[Federal Register: May 2, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 84)]
[Notices]
[Page 24308-24309]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02my07-66]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[MB Docket No. 00-167; DA 07-1716]
Commission Seeks Comment on the Status of Children's Television
Programming
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission seeks comment on the status
of children's television programming, and compliance with the
Children's Television Act (``CTA'') and the Commission's rules. The
Commission takes steps to ensure that its review of each television
broadcast license renewal application, has ``served the educational and
informational needs of children through the licensee's overall
programming, including programming specifically designed to serve such
needs.''
DATES: Comments for this proceeding are due on or before June 1, 2007;
reply comments are due on or before June 18, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by MM Docket No. 00-167,
by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: FCC504@fcc.gov or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on this
proceeding, contact Holly Saurer, Holly.Saurer@fcc.gov of the Media
Bureau, Policy Division, (202) 418-2120. Press inquiries should be
directed to Clyde Ensslin, (202) 428-0506. TTY: (202) 418-7172 or (888)
835-5322.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Public
Notice, DA 07-1716 released on April 17, 2007. The full text of this
document is available for public inspection and copying during regular
business hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. These
documents will also be available via ECFS (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/).
(Documents will be available electronically in ASCII, Word 97, and/
or Adobe Acrobat.) The complete text may be purchased from the
Commission's copy contractor, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402,
Washington, DC 20554. To request this document in accessible formats
(computer diskettes, large print, audio recording, and Braille), send
an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Commission's Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432
(TTY).
Summary of the Notice
1. In this Public Notice, we seek comment on the status of
children's television programming, and compliance with the Children's
Television Act (``CTA'') and the Commission's rules.
2. The CTA requires the Commission, in its review of each
television broadcast license renewal application, to ``consider the
extent to which the licensee * * * has served the educational and
informational needs of children through the licensee's overall
programming, including programming specifically designed to serve such
needs.'' In enacting the CTA, Congress found that, while television can
benefit society by helping to educate and inform children, there are
significant market disincentives for commercial broadcasters to air
children's educational and informational programming. The objective of
Congress in enacting the CTA was to increase the amount of educational
and informational programming available on television. The CTA
accomplished that objective by placing on every licensee an obligation
to provide such programming, including programming specifically
designed to educate and inform children, and by requiring the FCC to
enforce that obligation.
3. In November 2004, the Commission released a Report and Order and
Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (``2004 Order'') in MM Docket
No. 00-167, Children's Television Obligations of Digital Television
Broadcasters. The 2004 Order addressed matters related to the
obligation of television licensees to provide educational programming
for children and the requirement that television licensees protect
children from excessive and inappropriate commercial messages. In
September 2006, the Commission released a Second Order on
Reconsideration and Second Report and Order (``2006 Order''), which
adopted the recommendations of a Joint Proposal submitted by
representatives of the broadcast and cable industries and public
interest groups involved in children's television issues. This 2006
Order modified and clarified the rules adopted in the 2004 Order.
4. As part of the 2004 Order, the Commission indicated that it
intended to issue a Public Notice ``seeking comment on whether
broadcasters are complying with the letter and intent of the CTA in
terms of, among other things, the amount and quality of core children's
programming being provided and the extent of preemption of such
programming.'' More recently, the Commission entered into a Consent
Decree with Univision to resolve petitions to deny filed against
pending license renewal applications. Petitioners alleged that certain
Univision stations did not comply with the children's programming
rules, claiming that the programs relied upon as ``core'' did not serve
the educational and informational needs of children.
5. This Public Notice is being issued in furtherance of the 2004
Order. We invite comment regarding the state of children's television
programming. Are licensees complying with the CTA? Does the programming
that licensees have reported as core children's programming generally
meet the Commission's standards? Educational and informational
television programming is defined by the Commission as:
Any television programming that furthers the educational and
informational needs of children 16 years of age and under in any
respect, including the child's intellectual/ cognitive or social/
emotional needs. Programming specifically designed to serve the
educational and informational needs of children (`Core Programming')
is educational and informational programming that satisfies the
following additional criteria:
(1) It has serving the educational and informational needs of
children ages 16 and under as a significant purpose;
(2) It is aired between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.;
(3) It is a regularly scheduled weekly program;
(4) It is at least 30 minutes in length;
(5) The program is identified as specifically designed to
educate and inform children by the display on the television screen
throughout the program of the symbol E/I;
(6) The educational and informational objective and the target
child audience are specified in writing in the licensee's Children's
Television Programming Report, as described in section
73.3526(e)(11)(iii) of the Commission's rules; and
(7) Instructions for listing the program as educational/
informational, including an indication of the age group for which
the program is intended, are provided by the
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licensee to publishers of program guides, as described in section
73.673 of the Commission's rules.
6. Are the core programming criteria listed in the Commission's
rules adequate to properly define educational and informational
programming? Do these criteria fulfill the requirements of the CTA?
Should the Commission consider additional criteria? Does the current
level of preemption affect compliance with the CTA and Congressional
intent? In what other ways are licensees complying, or not, with the
CTA and the Commission's rules related to children's programming?
7. Ex Parte Rules. This proceeding will be treated as a ``permit-
but-disclose'' proceeding subject to the ``permit-but-disclose''
requirements under section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules. Ex
parte presentations are permissible if disclosed in accordance with
Commission rules, except during the Sunshine Agenda period when
presentations, ex parte or otherwise, are generally prohibited. Persons
making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that a memorandum
summarizing a presentation must contain a summary of the substance of
the presentation and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed.
More than a one- or two-sentence description of the views and arguments
presented is generally required. Additional rules pertaining to oral
and written presentations are set forth in section 1.1206(b).
8. Pursuant to Sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules,
interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before
the dates indicated on the first page of this document. All filings
must be submitted in MM Docket No. 00-167. Pleadings sent via e-mail to
the Commission will be considered informal and will not be part of the
official record. Comments may be filed using: (1) The Commission's
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's
eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies.
Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Filers
should follow the instructions provided on the website for submitting
comments.
For ECFS filers, in completing the transmittal screen,
filers should include their full name, U.S. Postal service mailing
address, and the applicable docket number: MM Docket No. 00-167.
Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet e-mail. To
get filing instructions, filers should send an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov,
and include the following words in the body of the message: ``get
form''. A sample form and instructions will be sent in response.
Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and four copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by
hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we continue
to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All
filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
The Commission's contractor will receive hand-delivered or
messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary at 236
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 20002. The filing
hours at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be
held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be
disposed of before entering the building.
Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, and
Priority Mail should be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington,
DC 20554.
People with Disabilities: To request materials in
accessible formats for persons with disabilities (Braille, large print,
electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or
contact the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530
or (202) 418-7365 (TTY).
Copies of any filed documents in this matter are also
available for inspection in the Commission's Reference Information
Center: 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418-7092.
Federal Communications Commission.
Mary Beth Murphy,
Chief, Policy Division, Media Bureau.
[FR Doc. E7-8300 Filed 5-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P