercial overages occurred during the license term, or it must explain any overages.
The commercial time limits do not apply to non-commercial educational television stations because these stations are generally prohibited from airing commercials. Cable operators and satellite providers must also maintain records to verify compliance and make these records available for public inspection.
Commercial material includes more than advertisements. For instance, where a commercial announcement is primarily for a product otherwise unrelated to a program, but that announcement also includes references to or offers of products which are related to the program, then the broadcast of that commercial announcement during or adjacent to the program will make that program a program-length commercial. In such a case, the entire duration of the program-length commercial will be counted as commercial material. To avoid being considered a program-length commercial, commercial material related to a children’s program must be separated from that program by intervening and unrelated program material.
Additional Children's Programming Obligations
Since adopting its initial children’s programming rules, the FCC has established children’s educational and informational programming obligations for digital multicast broadcasters and placed restrictions on the increasing commercialization of children’s programming on both analog and digital broadcast and cable television systems. For digital broadcasters, effective January 1, 2007, at least three hours per week of core programming must be provided on the main programming stream. For digital broadcasters that multicast, the minimum amount of core programming will increase in proportion to the amount of free video programming offered by the broadcaster on multicast channels.
In addition, the FCC’s limit on the amount of commercial matter (10.5 minutes per hour on weekends and 12 minutes per hour on weekdays) applies to all digital video programming, free or pay, directed to children 12 years old and under.
Finally, the display of Internet Web site addresses during programs directed to children ages 12 and under is permitted only if the Web site meets the following criteria:
- it offers a substantial amount of bona fide program-related or other noncommercial content;
- it is not primarily intended for commercial purposes, including either e-commerce or advertising;
- the Web site’s home page and other menu pages are clearly labeled to distinguish the noncommercial from the commercial sections; and
- the page of the Web site to which viewers are directed is not used for e-commerce, advertising, or other commercial purposes (for example, contains no links labeled “store†and no links to another page with commercial material).
Television broadcasters and cable operators may not display Web site addresses during or adjacent to a children’s program if, on Web site pages with noncommercial content regarding that program or a program character, products are sold featuring a character in the program, or a program character is used to sell products.
These Web site requirements apply to both analog and digital programming.
The display prohibition applies only when Web site addresses are displayed during program or promotional material not counted as commercial time. It does not apply to certain public service announcements, station identifications, and emergency announcements.
What is "Host Selling?"
“Host selling†is any character endorsement that has the effect of confusing a child viewer from distinguishing between program and non-program material. The FCC’s rules permit the sale of merchandise featuring a program-related character in parts of a related Web site that are sufficiently separated from the program to mitigate the impact of host selling.
For more information on Children’s Educational Television, please visit the FCC’s Media Bureau Web site at www.fcc.gov/mb/policy/cetv.html.
Source
In the Matter of Children’s Television Obligations Of Digital Television Broadcasters. MM Docket 00-167) September 26, 2006.