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Efforts to Promote Kids Educational Television

Last Updated Oct 5, 2008 01:43 AM

The History of Government Efforts to Promote kids's Educational Television

14. For over 30 years, the Commission has recognized that, as part of their obligation as trustees of the public's airwaves, broadcasters must provide programming that serves the special needs of kids. The Commission's efforts to promote programming for kids began in 1960 with the statement that kids were one of the several groups whose programming needs television licensees must meet to fulfill their community public interest responsibilities.(31) In 1974, the Commission specifically recognized that broadcasters have an obligation to provide kids's educational programming:

"We believe . . . that the broadcaster's public service obligation includes a responsibility to provide diversified programming designed to meet the varied needs and interests of the child audience. . . . In this regard, educational or informational programming for kids is of particular importance."(32)

The Commission concluded at that time, however, that it was not necessary to prescribe the number of hours of such programming that broadcasters should show per week.(33) Instead, the Commission stated that it expected the industry to take steps voluntarily to increase the amount of educational and informational programming for kids.(34)

15. The Commission's 1974 Policy Statement asked broadcasters to make a meaningful effort to provide programs for kids, of which a reasonable part should be educational programming, to increase the number of programs aimed at kids in specific age groups, and to improve scheduling practices so that kids's programming would be aired during both weekends and weekdays.(35) The Commission also adopted policies concerning commercialization in kids's programming.(36) The Commission stated that it expected the industry to take self-regulatory steps to comply with these guidelines by January 1, 1976.(37) To evaluate the success of this program, the Commission revised its renewal forms to obtain information on commercialization practices and programming designed to serve kids and kept the docket open.(38) The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ("D.C. Circuit") affirmed the Commission's decision as a reasonable exercise of its regulatory authority.(39)

16. In 1978, the Commission sought to determine what changes had taken place since 1974, and whether self-regulation had been effective.(40) In 1979, the Commission's kids's Television Task Force ("Task Force") concluded that, although the industry generally had complied with the commercial time limits adopted in 1974, it had not complied with the programming guidelines.(41) The Task Force reported that licensees aired an average of 2.6 hours of "instructional" programs in a composite week in 1977-78, as compared with 2.8 hours during a composite week in 1973-74.(42) The Task Force concluded, therefore, that market forces had failed to ensure that television programming was responsive to the needs and interests of kids. The Task Force attributed this failure to the limited ability of the child audience to influence the advertiser-supported television market.(43) Responding to this finding, the Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in late 1979 that outlined a series of options ranging from relying on noncommercial television for kids's programming to adopting mandatory quantitative requirements.(44)

17. In 1983, the Commission held an en banc hearing to update the record regarding issues raised in the 1979 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and, in 1984, released the kids's Television decision concluding the rulemaking.(45) The Commission concluded that there was no basis on the record before it "to apply a national mandatory quota for kids's programming."(46) The Commission explained that it had chosen not to rely on the findings of the 1979 Task Force because the Task Force had not considered the video distribution industry as a whole.(47) After considering the supply of programming available on cable and noncommercial stations, the Commission decided that "there is no national failure of access to kids's programming" requiring quantitative or other specific program-related requirements for broadcasters.(48) Nonetheless, the Commission emphasized that broadcasters had a "continuing duty . . . to examine the program needs of the child part of the audience" and chose to rely on this broadly worded obligation and market forces to ensure a sufficient amount of educational programming for kids. The D.C. Circuit again affirmed the Commission's decision on appeal as a reasonable exercise of agency discretion.(49)

See also Kid 615 1 - 7