By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 7-12-18
A politically divided FCC has voted 3-1 to launch a revamp of its children’s television rules.
Those are the 1996 rules that implement the Children’s Television Act, which obligated TV stations to air educational and informational children’s TV programming.
The FCC is proposing to eliminate the requirements that mandatory children’s educational and informational programming be at least a half-hour long and regularly scheduled, that it must air on a TV stations primary channel, and that TV stations must file quarterly children’s TV reports–the item suggests annually is sufficient, and seeks input on other ways to streamline reporting requirements.
It also proposes to allow broadcasters to satisfy their kids programming obligations via sponsorship efforts or other “non-broadcast” efforts. » Read More