COMMISSIONERS SAY PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATIONS MUST BE DEFINED

FCC Comrs. Abernathy, Copps and Adelstein told a conference on the DTV transition and its effects on children the Commission must enact rules that make clear broadcasters’ obligations on children’s programming. Today, in the analog arena, broadcasters are required to air at least 3 hours of children’s programming per week and must limit the amount of advertising aimed at children. When broadcasters can multicast several channels, it’s not clear whether they will be required to air 3 hours on each stream, or just on a designated primary stream of programming, or whether the obligation could be fulfilled some other way, such as a separate children’s programming channel.

Abernathy acknowledged that children’s programming is one area where market forces haven’t always accomplished the country’s “social goal” of airing children’s and educational programming. She noted that questions about children’s programming are part of a pending rulemaking on the DTV transition and the Commission will have to make choices. In meetings with broadcasters, Abernathy said she has stressed that they must be “proactive” on this issue. Her remarks came at a conference hosted by the advocacy group Children Now and co-sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Assn.

Copps accused his own agency of not addressing children’s needs and the public interest in general in the digital transition. He said the focus has been too much on the “mechanics” of the transition, including DTV tuners, receivers and broadcast flags. Copps said that FCC, in its media ownership decision last year, “failed utterly to protect children. It failed to even consider the link between increasing consolidation and the increasing sex and violence on the airwaves to which our children are exposed.” Copps said he’s hearing “reports and rumors” an item may soon be circulated among the commissioners that addresses some of the questions. “If this is true, I hope it won’t be timid and it won’t be tepid,” he said.

Adelstein compared the current TV environment for children with a parent allowing a youngster to wander through an unsafe neighborhood. “It turns out these neighborhoods are filled with slick storekeepers trying to lure kids in to buy candy, junk food and violent games. Not every street is Sesame Street. Clearly, some people in the neighborhood don’t have your kids’ best interests in mind,” Adelstein said. Like Copps, Adelstein said the FCC has failed to police the situation: “Parents, be warned: the cops on the beat aren’t on top of the new developments in the neighborhood.”

To open the conference, the dir. of Children Now’s Children & the Media Program, Patti Miller, outlined the group’s agenda for the FCC, saying the agency should: (1) Forbid TV companies from embedding Internet links in online interactive content that could lead children to commercial advertising. (2) Ensure that parents get more information about programming and associated online content in the digital age. (3) Ensure that the privacy of children is preserved online. Children Now supports the Children’s Online Privacy Act (COPPA), which protects the privacy of children under 13 by requesting parental consent for the collection or use of any personal information on users.

The group also supports the Children & Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA), which would establish a program within the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development to look at the impact of all forms of media, including TV, radio, videogames and the Internet, on children’s behavior at the early stages of brain development. One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) told conference attendees that he would like to see more choices for parents in the digital age. Brownback said he was concerned about First Amendment implications in making mandates, but studies show violent material and junk food advertising affects children’s brains. “The impacts of entertainment are profound,” he said.

During a panel session, an NAB representative noted that broadcasters voluntarily air thousands of hours of children’s programming and other programming each year in the name of public service, including public service announcements and Amber Alerts. The industry has spent about $9.9 billion on public service, she said. But Center for Digital Democracy Exec. Dir. Jeffrey Chester, another panelist, charged that broadcasters would do none of it without public pressure.

Meanwhile, Comcast has been in negotiations with PBS, Sesame St. Workshop and HIT Entertainment to develop a 24- hour cable network aimed at preschool children, sources said. We were told that video-on-demand would play a big role in the deal, which was still weeks away from being publicly announced.