Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 10, 1991 TAG: 9104100196
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The rules, adopted to carry out a law passed late last year, will limit the number of commercials during children's shows to 10.5 minutes an hour on weekends and 12 minutes an hour on weekdays, as the law had spelled out.
Since 1984, there have been no limits of any kind on the amount of advertising stations can broadcast.
The new rules will take effect Oct. 1. They impose stricter limits on advertising time on weekends, because lawmakers have been particularly concerned about commercials during cartoon shows on Saturday mornings.
Under the rules, commercial broadcast stations and cable television operators will be required, as a condition for renewing their licenses, to provide summaries of programming that serves educational purposes.
But the commission set no minimum standard for how much educational programming a station ought to broadcast, and FCC officials made it clear that they intended to give broadcasters wide discretion in satisfying the requirement.
Also, in a move criticized by some advocates of children's programming, the FCC effectively refused to limit shows based on popular toys like GI Joe and He-Man, which parents' and educational groups have characterized as 30-minute commercials.
Under the new rules, a show based on a toy would be considered a "program-length commercial" only if the show also featured paid advertising for that toy. But as a practical matter, the leading networks and most independent stations already prohibit such combinations, and the rule is unlikely to inflict any wounds on the Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles or the Thundercats.
by CNB