[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 27, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43981-43998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21798]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73

[MM Docket No. 93-48; FCC 96-335]


Broadcast Services; Children's Television

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This Report and Order amends the children's television 
educational and informational programming requirements to strengthen 
our enforcement of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (``CTA''). 
First, we adopt requirements designed to provide better information to 
the public about the shows broadcasters air to fulfill their obligation 
under the CTA to air educational and informational programming for 
children. Such information will assist parents to guide their 
children's television viewing, may ultimately increase the amount of 
educational programming available in the market, and will help parents 
and others to work with broadcasters in their community to improve 
educational programming without government intervention. Second, we 
adopt a definition of programming ``specifically designed'' to educate 
or inform children (or ``core'' programming) that provides better 
guidance to broadcasters concerning their specific obligation under the 
CTA to air such programming. Third, we adopt a processing guideline 
that will provide certainty for broadcasters about how to comply with 
the CTA, counteract market disincentives to air children's educational 
and informational programming, and facilitate staff processing of the 
children's educational programming portion of renewal applications. The 
purpose of these new rules is to improve public access to information 
about ``core'' programs, provide better clarity to broadcasters about 
their obligation to air such programs, and facilitate our application 
processing efforts. This proceeding was initiated by a Notice of 
Inquiry and a Notice of Proposed Rule Making.

DATES: Effective date: The rule changes to Secs. 73.673, 
73.3526(a)(8)(iii), and 73.3500, will become effective on January 2, 
1997, subject to OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Notice 
in the Federal Register will be given upon OMB's action to confirm this 
effective date. The rule changes to Secs. 73.671 and 73.672, 47 CFR 
Secs. 73.671, 73.672, will become effective on September 1, 1997. 
Written comments by the public on the new and/or modified information 
collections are due October 28, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the information collections contained herein 
should be submitted to Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 
Room 222, 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC 20554, and a copy 
submitted to Dorothy Conway, Federal Communications Commission, Room 
234, 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC 20554, or via the Internet to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Logan, Kim Matthews, or Jane 
Gross, Mass Media Bureau, Policy and Rules Division, (202) 418-2130. 
For additional information concerning the information collections 
contained in this Report and Order contact Dorothy Conway at 202-418-
0217, or via the Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's 
Report and Order in MM Docket No. 93-48, adopted August 8, 1996, and 
released August 8, 1996. The complete text of this Report and Order is 
available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in 
the FCC Dockets Branch (Room 230), 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC, 
and also may be purchased from the Commission's duplicating contractor, 
ITS, at (202) 857-3800, 1919 M Street, NW., Room 246, Washington, DC 
20554. This Report & Order contains new or modified information 
collections subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
Public Law No. 104-13. It will be submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review under Section 3507(d) of the PRA. OMB, the 
general public, and other Federal agencies are invited to comment on 
the new or modified information collections contained in this 
proceeding.

Synopsis of Report and Order

I. Introduction

    In this Report and Order, the Commission takes action to strengthen 
its enforcement of the Children's Television Act of 1990 (``CTA''). 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.'' Our initial 
regulations implementing the CTA have not been fully effective in 
prompting broadcasters to increase the amount of educational and 
informational broadcast television

[[Page 43982]]

programming available to children. Some broadcasters are carrying very 
little regularly scheduled standard length programming specifically 
designed to educate and inform children, and some broadcasters are 
claiming to have satisfied their statutory obligations with shows that, 
by any reasonable benchmark, cannot be said to be ``specifically 
designed'' to educate and inform children within the meaning of the 
CTA. In addition, parents and others frequently lack timely access to 
information about the availability of programming in their communities 
specifically designed to educate and inform children, exacerbating 
market disincentives.
    2. We refine our policies and rules to remedy these problems. 
First, we adopt a number of proposals designed to provide better 
information to the public about the shows broadcasters air to fulfill 
their obligation to air educational and informational programming under 
the CTA. Second, we adopt a definition of programming ``specifically 
designed'' to educate and inform children (or ``core'' programming) 
that provides better guidance to broadcasters concerning programming 
that fulfills their statutory obligation to air such programming. In 
order to qualify as core programming, a show must have serving the 
educational and informational needs of children as a significant 
purpose, be a regularly scheduled, weekly program of at least 30 
minutes, and be aired between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. The program must 
also be identified as educational and informational for children when 
it is aired and must be listed in the children's programming report 
placed in the broadcaster's public inspection file. Third, we adopt a 
processing guideline that will provide certainty for broadcasters about 
how to comply with the CTA and facilitate our processing efforts.

II. Background

    3. The Importance of Children's Educational TV. Congress has 
recognized that television can benefit society by helping to educate 
and inform our children. In enacting the CTA, Congress cited research 
demonstrating that television programs designed to teach children 
specific skills are effective. There is substantial evidence in this 
proceeding that children can benefit greatly from viewing educational 
television. That television has the power to teach is important because 
nearly all American children have access to television and spend 
considerable time watching it. The significance of over-the-air 
television for children is reinforced by the fact that fewer children 
have access to cable television than to over-the-air television. In the 
United States, 38 percent of children from ages 12 to 17 and 37 percent 
of children from ages 2 to 11 live in homes that are not connected to 
cable television. Hence, over-the-air broadcasting is an important 
source of video programs for children and for all members of low income 
families, including children.
    4. Previous Implementation of the CTA. 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 children. In 1990, Congress enacted the CTA 
both to impose limitations on the number of commercials shown during 
children's programs and to make clear that the FCC could not rely 
solely on market forces to increase the educational and informational 
programming available to children on commercial television. In enacting 
the CTA Congress intended to increase the amount of educational and 
informational broadcast television available to children. Congress 
sought to accomplish this objective by placing on each and every 
licensee an obligation to provide educational and informational 
programming, including programming specifically designed to educate and 
inform children, and by requiring the FCC to enforce that obligation.
    5. In 1991, the Commission adopted regulations to implement the 
CTA. In response to concerns expressed by a number of parties that our 
rules provide insufficient guidance for broadcasters seeking to comply 
with the CTA, we initiated this proceeding with a Notice of Inquiry 
(``NOI''), 58 FR 14367 (March 17, 1993), in 1993. Based on comments 
responding to our NOI, as well as comments received in connection with 
our 1994 en banc hearing on the subject of children's educational 
television programming, we proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rule 
Making (``NPRM''), 60 FR 20586 (April 26, 1995), to make a number of 
changes to our rules to achieve the goals of the CTA. In response to 
the NPRM, we received a substantial number of formal and informal 
comments from interested parties.
    6. The Economics of Children's Educational Programming. In enacting 
the CTA, Congress found that market forces were not sufficient to 
ensure that commercial stations would provide children's educational 
and information programming. A number of factors explain the 
marketplace constraints on providing such programming. Over-the-air 
commercial broadcast television stations earn their revenues from the 
sale of advertising time. Revenues received from the sale of 
advertising depend on the size and the socio-demographic 
characteristics of the audience reached by the broadcaster's 
programming. Broadcasters thus have a reduced economic incentive to 
promote children's programming because children's television audiences 
are smaller than general audiences. Broadcasters have even less 
economic incentive to provide educational programs for children because 
the market for children's educational television may be segmented by 
age in ways that do not characterize children's entertainment 
programming or adult programming. If stations are required to provide 
some educational programming for children, we believe that the same 
incentives could cause station owners to prefer to show such 
programming when relatively few adults would likely be in the audience. 
Furthermore, small audiences with little buying power, such as 
children's educational television audiences, are unlikely to be able to 
signal the intensity of their demand for such programming in the 
broadcasting market. Therefore, broadcasters will have little incentive 
to provide such programming because the small audiences and small 
resulting advertising revenues means that there will be a substantial 
cost to them (the so-called ``opportunity cost'') of forgoing larger 
revenues from other types of programs not shown. The combination of all 
these market forces consequently can create economic disincentives for 
commercial broadcasters with respect to educational programming. 
Broadcasters who desire to provide substantial children's educational 
programming may face economic pressure not to do so because airing a 
substantial amount of educational programming may place that 
broadcaster at a competitive disadvantage compared to those who do very 
little.
    7. The amount of educational programming on broadcast television. A 
number of parties have submitted studies in this proceeding examining 
the amount of regularly scheduled, standard length educational 
programming aired on commercial television stations since passage of 
the CTA. These studies are inconclusive in establishing the exact 
amount of educational programming that currently is being provided by 
broadcasters. They arrive at different conclusions on this question in 
part because they define the programming to be measured and select 
their samples of broadcast stations in different ways. Despite their

[[Page 43983]]

deficiencies, however, the studies (particularly the study submitted by 
Dr. Dale Kunkel) do allow us to conclude that some broadcasters are 
providing a very limited amount of programming specifically designed to 
educate and inform children and that broadcasters vary widely in their 
understanding of the type of programming that the CTA requires. The 
conclusion that some stations are airing very little educational 
programming for children is also supported by our experience in 
implementing the CTA.
    8. Availability of educational programming on nonbroadcast media. A 
number of broadcasters submitted comments arguing that the Commission 
should assess not just the educational programming being provided over-
the-air by broadcast stations, but rather the overall availability of 
educational programming in the video marketplace. We believe, however, 
that the proper focus in this proceeding should be on the provision of 
children's educational programming by broadcast stations, not by cable 
systems and other subscription services such as direct broadcast 
satellite systems that, in contrast to broadcast service, require the 
payment of a subscription fee. The CTA itself expressly focuses on 
broadcast licensees. Thus, the statute focuses on the provision of 
children's educational programming through broadcasting, a ubiquitous 
service, which may be the only source of video programming for some 
families that cannot afford, or do not have access to, cable or other 
subscription services. While noting an increase in the number of 
nonbroadcast outlets available for children to receive video 
programming, the House Report at 6 states that ``the new marketplace 
for video programming does not obviate the public interest 
responsibility of individual broadcast licensees to serve the child 
audience.''
    9. Conclusion. We conclude, on the basis of the studies before us 
that while some broadcasters are providing educational and 
informational programming as Congress intended, some are not. Congress 
was dissatisfied with commercial broadcasters' performance in 1990 
when, according to National Association of Broadcasters (``NAB''), 
commercial broadcasters were devoting an average of two hours per week 
of airtime to educational programming, and in the CTA Congress provided 
that each broadcaster has a duty to serve the educational and 
informational needs of children through its overall programming, 
including programming specifically designed to serve children's 
educational and informational needs. Yet it appears that, six years 
after the enactment of the CTA, at least some broadcasters are 
providing less than that amount. Given the Commission's duty to treat 
similarly situated broadcasters in a similar manner, by approving the 
performance under the CTA of broadcasters providing very little 
educational programming we would signal that all broadcasters may 
provide a minimal amount of such programming. The effect of that would 
be contrary to our effort to counter the economic disincentive to 
provide children's programming described above. Moreover, in light of 
the greater value to advertisers of entertainment programs for adults, 
those broadcasters providing very little educational programming for 
children may receive an unfair economic advantage, a result that only 
exacerbates the economic disincentive to provide children's programming 
that Congress identified in enacting the CTA. Thus unless we modify our 
approach to implementing the CTA, broadcasters will be able to provide 
extremely little educational programming for children. That would be 
contrary to Congress' intent in enacting the CTA.
    10. The record also shows that our definition of programming 
fulfilling the requirements of the CTA should be modified to provide a 
clear definition of ``specifically designed'' programming, we will give 
better guidance and greater incentives for broadcasters' compliance 
with the CTA. Finally, the record in this proceeding also supports the 
conclusion that parents and others would profit from additional 
information concerning the educational programming available in their 
community.

III. Public Information Initiatives

    11. We conclude that the market inadequacies that led Congress to 
pass the Children's Television Act can be addressed, in part, by 
enhancing parents' knowledge of children's educational programming. One 
way to encourage licensees to provide such programming is to encourage 
and enable the public, especially parents, to interact with 
broadcasters. Easy public access to information permits the Commission 
to rely more on marketplace forces to achieve the goals of the CTA and 
facilitates enforcement of the statute by allowing parents, educators, 
and others to actively monitor a station's performance.
    12. In considering the options to improve the information available 
regarding educational programming, we seek to maximize the access to 
such information by the public while minimizing the cost to the 
licensee. In response to the comments to the NPRM, we have focused on 
three basic methods, described below, to improve the public's access to 
information. We will continue to exempt noncommercial television 
licensees from children's programming reporting requirements, and we 
will also exempt them from the other public information initiatives we 
adopt today. In light of Congressional intent to avoid unnecessary 
constraints on broadcasters, and in view of the commitment demonstrated 
by noncommercial stations in general to serving children, we believe it 
is inappropriate to impose reporting obligations on such stations. We 
nonetheless encourage noncommercial stations voluntarily to comport 
with these initiatives to the extent feasible as a means of providing 
parents and other members of the public with additional information 
about the availability of children's educational and informational 
programming on all broadcast stations.
    13. On-Air Identification. We will require broadcasters to provide 
on-air identification of core programs, in a manner and form that is at 
the sole discretion of the licensee, at the beginning of the program. 
We believe the on-air identification of core programs will greatly 
assist parents in planning their children's viewing and improve the 
children's programming marketplace at minimal cost to stations. On-air 
identifiers are likely to reach a larger audience than information 
printed in programs guides. Moreover, we note that there is no 
certainty that published guides will include such information. 
Identifiers will improve broadcaster accountability by publicizing the 
programs licensees identify as contributing to their obligation to air 
core programming. An on-air identification requirement will make 
broadcasters more accountable to the public and further the goal of 
minimizing the possibility that the Commission would be forced to 
decide whether particular programs serve the educational and 
informational needs of children.
    14. Some commenter speculated that on-air identifiers could deter 
children from watching educational programs. No commenter, however, 
presented evidence that such an effect will occur. We will revisit our 
decision to require on-air identification if, after some experience, 
parties present us with evidence that they in fact have a deterrent 
effect. In the meantime, broadcasters will have full discretion to 
design their identifiers to minimize or avoid any such effect.
    15. Program Guides. We will require each commercial television 
broadcast

[[Page 43984]]

station licensee to provide information identifying programming 
specifically designed to educate and inform children, and an indication 
of the age group for which the program is intended, to publishers of 
program guides. It is industry practice for broadcasters to provide 
programming information to program guides, which publish such 
information without cost to the broadcasters. Further, it has become a 
well-established practice to provide specialized information about 
programs, such as which programs are closed captioned for the hearing 
impaired. As broadcasters routinely provide such information about 
their programming to program guides and designate core programs for 
their public records, we believe it would require a minimum of effort, 
but have a major positive effect, for broadcasters to provide 
publishers of program guides and listings, information identifying core 
programs, and the age group for which, in the opinion of the 
broadcaster, the program is intended.
    16. We recognize broadcasters cannot require guides to print this 
information. The information, however, is more likely to be in the 
program listings if broadcasters routinely provide it. We believe 
program guides are an effective means of providing parents with advance 
notice of scheduling of educational programs. This information will 
assist parents in finding suitable programs for their children and be 
useful to parents and others who wish to monitor station performance in 
complying with the CTA. We note that a number of broadcasters supported 
this proposal, and that the major networks now employ a voluntary 
parental advisory plan pursuant to which they provide to program guide 
services information indicating whether programs contain material that 
may be unsuitable for children. We believe that a universal symbol for 
educational programming would also be useful in readily identifying 
such programming to the public, and encourage broadcasters to adopt 
such a symbol.
    17. Public File Proposals. Our rules currently require commercial 
licensees to compile reports containing information about the 
children's programming they air, including the time, date, duration, 
and description of the programs. Licensees maintain these reports in 
the station's public inspection file. We identify several ways, 
discussed below, to enhance public access to and use of the information 
in these reports that can be made without materially increasing any 
burden on the licensee.
    18. Children's liaison. We will require stations to identify the 
person at the station responsible for collecting comments on the 
station's compliance with the CTA. We believe it is reasonable to 
require licensees to designate a liaison for children's programming and 
to include the name and method of contacting that individual in the 
station's children's programming reports, since someone at each station 
must, as a practical matter, be responsible for carrying out the 
broadcaster's responsibilities under the CTA. This requirement also 
will facilitate public access to information on stations' educational 
programming efforts, and assist stations in responding to comments and 
complaints from the public. Moreover, because licensees are currently 
required to maintain children's programming reports and letters 
received from the public in their public inspection file, this 
requirement should not impose a significant additional burden on 
licensees.
    19. Explanation of how programming meets definition of core 
programming. We will require licensees to provide a brief explanation 
in their children's programming reports of how particular programs meet 
the definition of ``core'' programming. Such descriptions assist 
parents and others who wish to monitor station performance in complying 
with the CTA. Having a broadcaster identify those programs it relies 
upon to meet its CTA obligation on an ongoing basis, rather than the 
end of the term, will increase broadcaster accountability. With regard 
to a qualifying regular series, we will consider a general description 
to be sufficient so long as the description is adequate to provide the 
public with enough information about how the series is specifically 
designed to meet the educational and informational needs of children.
    20. Physically separate reports. We will require licensees to 
separate the children's programming reports from other reports they 
maintain in their public inspection files. This will enable interested 
parties to review the information without having to search through 
unrelated materials. This is our current practice with a licensee's 
political file. Facilitating access to children's programming reports 
will facilitate public monitoring and increase broadcaster 
accountability under the CTA; requiring broadcasters to keep their 
children's programming reports separate from other portions of their 
public inspection files will ensure such ease of access.
    21. Publicizing children's programming reports. We will require 
that licensees publicize the children's programming reports in an 
appropriate manner. We remain concerned that the public is generally 
unaware of these reports and agree with commenters who contend that 
publicizing the children's programming reports will heighten awareness 
of the CTA and invite members of the public to take an active role in 
monitoring compliance.
    22. Quarterly reports. We will require licensees to prepare 
children's programming reports on a quarterly basis. Commenters noted 
that a quarterly reporting requirement provides more current 
information about station performance and encourages more consistent 
focus on educational programming efforts and that, because quarterly 
production of children's programming reports will coincide with the 
quarterly issues/programs reports that broadcasters currently prepare, 
this requirement will not impose a significant additional burden on 
licensees. For an experimental period of three years, we will also 
require broadcasters to file such quarterly reports with the Commission 
on an annual basis, i.e., four quarterly reports filed jointly once a 
year. We encourage stations to file quarterly, in electronic form, when 
the reports are prepared. We will evaluate whether to continue this 
requirement as part of our review of broadcasters' annual reports at 
the end of this three-year period.
    23. Standardized reporting form. We will provide licensees with a 
standardized form for the quarterly children's programming reports. A 
standardized form should lessen the burden on broadcasters by 
clarifying the information to be included and providing a ready format. 
A standardized form will facilitate consistency of reporting among all 
licensees, assist in efforts by the public and the Commission to 
monitor station compliance with the CTA, and lessen the burden on the 
public and Commission staff. This form--a Children's Educational 
Television Report--will be designed so licensees can complete the 
report on a computer and file it electronically with the Commission for 
purposes of the experimental three-year annual filing requirement. We 
encourage licensees to file the form with us electronically, although 
we will accept filings either on computer diskette or a paper copy of 
the report form.
    24. This form will request information to identify the individual 
station and the programs it airs to meet its obligation under the CTA. 
The form will also request information on educational programs that the 
station plans to air in the next quarter and ask whether the licensee 
has complied with other

[[Page 43985]]

requirements described in this Report and Order. We plan to issue the 
reporting form by Public Notice and make it available on the Internet.

IV. Definition of Programming ``Specifically Designed'' to Serve 
Children's Educational and Informational Needs

    25. The CTA requires every television broadcaster to air 
programming ``specifically designed'' to serve the educational and 
informational needs of children. Our current definition of educational 
and informational programming--``programming that furthers the positive 
development of children 16 years of age and under in any respect, 
including the child's intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional 
needs''-- is very broad and does not further delineate criteria for 
programs that are ``specifically designed'' to educate and inform 
children. To remedy this situation, we have decided to adopt a more 
particularized definition of programming specifically designed to serve 
children's educational and informational needs, or ``core'' 
programming. We intend that this definition will identify programming 
that clearly meets the statutory obligation to air programming 
``specifically designed'' to meet the educational and informational 
needs of children. We emphasize that licensees should not regard our 
definition of core programming as imposing a limit on their ability to 
air other programming that teaches and informs children even if that 
programming does not square with each element of our definition of core 
programming.
    26. The evidence in the record supports our general proposal to 
adopt a definition of core educational and informational programming. 
Several of the studies submitted in this proceeding suggest that some 
licensees are uncertain about what to classify as programming 
specifically designed to meet children's educational and informational 
needs. This conclusion is supported by our experience in reviewing 
renewal applications and in evaluating licensees' efforts to meet their 
CTA obligation to air programming ``specifically designed'' to educate 
and inform children. We agree with those commenters who believe that a 
particularized definition will assist broadcasters and will avoid 
potentially misplaced reliance on general audience and entertainment 
programs as specifically designed to educate and inform. By more 
precisely defining ``specifically designed'' programming, we increase 
the likelihood that such programs will be aired, concomitantly 
increasing the likelihood children will benefit as Congress intended, 
from such programs.
    27. We will retain, with a slight modification, our existing 
definition of ``educational and informational programming'' to provide 
a description of the broad variety of programs that can serve to comply 
with a licensee's overall requirement to air programming that meets 
children's educational and informational needs. In order to track more 
closely the express language of the CTA, we will modify this definition 
somewhat so that the broad category of ``educational and informational 
television programming'' is defined as ``any television programming 
that furthers the educational and informational needs of children 16 
years of age and under in any respect, including children's 
intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional needs.''
    28. The definition of core programming that we adopt is designed to 
provide licensees with clear guidance regarding how we will evaluate 
renewal applications. The elements of our proposed definition are also 
designed to be as objective as possible so that they are more easily 
understood by licensees and the Commission staff and to avoid injecting 
the Commission unnecessarily into sensitive decisions regarding program 
content. As we stated in the NPRM, programming specifically designed to 
serve children's educational and informational needs is the only 
category of programming the CTA expressly requires each licensee to 
provide. We believe that the definition we adopt today will continue to 
provide broadcasters ample discretion in designing and producing such 
programming. We emphasize that the test of whether programming 
qualifies as core does not depend in any way on its topic or viewpoint. 
We now turn to the specific elements of the new definition of core 
programming.

Significant Purpose

    29. With respect to the first element of our definition, we believe 
that, to qualify as core programming, a show must have served the 
educational and informational needs of children ages 16 and under as a 
significant purpose. The ``significant purpose'' standard appropriately 
acknowledges the point advanced by broadcasters and others that to be 
successful, and thus to serve children's needs as mandated by the CTA, 
educational and informational programming must also be entertaining and 
attractive to children. Accordingly, as proposed in the NPRM, we will 
require that core programming be specifically designed to meet the 
educational and informational needs of children ages 16 and under and 
have educating and informing children as a significant purpose.
    30. The CTA speaks of programming specifically designed to serve 
``the educational and informational needs of children.'' It does not 
draw a distinction between educational and informational programming 
that furthers children's cognitive and intellectual development and 
educational and informational programming that furthers children's 
social and emotional development. We decline to draw that distinction 
ourselves and accordingly conclude that both fall within the scope of 
our definition. The test of whether programming qualifies as core does 
not depend in any way on its viewpoint, but solely on whether it is 
``specifically designed'' to serve children's educational and 
informational needs. In this regard, we note that entertainment 
programming with a minor or wrap-around educational and informational 
message cannot correctly be said to have serving the educational and 
informational needs of children as a significant purpose.1 We 
anticipate that any attempt to incorrectly characterize programming as 
core will elicit significant opposition from the community, about which 
the FCC will be apprised.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The term ``wrap-around'' refers to messages inserted at the 
beginning or end of an entertainment program in an effort to make 
the program qualify as specifically designed to educate or inform.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    31. In determining whether programming has a significant purpose of 
educating and informing children, we will ordinarily rely on the good 
faith judgment of broadcasters, who will be subject to increased 
community scrutiny as a result of the public information initiatives 
described above. We consequently will rely primarily on such public 
participation to ensure compliance with the significant purpose prong 
of the definition of core programming, with Commission review taking 
place only as a last resort.
    32. One suggested rule revision discussed in the NPRM was to 
require that educational and informational programming specifically 
designed for children be produced with the assistance of independent 
educational advisors. We continue to believe that it would not be 
appropriate to require the use of educational experts in developing 
core programming. Although some broadcasters may find that experts can 
provide worthwhile assistance in developing educational programming, as 
we stated in the NPRM we prefer to

[[Page 43986]]

minimize the burdens and potential intrusions on programming decisions 
of broadcasters and provide them the flexibility to select the means by 
which their educational programming is created.

Educational and Informational Objective and Target Child Audience 
Specified in Writing

    33. With respect to the second element of our core programming 
definition, we are persuaded that we should adopt our proposal to 
require that the educational and informational objective of core 
programming be specified in writing. Requiring a statement of 
educational and informational purpose will ensure that broadcasters 
devote attention to the educational and informational goals of core 
programming and how those goals may be achieved. A written statement of 
educational and information purpose should also assist licensees to 
distinguish programs specifically designed to serve children's 
educational and informational needs from programs whose primary purpose 
is to entertain children. Moreover, this requirement can, as noted, 
allow parents and other interested parties to participate more actively 
in monitoring licensee compliance with the CTA, and thus is consistent 
with our public information initiatives.
    34. The description of a program's educational and informational 
objective, which should be included in the licensee's children's 
programming report, does not have to be lengthy. It should state the 
educational and informational objective of the program and the expected 
educational and informational effects. To satisfy this requirement, 
broadcasters need not describe the viewpoint of the program or opinions 
expressed on it. The description must be adequate to demonstrate that a 
significant purpose of the program is to educate and inform children.
    35. We will also require licensees to indicate a specific target 
age group for core programs. In enacting the CTA, Congress found that 
``[c]hildren's educational programming is most effective when it is 
designed to focus on particular age groups and address specific 
skills.'' Research has demonstrated that the ability of young children 
to comprehend television content varies as a function of age, and that 
educational programming should be targeted to an age range of no more 
than three to four years to ensure that its content is appropriate to 
the developmental level of the intended audience. Requiring licensees 
to specify the age group a core program is intended to encourage them 
to consider whether the content of the program is suited to the 
interests, knowledge, vocabulary, and other abilities of that group. In 
addition, this requirement will provide information to parents 
regarding the appropriate age for core programs, thereby facilitating 
increased program audience and ratings. We decline, however, to 
identify particular age ranges of children to which core programs may 
be directed. We prefer to leave broadcasters the discretion to develop 
programs suited to children with similar educational and informational 
needs and to counterprogram to distinct portions of the child audience 
as they believe appropriate.
    36. In addition, we decline to require broadcasters to serve 
particular segments of the child audience. We adhere to our view that 
we should not at this time require broadcasters to serve particular 
segments of the child audience, particularly in light of the 
significant new steps we have adopted to promote the overall 
availability of children's educational and informational programming.

Times Core Programming May Be Aired

    37. As for the third element of our definition of core programming, 
we tentatively proposed in the NPRM to credit as core programming 
children's educational programs broadcast between the hours of 6:00 
a.m. and 11:00 p.m. After considering the evidence, we will limit the 
hours within which programming may qualify as core to a narrower time 
frame than that proposed in the NPRM. To qualify as core, a program 
must air between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. In specifying 
this time period, our intention is to encourage broadcasters to air 
educational programming at times the maximum number of child viewers 
will be watching. With respect to the morning time limit, recent data 
show that during four sample weeks in November 1995, less than 5 
percent of children 2 to 17 nationwide were watching television at 6:00 
a.m. Monday through Friday, and less than 10 percent of this age group 
was in the audience at 6:30 a.m. By 7:00 a.m., however, between 12.5 
percent and 14 percent of children 2 to 11 were watching television, 
and by 8:00 a.m. more than 20 percent of children 2 to 5, close to 12 
percent of children 6 to 8, and just under 9 percent of children 9 to 
11, were in the audience. Thus, at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, 
nearly four times as many young children are watching television than 
at 6:00 a.m. In other words, at 6:00 a.m. on weekdays, 1.3 million 
children are watching television. By 7:00 a.m., the number of children 
watching television is 5.1 million. Data also show that roughly as many 
(i.e., very few) young children are watching television at 6:00 a.m. as 
are watching at midnight. With respect to weekend viewing, the same 
data show that less than 4 percent of children 2 to 17 were watching 
television from 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. By 7:00 a.m. on 
Saturday, however, the percentage of children 2 to 11 in the audience 
had risen to between about 5 percent and 7 percent, and continued to 
increase sharply to about 16 percent or more by 8:00 a.m. Figures for 
Sunday showed a comparable low rate of viewership for all children 
prior to 7:00 a.m. followed by a sharp increase between 7:00 a.m. and 
8:00 a.m. for children 2 to 11.
    38. Despite the relatively small percentage of children in the 
audience prior to 7:00 a.m. as compared to after that hour, a number of 
studies confirm that broadcasters air a significant percentage of their 
educational programming before 7:00 a.m. For example, studies indicate 
that approximately 20 percent of educational programs are aired before 
7:00 a.m. In light of the evidence demonstrating that only 5 to 10 
percent of children are watching television before 7:00 a.m., 
broadcasters appear to be airing a disproportionately large amount of 
educational programming during early morning hours in relation to the 
relatively few children watching television at that time. As noted in 
the NPRM, broadcasters have an incentive to air educational programming 
during very early morning hours as this is a less costly time for them 
to comply with their educational programming obligation. In view of 
these circumstances, we believe it is appropriate to specify that core 
programming air no earlier than 7:00 a.m. rather than 6:00 a.m. as 
proposed in the NPRM. An early time limit of 7:00 a.m. will ensure that 
core programming is shown when more children are likely to be watching 
television, especially young children, thus maximizing the benefit of 
such programming. In addition, a 7:00 a.m. cut-off will help counter 
the economic incentive of broadcasters to air educational and 
informational programming to time periods when few children are in the 
audience.
    39. With regard to the evening limit, we believe it is appropriate 
to require that core programming air no later than 10:00 p.m. rather 
than 11:00 p.m. as proposed in the NPRM. Recent data

[[Page 43987]]

show that the number of children 2 to 17 watching television drops off 
considerably from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. For all seven nights 
combined (Monday-Sunday), the average number of children 2 to 17 drops 
from 13 million at 10:00 p.m. to 8 million at 11:00 p.m. According to 
these figures, the number of children 2 to 8 watching television Monday 
through Friday peaks at approximately 30 percent at 8:00 p.m., and then 
declines sharply to approximately 16 percent by 10:00 p.m. and less 
than 10 percent by 11:00 p.m. For older children 9 to 17 Monday through 
Friday, viewership peaks somewhat later, between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. at 
approximately 30 percent to 35 percent, and then falls off to 
approximately 20 percent to 25 percent at 10:00 p.m. and approximately 
12 percent to 19 percent by 11:00 p.m. The data for these age groups 
for Saturday and Sunday also show a sharp decline in viewership from 
10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. We agree with those commenters who argued that 
core programming should be aired before 10:00 p.m. when a larger 
proportion of children are awake and watching television. We do not 
expect this evening limit to impose a burden on broadcasters, or impede 
their program scheduling strategies, as they typically schedule adult 
entertainment programming for the 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. time period. 
We therefore will require that, in order to qualify as core, 
educational and informational children's programming be aired between 
the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. We believe that this time period 
effectuates the language of the CTA that licensees air programming 
``specifically designed'' to serve children's educational and 
informational needs, as children are best served by programming that 
airs during times more children are watching television.
    40. We do not believe that the time period for core programming 
must be consistent with the indecency safe harbor (10:00 p.m. to 6:00 
a.m.). The indecency safe harbor is intended to provide for the airing 
of indecent material when the risk of children in the audience is 
minimized, while our purpose in this context is to promote the 
availability of children's educational programs when substantial 
numbers of children are watching. Nevertheless, the data recited above 
indicate that because there is an appreciable drop in the number of 
children in the audience after 10:00 p.m. the time frame for purposes 
of the core programming definition should be 10:00 p.m. rather than 
11:00 p.m.

Regularly Scheduled

    41. Turning to the fourth element of our definition of core 
programming, we continue to believe that qualifying core programming 
should be regularly scheduled, particularly in view of our emphasis on 
improving the flow of information to parents through published program 
guides and other means to enable them to select educational and 
informational programs for their children. Programming that is aired on 
a regular basis is more easily anticipated and located by viewers, and 
can build loyalty that will improve its chance for commercial success. 
A large proportion of television programming, including children's 
programming, consists of shows that air on a routine basis. We agree 
with those commenters who argue that programs that air regularly can 
reinforce lessons from episode to episode. We also believe that 
regularly scheduled programs can develop a theme which enhances the 
impact of the educational and informational message. Accordingly, to be 
considered as core, we will require that educational and informational 
programs air on a regular basis. Furthermore, to count as regularly 
scheduled programming, such programs must be scheduled to air at least 
once a week. Regularly scheduled weekly programming is the dominant 
form of television programming. It is more likely to be anticipated by 
parents and children, to develop audience loyalty, and to build 
successfully upon and reinforce educational and informational messages, 
thereby better serving the educational and informational needs of 
children. It is also our view that programs that air at less frequent 
intervals are less likely to attract a regular audience and to be 
anticipated by parents.
    42. Television series typically air in the same time slot for 13 
consecutive weeks, although some episodes may be preempted for programs 
such as breaking news or live sports events. Indeed, evidence suggests 
that a significant number of educational and informational programs, 
particularly those that air on Saturday, are preempted by sports and 
other programming. Although a program must be regularly scheduled on a 
weekly basis to qualify as core, we will leave to the staff to 
determine, with guidance from the full Commission as necessary, what 
constitutes regularly scheduled programming and what level of 
preemption is allowable.
    43. Specials, including those scheduled to appear on a regular 
nonweekly basis, will not be credited as core. As stated above, we 
believe that programs that are aired more frequently (i.e., at least 
once a week) are more likely to build upon and reinforce educational 
and informational messages, more likely to develop audience loyalty, 
and more likely to be anticipated by children and parents and thus 
attract a regular audience. Nonetheless, we recognize that educational 
and informational specials with a significant purpose of serving the 
educational and informational needs of children ages 16 and under can 
help accomplish the objectives of the CTA and thus can count toward the 
second track of our three-hour processing guideline as described below. 
The value of such programming is enhanced if parents are informed in 
advance of the program and the time it is scheduled to air. We 
encourage broadcasters to promote educational and informational 
specials and to schedule them far enough in advance to permit 
information about the program to be included in program guides.

Substantial Length

    44. As to the fifth element of our definition of core programming, 
we believe that core programming should be at least 30 minutes in 
length. In enacting the CTA, Congress identified a number of examples 
of worthwhile educational and informational programs, all of which are 
at least one half-hour in length. Although we do not mean to suggest 
that these examples in the legislative history are equivalent to 
statutory requirements, we believe they reflect the fact that the 
dominant broadcast television format is 30 minutes or longer in length. 
We believe it reasonable that our rules, which are intended to promote 
the accessibility of children's educational and informational 
programming, reflect this current industry practice. Programs in these 
standard formats are more likely than shorter programming to be 
regularly scheduled and to be listed in program guides, and thus are 
easier for parents to identify for their child's viewing. In addition, 
programs that are 30 minutes or longer allow more time for educational 
and informational material to be presented, and a number of commenters 
stated that shows of this length can be particularly beneficial to 
children. There was no evidence presented in response to the NPRM to 
support claims by some parties that children have short attention spans 
and thus will not benefit from substantial length programming.
    45. We will not credit educational and informational PSAs, 
interstitials, or other short segments as core

[[Page 43988]]

programming. The CTA does not preclude broadcasters from counting such 
programming as educational and informational; indeed, we recognize that 
some short segments have significant public interest benefits. 
Nevertheless, while we have previously found that short segment 
programming may qualify as specifically designed educational and 
informational programming, for the reasons stated above we believe that 
programs that are 30 minutes or more in length are a more appropriate 
focus of our definition of ``core'' programming. We also note that 
short segments and PSAs are less likely to be regularly scheduled or 
listed in program guides, and consequently are not easily located and 
anticipated by parents and children.
    46. We emphasize that programming with a significant purpose of 
educating and informing children that is less than 30 minutes in 
length, although not credited as core programming, can contribute to 
serving children's needs pursuant to the CTA. Such programming can 
count toward meeting the three-hour processing guideline when 
broadcasters air somewhat less than 3 hours per week of core 
programming, as described below. We encourage all broadcasters to 
continue to provide a diverse mix of educational and informational 
programming, including short segments and PSAs, toward their overall 
obligation to provide programming for children.

Identified as Educational and Informational

    47. With respect to the sixth element of our definition, we 
proposed that stations be required to identify core programs as 
educational and informational at the beginning of the program, and to 
make available the necessary information for listing these programs as 
educational and informational in program guides. As discussed above, we 
will adopt both of these proposals in order to improve the information 
available to parents regarding programming specifically designed for 
children's educational and informational needs, and to assist them in 
selecting these programs for their children. We also believe this 
measure will make broadcasters more accountable in classifying 
programming as specifically designed to educate and inform. Thus, as 
with the other aspects of our definition of core programming, we 
believe that the identification requirements provide an appropriate 
regulatory incentive for licensees to comply with their statutory 
obligation to air programming specifically designed to serve children's 
educational and informational needs.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ As we noted above, we will exempt noncommercial stations 
from these identification requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assessment Guidelines

    48. In view of our adoption of a definition of core educational and 
informational programming that provides licensees with clearer guidance 
regarding the types of programming required to meet their obligation 
under the CTA, we believe that our permissive assessment guidelines are 
no longer necessary and should be eliminated.

V. Processing Guideline

    49. Based on our review of the record, as well as our experience in 
enforcing the CTA over the past five years, we have decided to adopt a 
three-hour processing guideline. Under this guideline, the Mass Media 
Bureau will be authorized to approve the CTA portions of a 
broadcaster's renewal application where the broadcaster has aired three 
hours per week (averaged over a six month period) of educational and 
informational programming that has as a significant purpose serving the 
educational and informational needs of children ages 16 and under. A 
broadcaster can demonstrate that it has aired three hours per week of 
such programming in either of two ways: (A) By checking a box on its 
renewal application and providing supporting information indicating 
that it has aired three hours per week of regularly scheduled, weekly 
shows that are 30 minutes or longer and that otherwise meet the 
definition of ``core programming'' (repeats and reruns of core 
programming may be counted toward fulfillment of the three-hour 
guideline); or (B) By showing that it has aired a package of different 
types of educational and informational programming that, while 
containing somewhat less than three hours per week of core programming, 
demonstrates a level of commitment to educating and informing children 
that is at least equivalent to airing three hours per week of core 
programming. (By ``package'' we do not mean to imply that the 
programming is in any way related by topics or purchased from a single 
source.) A broadcaster seeking to secure staff approval under Category 
B must show that any reasonable observer would recognize its commitment 
to educating and informing children to be at least equivalent to the 
commitment reflected in Category A.
    50. Broadcasters that do not fall within Category A or B will have 
their renewal applications referred to the full Commission. Licensees 
referred to the Commission should be on notice by this order that they 
will not necessarily be found to have complied with the CTA. Given the 
modest nature of the guideline described in Categories A and B, we 
expect few broadcasters will fail to meet this benchmark. However, even 
if a licensee did not meet the guideline for staff approval, it will 
have an opportunity to make a showing before the Commission that it has 
satisfied its CTA obligations in other ways. Broadcasters will have a 
full opportunity to make this demonstration by, for example, relying in 
part on sponsorship of core educational and informational programs on 
other stations in the market that increases the amount of core 
educational and informational programming on the station airing the 
sponsored program and/or on special nonbroadcast efforts which enhance 
the value of children's educational and informational television 
programming. It is also possible that a licensee might seek to 
demonstrate that it suffered such serious economic hardship--such as 
bankruptcy--that might excuse noncompliance with the CTA.
    51. If we find that a broadcaster has not complied with the CTA, we 
will apply the same remedies that we use in enforcing our other rules. 
These remedies will vary depending on the severity of the deficiency 
based on objective criteria. For less serious deficiencies, we will 
consider letters of admonition or reporting requirements. We may also 
consider using a ``promise versus performance'' approach. This would be 
a prospective remedy under which a licensee would detail its plan for 
coming into full compliance with CTA programming obligations; if this 
plan meets with Commission approval, the station's license would be 
renewed on the condition that the licensee adheres to the plan absent 
special circumstances. For more serious violations, we will consider 
other sanctions, including forfeitures and short-term renewals. In 
extreme cases, we will consider designating the license for hearing to 
determine whether the licensee's violations of the CTA and our 
implementing rules warrant nonrenewal under the standards set forth in 
Section 309(k) of the Communications Act.
    52. We believe that a three hour per week processing guideline is a 
reasonable benchmark for all broadcast television stations to meet six 
years after enactment of the CTA given long-term performance 
improvement Congress intended when it passed the Act. The inferences 
that we can draw from the

[[Page 43989]]

entire record in this proceeding, including the studies that were 
submitted, suggest that this benchmark is a reasonable, achievable 
guideline. In the context of the CTA, a processing guideline is clear, 
fair and efficient. Our experience in reviewing the children's 
programming portions of renewal applications teaches us that a 
processing guideline is desirable as a matter of administrative 
efficiency in enforcing the CTA and provides desirable clarity about 
the extent of a broadcaster's programming responsibilities under the 
statute. The guideline will also help ameliorate the inequities that 
may arise from the economic disincentives that lead some stations to 
air little core programming. Although some broadcasters are airing a 
significant amount of educational and informational programming, the 
evidence suggests that others are not. A processing guideline will help 
minimize the inequities and reduce the disincentives created by below-
average performers by subjecting all broadcasters to the same scrutiny 
for CTA compliance by the Commission at renewal time. Moreover, the 
greater certainty provided by the processing guideline we adopt should 
create a more stable and predictable demand for such programming, and 
thus further the CTA's goal of increasing the availability of programs 
that teach and inform the nation's children.
    53. The processing guideline we adopt is consistent with the CTA in 
that it provides a measure of flexibility for licensees in meeting the 
requirements of the CTA. We further believe the processing guideline we 
adopt is consistent with the text of the CTA, which requires us to 
``consider the extent'' to which licensees serve the educational and 
informational needs of children through the licensee's overall 
programming, including programming specifically designed to serve such 
needs.
    54. We thus conclude that the public interest and the interests 
Congress sought to promote through the CTA will be better served by 
this processing guideline approach. We recognize that this is contrary 
to our earlier interpretation of the CTA as precluding quantification 
of the CTA obligation. In reaching a contrary conclusion, we begin with 
the fact that nothing in the statutory language of the CTA forbids the 
use of a processing guideline. Furthermore, although there is specific 
language in the legislative history, cited in our 1991 Report and Order 
and by parties in this proceeding, stating the ``Committee does not 
intend that the FCC interpret this section as requiring or mandating a 
quantification standard,'' this language does not prohibit us from 
seeking to provide greater clarity and guidance through a processing 
guideline. Rather, this language simply makes clear that the CTA does 
not require quantitative standards or guidelines.
    55. We will continue our policy of exempting noncommercial 
television stations from specific record-compilation, filing and 
submission requirements. As is our current practice, we will require 
noncommercial broadcast television stations to maintain documentation 
sufficient to show compliance at renewal time with the Act's 
programming obligations in response to a challenge or to specific 
complaints. Any such showing that a noncommercial station may need to 
make will be governed by the definition of core programming and the 
processing guideline we adopt.
    56. We will monitor the broadcast industry's children's educational 
programming performance for three years based upon the children's 
programming reports that licensees will file with us annually on an 
experimental basis. We will conduct a review of these reports at the 
end of this three-year period and take appropriate action as necessary 
to ensure that stations are complying with the rules and guidelines we 
adopt. To supplement this review, Commission staff will also conduct 
selected individual station audits during the next three years to 
assess station performance under our new children's educational and 
informational programming rules once they go into effect.
    57. We invited comment in the NPRM on whether we should sunset any 
processing guideline or program standard that we adopt on December 1, 
2004, unless affirmatively extended by the Commission. Based on the 
record, we do not believe that an automatic expiration of the rules, 
absent further Commission action, is appropriate. One of our principal 
objectives in implementing the safe harbor processing guideline is to 
provide broadcasters and the public with fair notice and certainty 
regarding the level of performance at which a licensee can be assured 
it is complying with the CTA. Automatic elimination of the processing 
guideline is inconsistent with this important objective.

VI. Renewal Procedures

    58. We have decided not to require members of the public to 
communicate with a licensee prior to filing a petition to deny, as 
proposed in the NPRM. Such a requirement could be unduly burdensome to 
the public, prevent legitimate complaints from being heard, and deny 
the FCC an important source of information. We will nonetheless 
encourage parties to seek to resolve CTA programming concerns with the 
station before filing a complaint with the Commission, and will 
consider whether a petitioner has engaged in such conciliation efforts 
as a factor in assessing a petition to deny.
    59. We sought comment in the NPRM on whether we should permit 
licensees to certify whether they have aired the prescribed amount of 
core programming. We decline to adopt this proposal. The parties that 
addressed this proposal opposed it on the ground that it would inhibit 
public monitoring of broadcaster compliance and was contrary to 
Congress' intent that the Commission review a licensee's children's 
programming records. Given these concerns, and our decision to require 
broadcasters to file children's programming reports with the Commission 
for an experimental three-year period, we do not believe a 
certification approach is workable.

VII. First Amendment Issues

    60. The First Amendment arguments raised by opponents of our 
proposed CTA regulations essentially fall into two categories--
arguments that attack the CTA obligation and arguments that attack the 
quantification of the CTA obligation. To the extent that some 
commenters argue that the CTA is unconstitutional, Congress itself 
specifically concluded that ``it is well within the First Amendment 
strictures to require the FCC to consider, during the license renewal 
process, whether a television licensee has provided information 
specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs 
of children in the context of its overall programming.'' Even more 
specifically, as the FCC, the courts, and Congress have concluded, a 
broadcaster's public interest obligation properly includes an 
obligation to serve the educational and informational needs of 
children. The question in this proceeding is not whether the Commission 
should give effect to the CTA, but how it should do so.
    61. The course we adopt today--defining what qualifies as 
programming ``specifically designed'' to serve the educational needs of 
children and giving broadcasters clear but nonmandatory guidance on how 
to guarantee compliance--is a constitutional means of giving effect to 
the CTA's programming requirement. ``It does not violate the First 
Amendment to treat licensees given the privilege of

[[Page 43990]]

using scarce radio frequencies as proxies for the entire community, 
obligated to give suitable time and attention to matters of great 
public concern.'' Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367, 394 
(1969). Congress's authority to order ``suitable time and attention to 
matters of great public concern'' includes the authority to require 
broadcasters to air programming specifically designed to further the 
educational needs of children. The airwaves belong to the public, not 
to any individual broadcaster. As the Supreme Court observed in CBS, 
Inc. v. FCC, ``a licensed broadcaster is `granted the free and 
exclusive use of a limited and valuable part of the public domain; when 
he accepts that franchise it is burdened by enforceable public 
obligations.''' 453 U.S. 367, 395 (1981). The fact that Congress 
elected to retain public ownership of the broadcast spectrum and to 
lease it for free to private licensees for limited periods carries 
significant First Amendment consequences.
    62. We have chosen to adopt a processing guideline that requires 
broadcasters to show us how they have served the educational and 
informational needs of children, and which provides guidance to them 
about ways in which they can meet that obligation. We are not, however, 
telling licensees what topics to discuss. The Supreme Court has 
reaffirmed that ``broadcast programming, unlike cable programming, is 
subject to certain limited content restraints imposed by statute and 
FCC regulation.'' If the equal-time and personal attack rules and the 
rules channeling indecent programming away from times when children are 
most likely to be in the viewing audience survive constitutional 
scrutiny, then so, a fortiori, would the Commission's considerably less 
intrusive proposal for giving meaningful effect to the CTA by defining 
``core'' educational programming and establishing a procedure that 
broadcasters can use to assure routine staff processing of the CTA 
portion of their renewal applications.
    63. Our new regulations, like the CTA itself, impose reasonable, 
viewpoint-neutral conditions on a broadcaster's free use of the public 
airwaves. The CTA and our regulations directly advance the government's 
substantial, and indeed compelling, interest in the education of 
America's children. As Congress recognized, ``[i]t is difficult to 
think of an interest more substantial than the promotion of the welfare 
of children who watch so much television and rely upon it for so much 
of the information they receive.'' If Congress and the Commission may 
ban broadcast of certain material during specified hours, even under 
standards of strict scrutiny, it should follow that the Commission's 
adoption of less restrictive measures to encourage the airing of 
material beneficial to children is consistent with the First Amendment. 
That is particularly true because the Children's Television Act is 
designed to promote programming that educates and informs children. It 
is entirely consistent with the First Amendment to ask trustees of the 
public airwaves to pursue reasonable, viewpoint-neutral measures 
designed to increase the likelihood that children will grow into adults 
capable of fully participating in our deliberative democracy.
    64. The measures we adopt today to advance the Nation's interest in 
the intellectual development of our children are sustainable under the 
analysis in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978) as they are 
significantly less burdensome than the measure upheld there. Pacifica 
upheld a complete ban on a particular type of programming (indecent 
programming) during hours when children are likely to be in the 
audience, a period which the Commission was later upheld in defining as 
16 hours per day (6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.) in Action for Children's 
Television v. FCC. The measures we adopt today do not ban programming 
of any type, they simply notify broadcasters that compliance with the 
CTA can be achieved with, on average, less than half an hour a day of 
programming expressing any viewpoint on any topic that broadcasters 
desire.
    65. For those reasons, our implementing rules are constitutional 
under the traditional First Amendment standard. But even if evaluated 
under a heightened standard, our rules would pass muster because the 
interest advanced is compelling and our regulations are narrowly 
tailored. As detailed above, our regulations are no more burdensome 
than necessary to ensure that children will be able to watch 
educational and informational programming. As we explain above, any 
programming specifically designed to meet the educational and 
informational needs of children can ``count'' for purposes of meeting 
the processing guideline. In addition, a broadcaster can rely on other 
more general programming and related non-programming efforts to satisfy 
its CTA obligation--albeit after full Commission review.
    66. We declined to adopt quantitative processing guidelines in 1991 
on the ground that they would ``infringe on broadcaster discretion 
regarding the appropriate manner in which to meet children's 
educational and informational needs.'' Upon further consideration, we 
reject that position. Processing guidelines give broadcasters an option 
for guaranteeing routine staff processing of the CTA portion of their 
renewal applications, but broadcasters remain free to find other ways 
to fulfill their obligation. In any event, our initial reluctance to 
adopt any form of processing guideline derived in large part from our 
wish to initiate implementation of the CTA with as little regulation as 
possible. As described above, our subsequent experience has persuaded 
us that we should alter our course in the interests of fairness and 
efficiency by clarifying ways in which broadcasters can ensure 
compliance.
    67. Together, the new measures that we adopt today will help 
parents, children, and the general public understand the programming 
benefits that the CTA is intended to guarantee. That understanding is 
necessary to ensure that the public, in exercising informal influence 
over the programming choices of broadcasters, can play an important 
role in effectuating Congress's intent to increase the amount of 
educational children's programming on television. Similarly, both the 
clearer definition and the processing guidelines give broadcasters 
reasonable notice of nonmandatory ways to guarantee compliance with 
their statutory programming obligations. Such clarity is desirable and 
helps to narrowly tailor our regulations.

VIII. Effective Dates and Transition Period

    68. Our rules regarding on-air identification, program guides, 
public file, and reporting requirements will become effective on 
January 2, 1997, subject to OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, and we will begin to evaluate compliance with these requirements 
in renewal applications filed after that date. With respect to our 
newly adopted definition of programming specifically designed to serve 
the educational and informational needs of children, as well as our 
safe harbor processing guideline relating to such programming, we 
believe that a longer transition period is appropriate. Accordingly, we 
adopt an effective date for these rules of September 1, 1997, and will 
begin to evaluate compliance with these provisions in renewal 
applications filed after that date. As with all of the provisions 
adopted today, these provisions will be applied on a purely prospective 
basis.

[[Page 43991]]

    69. Thus, renewal applications filed earlier than September 1, 1997 
will be assessed for compliance with the program-related provisions of 
the CTA based exclusively on the rules and criteria set forth in our 
1991 CTA rulemaking proceeding. Beginning September 1, 1997, we will 
begin to evaluate renewal applications to determine the extent to which 
licensees are providing educational programming that complies with the 
new definition of core programming using the new processing guideline. 
In this renewal cycle (i.e. for applications filed through April 1999) 
such renewals will cover licensee performance that both pre-dates and 
post-dates these new rules. Licensee performance during the term that 
predates the relevant effective dates will be evaluated under existing 
standards and performance that post-dates the rules will be judged 
under the new provisions.

Administrative Matters

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    70. This Report and Order contains new or modified information 
collections subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
Public Law No. 104-13. It will be submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review under the PRA. The Commission, as part of 
its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites OMB, the 
general public, and other Federal agencies to comment on the 
information collections contained in this Report and Order as required 
by the PRA. Public and agency comments are due October 28, 1996. 
Comments should address: (a) whether the new or modified collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimates; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

    OMB Approval Number: 3060-0214.
    Title: Section 73.3526 Local public inspection file of commercial 
stations.
    Form No.: None.
    Type of Review: Revision of existing collection.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 10,250 commercial radio licensees 
recordkeepers ; 1,200 commercial TV licensees recordkeepers; 1,200 
commercial TV stations making must-carry/retransmission consent 
elections; 1,200 commercial TV stations publicizing existence and 
location of children's public inspection file.
    Estimated time per response: 104 hours per year for radio 
recordkeeping; 130 hours per year for TV recordkeeping; 1 hour per 
election statement to 150 cable systems per TV station; 5 minutes per 
TV station for revising station identification publicizing the 
existence and location of children's public inspection file.
    Total annual burden: 1,282,100 hours.
    Needs and Uses: Section 73.3526 requires that each licensee/
permittee of a commercial broadcast station maintain a file for public 
inspection. The contents of the file vary according to type of service 
and status. The contents include, but are not limited to, copies of 
certain applications tendered for filing, a statement concerning 
petitions to deny filed against such applications, copies of ownership 
reports and annual employment reports, statements certifying compliance 
with filing announcements in connection with renewal applications, 
letters received from members of the public, etc. On August 8, 1996, 
the Commission adopted this Report and Order in MM Docket No. 93-49 
which, among other things, modifies the requirements currently in 
Section 73.3526(a)(8)(iii) by removing the requirement to keep records 
of educational and informational programming specifically designed to 
serve children's needs. This requirement was replaced with a 
requirement that commercial television stations place in their public 
inspection file, on a quarterly basis, a Children's Television 
Programming Report, maintained in a physically separate file from the 
other material kept in the public inspection file. Licensees must also 
publicize the existence and location of these Reports and file the 
Report annually with the Commission for three years. The data are used 
by the public and FCC to evaluate information about broadcast 
licensees' performance, to ensure that broadcast stations are 
addressing issues concerning the community they are licensed to serve, 
and to ensure that radio stations entering into time brokerage 
agreements comply with Commission policies pertaining to licensee 
control and to the Communications Act and the antitrust laws. 
Broadcasters are required to send each cable operator in the station's 
market a copy of the election statement applicable to that particular 
cable operator. Placing these retransmission consent/must-carry 
elections in the public file provides public access to documentation of 
station's elections which are used by cable operators in negotiations 
with television stations and by the public to ascertain why some 
stations are/are not carried by the cable systems. The information 
contained in the separate children's television file will be used by 
the general public, interested parties, and FCC staff to facilitate 
public monitoring of broadcasters' educational programming and to 
ensure compliance with the CTA. The requirement that children's 
television material be kept in a separate file will provide easier 
access to such material.

    OMB Approval Number: None.
    Title: Section 73.673 Public information initiatives regarding 
educational and informational programming for children.
    Form No.: None.
    Type of Review: New Collection.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 1,200 commercial television broadcast 
licensees.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 1 minute per program to ensure that 
on-the-air identification is provided; 5 minutes per program to convey 
children's television information to publishers of program guides.
    Total annual burden: 37,440 hours.
    Needs and Uses: This new Section 73.673 will require commercial TV 
broadcasters to identify programs specifically designed to educate and 
inform children at the beginning of those programs, in a form that is 
at the discretion of the licensee, and to provide information 
identifying such programs and the age groups for which they are 
intended to publishers of program guides. These requirements will 
provide better information to the public about the shows broadcasters 
air to fulfill their obligation to air educational and informational 
programming under the CTA. This information will assist parents who 
wish to guide their children's television viewing. In addition, if 
large numbers of parents use that information to choose educational 
programming for their children, it will increase the likelihood that 
the market will respond with more educational programming. Better 
information should help parents and others to have an effective 
dialogue with broadcasters in their community about children's 
programming and, where appropriate, to urge programming improvements 
without resorting to government intervention.

[[Page 43992]]

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    71. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended 
(``RFA''), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``IRFA''), 5 
U.S.C. Sec. 603, was incorporated in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making 
in MM Docket No. 93-48 (``NPRM''). The Commission sought written public 
comments on the proposals in the NPRM, including the IRFA. The 
Commission's Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``FRFA'') 3 in 
this Report and Order is as follows:
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    \3\ This FRFA conforms to the RFA, as amended by the Contract 
with America Advancement Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-121, 110 Stat. 847 
(1996) (``CWAAA''). Subtitle II of the CWAAA is The Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (``SBREFA'').
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A. Need for and Objectives of the Rules

    72. The rulemaking proceeding was initiated to explore ways to 
implement the Children's Television Act of 1990 (``CTA'') more 
effectively by facilitating broadcasters' compliance with their 
obligation to air educational and informational programming for 
children, including programming specifically designed for this purpose, 
and by furthering the CTA's goal of increasing the amount of 
educational and informational programming available to children. In 
Paras. 9-13 of the Report and Order, we discuss the importance of 
children's educational television programming, and in Paras. 25-46 and 
throughout this order, we discuss the basis of our concerns that our 
prior rules to implement the CTA were not producing a level of 
performance consistent with the long-term goals of the statute. The 
rules adopted herein meet these objectives by giving licensees clear, 
efficient, and fair guidance regarding their children's programming 
obligation under the CTA. They do this by increasing the flow of 
programming information to the public to facilitate enforcement of the 
CTA and improve the functioning of the children's programming 
marketplace; by adopting a definition of programming that is clearly 
``specifically designed'' to educate and inform children (which we 
refer to as ``core programming'') to provide licensees guidance in 
fulfilling their statutory obligation to air this programming; and by 
adopting a three-hour processing guideline to facilitate review at 
renewal time by the Commission, as required by the CTA, of licensees' 
compliance with the Act.

B. Issues Raised by the Public Comments in Response to the Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    73. There were no comments submitted specifically in response to 
the IRFA. We have, however, taken into account all issues raised by the 
public in response to the proposals raised in this proceeding. In 
certain instances, we have modified the rules adopted in response to 
those comments.

C. Description and Number of Small Entities to Which the Rules Will 
Apply

1. Definition of a ``Small Business''
    74. Under the RFA, small entities may include small organizations, 
small businesses, and small governmental jurisdictions. 5 U.S.C. 
Sec. 601(6). The RFA, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 601(3), generally defines the term 
``small business'' as having the same meaning as the term ``small 
business concern'' under the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 632. A 
small business concern is one which: (1) is independently owned and 
operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) 
satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business 
Administration (``SBA''). Id. According to the SBA's regulations, 
entities engaged in television broadcasting (Standard Industrial 
Classification (``SIC'') Code 4833--Television Broadcasting Stations) 
may have a maximum of Sec. 10.5 million in annual receipts in order to 
qualify as a small business concern.\4\ 13 CFR Secs. 121.101 et seq. 
This standard also applies in determining whether an entity is a small 
business for purposes of the RFA.
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    \4\  This revenue cap appears to apply to noncommercial 
educational television stations, as well as to commercial television 
stations. See Executive Office of the President, Office of 
Management and Budget, Standard Industrial Classification Manual 
(1987), at 283, which describes ``Television Broadcasting Stations 
(SIC Code 4833) as:
    Establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting visual programs 
by television to the public, except cable and other pay television 
services. Included in this industry are commercial, religious, 
educational and other television stations. Also included here are 
establishments primarily engaged in television broadcasting and 
which produce taped television program materials.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    75. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 601(3), the statutory definition of a 
small business applies ``unless an agency after consultation with the 
Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and after 
opportunity for public comment, establishes one or more definitions of 
such term which are appropriate to the activities of the agency and 
publishes such definition(s) in the Federal Register.'' While we 
tentatively believe that the foregoing definition of ``small business'' 
greatly overstates the number of television broadcast stations that are 
small businesses and is not suitable for purposes of determining the 
impact of the new rules on small television stations, we did not 
propose an alternative definition in the IRFA.5 Accordingly, for 
purposes of this Report and Order, we utilize the SBA's definition in 
determining the number of small businesses to which the rules apply, 
but we reserve the right to adopt a more suitable definition of ``small 
business'' as applied to television broadcast stations and to consider 
further the issue of the number of small entities that are television 
broadcasters in the future. Further, in this FRFA, we will identify the 
different classes of small television stations that may be impacted by 
the rules adopted in this Report and Order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\  We have pending proceedings seeking comment on the 
definition of and data relating to small businesses. In our Notice 
of Inquiry in GN Docket No. 96-113 (In the Matter of Section 257 
Proceeding to Identify and Eliminate Market Entry Barriers for Small 
Businesses), 61 FR 33066 (June 26, 1996), we requested commenters to 
provide profile data about small telecommunications businesses in 
particular services, including television, and the market entry 
barriers they encounter, and we also sought comment as to how to 
define small businesses for purposes of implementing Section 257 of 
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires us to identify 
market entry barriers and to prescribe regulations to eliminate 
those barriers. The comment and reply comment deadlines in that 
proceeding have not yet elapsed. Additionally, in our Order and 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making in MM Docket No. 96-16 (In the Matter 
of Streamlining Broadcast EEO Rule and Policies, Vacating the EEO 
Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amending Section 1.80 of the 
Commission's Rules to Include EEO Forfeiture Guidelines), 61 FR 9964 
(March 12, 1996), we invited comment as to whether relief should be 
afforded to stations: (1) based on small staff and what size staff 
would be considered sufficient for relief, e.g., 10 or fewer full-
time employees; (2) based on operation in a small market; or (3) 
based on operation in a market with a small minority work force. We 
have not concluded the foregoing rule making.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Issues in Applying the Definition of a ``Small Business''
    76. As discussed below, we could not precisely apply the foregoing 
definition of ``small business'' in developing our estimates of the 
number of small entities to which the rules will apply. Our estimates 
reflect our best judgments based on the data available to us.
    77. An element of the definition of ``small business'' is that the 
entity not be dominant in its field of operation. We were unable at 
this time to define or quantify the criteria that would establish 
whether a specific television station is dominant in its field of 
operation. Accordingly, the following estimates of small businesses to 
which the new rules will apply do not exclude any television station 
from the

[[Page 43993]]

definition of a small business on this basis and are therefore 
overinclusive to that extent. An additional element of the definition 
of ``small business'' is that the entity must be independently owned 
and operated. We attempted to factor in this element by looking at 
revenue statistics for owners of television stations. However, as 
discussed further below, we could not fully apply this criterion, and 
our estimates of small businesses to which the rules may apply may be 
overinclusive to this extent. The SBA's general size standards are 
developed taking into account these two statutory criteria. This does 
not preclude us from taking these factors into account in making our 
estimates of the numbers of small entities.
    78. With respect to applying the revenue cap, the SBA has defined 
``annual receipts'' specifically in 13 CFR Sec. 121.104, and its 
calculations include an averaging process. We do not currently require 
submission of financial data from licensees that we could use in 
applying the SBA's definition of a small business. Thus, for purposes 
of estimating the number of small entities to which the rules apply, we 
are limited to considering the revenue data that are publicly 
available, and the revenue data on which we rely may not correspond 
completely with the SBA definition of annual receipts.
    79. Under SBA criteria for determining annual receipts, if a 
concern has acquired an affiliate or been acquired as an affiliate 
during the applicable averaging period for determining annual receipts, 
the annual receipts in determining size status include the receipts of 
both firms. 13 CFR Sec. 121.104(d)(1). The SBA defines affiliation in 
13 CFR Sec. 121.103. In this context, the SBA's definition of affiliate 
is analogous to our attribution rules. Generally, under the SBA's 
definition, concerns are affiliates of each other when one concern 
controls or has the power to control the other, or a third party or 
parties controls or has the power to control both. 13 CFR 
Sec. 121.103(a)(1). The SBA considers factors such as ownership, 
management, previous relationships with or ties to another concern, and 
contractual relationships, in determining whether affiliation exists. 
13 CFR Sec. 121.103(a)(2). Instead of making an independent 
determination of whether television stations were affiliated based on 
SBA's definitions, we relied on the data bases available to us to 
provide us with that information.
3. Estimates Based on Census and BIA Data
    80. According to the Census Bureau, in 1992, there were 1,155 out 
of 1,478 operating television stations with revenues of less than ten 
million dollars. This represents 78 percent of all television stations, 
including non-commercial stations. See 1992 Census of Transportation, 
Communications, and Utilities, Establishment and Firm Size, May 1995, 
at 1-25. The Census Bureau does not separate the revenue data by 
commercial and non-commercial stations in this report. Neither does it 
allow us to determine the number of stations with a maximum of 10.5 
million dollars in annual receipts. Census data also indicates that 81 
percent of operating firms (that owned at least one television station) 
had revenues of less than 10 million dollars.6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ Alternative data supplied by the U.S. Small Business 
Administration Office of Advocacy indicate that 65 percent of TV 
owners (627 of 967) have less than $10 million in annual revenue and 
that 39 percent of TV stations (627 of 1,591) have less than $10 
million in annual revenue. These data were prepared by the U.S. 
Census Bureau under contract to the Small Business Administration. 
U.S. Small Business Administration 1992 Economic Census Industry and 
Enterprise Receipts Report, Table 2D (U.S. Census Bureau data 
adopted by SBA). These data show a lower percentage of small 
businesses than the data available directly from the Census Bureau. 
Therefore, for purposes of our worst case analysis, we will use the 
data available directly from the Census Bureau.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    81. We have also performed a separate study based on the data 
contained in the BIA Publications, Inc. Master Access Television 
Analyzer Database,7 which lists a total of 1,141 full-power 
commercial television stations. We have excluded Low Power Television 
(LPTV) stations or translator stations, which will not be subject to 
the new requirements, from our calculations.8 It should be noted 
that, using the SBA definition of small business concern, the 
percentage figures derived from the BIA data base may be underinclusive 
because the data base does not list revenue estimates for noncommercial 
educational stations, and these are therefore excluded from our 
calculations based on the data base.9 While noncommercial stations 
are not subject to the new reporting or recordkeeping requirements 
adopted in the Report and Order, the new definition (except for the 
reporting requirements) and the processing guideline will apply to 
them. The BIA data indicate that, based on 1995 revenue estimates, 440 
full-power commercial television stations had an estimated revenue of 
10.5 million dollars or less. That represents 54 percent of commercial 
television stations with revenue estimates listed in the BIA program. 
The data base does not list estimated revenues for 331 stations. Using 
a worst case scenario, if those 331 stations for which no revenue is 
listed are counted as small stations, there would be a total of 771 
stations with an estimated revenue of 10.5 million dollars or less, 
representing approximately 68 percent of the 1,141 commercial 
television stations listed in the BIA data base.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ BIA Publications, Inc., Chantilly, VA.
    \8\ It should be noted that the Commission has attempted to 
minimize the burden on small entities by not applying the rules to 
LPTV stations and television translators. As of June 30, 1996, there 
were 1,903 LPTV stations and 4,910 television translators licensed 
in the United States. FCC News Release, Broadcast Station Totals as 
of June 30, 1996, Mimeo No. 63298, released July 10, 1996.
    \9\ In the Joint Comments of the Association of America's Public 
Television Stations and the Public Broadcasting Service (p. 6), it 
is reported that there are 38 public television stations with annual 
operating budgets of less than $2 million. As of June 30, 1996, 
there were 364 public television stations licensed. FCC News 
Release, Broadcast Station Totals as of June 30, 1996, released July 
10, 1996.
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    82. Alternatively, if we look at owners of commercial television 
stations as listed in the BIA data base, there are a total of 488 
owners. The data base lists estimated revenues for 60 percent of these 
owners, or 295. Of these 295 owners, 158 or 54 percent had annual 
revenues of 10.5 million dollars or less. Using a worst case scenario, 
if the 193 owners for which revenue is not listed are assumed to be 
small, the total of small entities would constitute 72 percent of 
owners.
    83. In summary, based on the foregoing worst case analysis using 
census data, we estimate that our rules will apply to as many as 1,155 
commercial and non-commercial television stations (78 percent of all 
stations) that could be classified as small entities. Using a worst 
case analysis based on the data in the BIA data base, we estimate that 
as many as approximately 771 commercial television stations (about 68 
percent of all commercial televisions stations) could be classified as 
small entities. As we noted above, these estimates are based on a 
definition that we tentatively believe greatly overstates the number of 
television broadcasters that are small businesses. Further, it should 
be noted that under the SBA's definitions, revenues of affiliated 
businesses that are not television stations should be aggregated with 
the television station revenues in determining whether a concern is 
small. Therefore, these estimates overstate the number of small 
entities since the revenue figures on which they are based do not 
include or

[[Page 43994]]

aggregate such revenues from non-television affiliated companies.
    84. It should also be noted that the foregoing estimates do not 
distinguish between network-affiliated 10 stations and independent 
stations. As of April, 1996, the BIA data base indicates that about 73 
percent of all commercial television stations were affiliated with the 
ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, or WB networks. Moreover, seven percent of 
those affiliates have secondary affiliations.11 We assume that 
compliance with the requirements adopted in the Report and Order will 
be less burdensome for network affiliates than for independent 
stations, as the networks may provide some core programming to network 
affiliates at lower costs than the network affiliates might otherwise 
be able to obtain. The networks might also otherwise assist with the 
fulfillment of additional requirements.
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    \10\ In this context, ``affiliation'' refers to any local 
broadcast television station that has a contractual arrangement with 
a programming network to carry the network's signal. This definition 
of affiliated station includes both stations owned and operated by a 
network and stations owned by other entities.
    \11\ Secondary affiliations are secondary to the primary 
affiliation of the station and generally afford the affiliate 
additional choice of programming.
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4. Alternative Classification of Small Stations
    85. An alternative way to classify small television stations is by 
the number of employees. The Commission currently applies a standard 
based on the number of employees in administering its Equal Employment 
Opportunity (``EEO'') rule for broadcasting.12 Thus, radio or 
television stations with fewer than five full-time employees are 
exempted from certain EEO reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.13 We estimate that the total number of commercial 
television stations with 4 or fewer employees is 132 and that the total 
number of noncommercial educational television stations with 4 or fewer 
employees is 136.14
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    \12\ The Commission's definition of a small broadcast station 
for purposes of applying its EEO rule was adopted prior to the 
requirement of approval by the Small Business Administration 
pursuant to Section 3(a) of the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 
Sec. 632(a), as amended by Section 222 of the Small Business Credit 
and Business Opportunity Enhancement Act of 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-
366, Sec. 222(b)(1), 106 Stat. 999 (1992), as further amended by the 
Small Business Administration Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 
1994, Pub. L. No. 103-403, Sec. 301, 108 Stat. 4187 (1994). However, 
this definition was adopted after public notice and an opportunity 
for comment. See Report and Order in Docket No. 18244, 35 FR 8825 
(June 6, 1970).
    \13\ See, e.g., 47 CFR Sec. 73.3612 (Requirement to file annual 
employment reports on Form 395-B applies to licensees with five or 
more full-time employees); First Report and Order in Docket No. 
21474 (In the Matter of Amendment of Broadcast Equal Employment 
Opportunity Rules and FCC Form 395), 44 FR 6722 (Feb. 2, 1979). The 
Commission is currently considering how to decrease the 
administrative burdens imposed by the EEO rule on small stations 
while maintaining the effectiveness of our broadcast EEO 
enforcement. Order and Notice of Proposed Rule Making in MM Docket 
No. 96-16 (In the Matter of Streamlining Broadcast EEO Rule and 
Policies, Vacating the EEO Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amending 
Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules to Include EEO Forfeiture 
Guidelines), 61 FR 9964 (March 12, 1996). One option under 
consideration is whether to define a small station for purposes of 
affording such relief as one with ten or fewer full-time employees. 
Id. at para. 21.
    \14\ We base this estimate on a compilation of 1995 Broadcast 
Station Annual Employment Reports (FCC Form 395-B), performed by 
staff of the Equal Opportunity Employment Branch, Mass Media Bureau, 
FCC.
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    86. Size of the station based on the number of employees is only 
one factor in assessing the impact of the compliance requirements on 
small stations. For example, as discussed below, the resources that may 
often be provided from the networks to network affiliates and from 
program syndicators to broadcasters showing their programming should 
ease the compliance requirements by providing educational program 
descriptions which can be used in public information dissemination. 
Small group-owned stations may also receive similar benefits from their 
parent companies when programs have been produced or acquired for 
multiple stations in the group. However, we do not have the necessary 
information at this time to determine the number of small group-owned 
stations, either under the SBA's definition or based on those stations 
that have fewer than five full-time employees.

D. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other 
Compliance Requirements of the Rules

    87. The rules adopted in the Report and Order require commercial 
television broadcasters, regardless of size, but not including LPTV or 
translator stations, to identify programs specifically designed to 
educate and inform children at the time those programs are aired (at 
the beginning of the program), in a form that is at the discretion of 
the licensee, and to provide information identifying such programs and 
the age groups for which, in the opinion of the broadcaster, they are 
intended, to publishers of program guides.
    88. Our rules currently require commercial licensees to complete 
reports containing information about the children's programming they 
air, including time, date, duration, and description of the programs. 
These reports may be produced either quarterly or annually at the 
licensee's discretion. Licensees maintain these reports in their public 
inspection file.
    89. The new rules will require commercial television licensees to 
provide a brief explanation in their children's programming reports of 
how particular programs meet the definition of programming specifically 
designed to meet children's educational and informational needs that is 
adopted in the Report and Order. Licensees will be required to produce 
their children's reports quarterly. For an experimental period of three 
years, broadcasters will be required to file these reports with the 
Commission on an annual basis (i.e., four quarterly reports filed 
jointly once a year). Broadcasters will also be required to separate 
their children's programming reports from other materials in their 
public files and to publicize in an appropriate manner the existence 
and location of the children's programming reports. The Commission 
will, at a later date, adopt a standardized form for the programming 
reports. We will also permit, but not require, electronic filing of 
children's programming reports. Finally, the Commission will, at a 
later date, revise its license renewal form to reflect the new three 
hour core programming processing guideline, discussed below.
    90. While licensees remain ultimately responsible for ensuring 
compliance with our rules, we anticipate that they may be able to refer 
to information provided by the broadcast networks and program suppliers 
in assessing the educational and informational purpose of programming. 
Further, we anticipate that station programming and clerical staff will 
continue to be able to perform the other reporting and recordkeeping 
functions required under the rules.
    91. Under the new rules, commercial television licensees will also 
be required to designate a liaison at the station for children's 
programming and to include the name and method of contacting that 
person in the children's programming reports. In order to minimize 
burdens, the Report and Order exempts noncommercial educational 
television stations from this requirement. With respect to the liaison, 
the rules do not require that a new or additional employee be hired to 
perform this function, and we believe that it is reasonable to require 
licensees to designate a liaison for children's programming since 
someone at each station must, as a practical matter, be responsible for 
carrying out the broadcaster's responsibility under the

[[Page 43995]]

CTA to air children's educational television programming and since 
licensees are currently required to maintain children's programming 
reports and letters received from the public in their public inspection 
file.
    92. To minimize regulatory burdens, the new rules exempt 
noncommercial educational television stations from the foregoing 
reporting, filing, and submission requirements and public information 
initiatives.

E. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities and Significant Alternatives Considered

    93. In general, we have attempted to keep burdens on television 
broadcast stations to a minimum, as discussed below. The regulatory 
burdens we have imposed are necessary to ensure compliance with the 
CTA.
1. Public Information Initiatives
    94. We adopted the requirements that commercial television 
broadcasters identify children's educational and informational programs 
and designate a liaison for children's programming, as well as the 
revised public file requirements, based on the goal of affording the 
public sufficient information to play an active role in assuring that 
the goals of the CTA are met. We will also make information obtained 
from the children's programming reports available on our Internet World 
Wide Web site if it is feasible so that it will be accessible by the 
public. Allowing the public to play an active role will, in turn, allow 
the Commission to minimize its involvement in evaluating the quality of 
children's programming and to rely more on the marketplace to achieve 
the goals of the CTA, thereby minimizing regulatory burdens.
    95. We determined that these information requirements should not 
impose significant additional burdens on licensees, and, in adopting 
the rules, the Commission has attempted to minimize regulatory and 
significant economic burdens on small businesses and facilitate 
compliance with reporting rules wherever possible.
a. Identification of Core Programming
    96. The burden of the on-air identification requirement on all 
commercial television broadcast stations, including small stations, is 
minimized because the form of the identification is at their 
discretion. The rules adopted provide greater discretion to television 
stations and are thus less burdensome than if we had adopted a 
requirement that broadcasters use an icon for such identification, as 
suggested in the NPRM. Further, such an identification requirement may 
benefit small stations by affording a potential increase in audience 
size. An on-air identification requirement will make broadcasters more 
accountable to the public and further the goal of minimizing the 
possibility that the Commission would be forced to decide whether 
particular programs serve the educational and informational needs of 
children. We note that it is standard practice in the broadcast 
industry for stations to make various on-air announcements promoting 
their programming. We further note that under longstanding Commission 
rules, stations must make station identification and sponsorship 
announcements. See 47 CFR Secs. 73.1201, 73.1212.
b. Program Guides
    97. Television stations currently submit programming information to 
programming guides, which publish such information without cost to the 
broadcasters. See para. 60 supra. Our current rules do not require 
broadcasters to provide this information to the guides. However, it has 
become a well-established practice to provide specialized information 
about programs, such as which programs are closed captioned for the 
hearing impaired. Our new rules will require commercial television 
broadcasters to provide to publishers of program guides information 
identifying core programs, and the age group for which, in the opinion 
of the broadcaster, the program is intended.15 This information 
will assist parents in finding suitable programs for their children and 
be useful to parents and others who wish to monitor station performance 
in complying with the CTA. We recognize that broadcasters cannot 
require publishers to print this information. The information, however, 
is more likely to be in the program listings if broadcasters routinely 
provide it. This requirement is a minor extension of what small 
stations already do for their standard programming. Stations are not 
required to purchase advertising space in TV Guide or local TV weekly 
publications, only to provide information to them. As broadcasters 
routinely provide such information about their programming to program 
guides and designate core programs for their public records, we believe 
it would require a minimum of effort, but have a major positive effect, 
for them to do so.
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    \15\ As described above in Section IV of the Report and Order, 
we will require that commercial broadcasters indicate the age of the 
target child audience in their program description.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

c. Public File Requirements
    98-99. Our rules currently require commercial television licensees 
to compile reports, containing information about the children's 
programming they air, including the time, date, duration, and 
description of the programs. Licensees maintain these reports in the 
station's public inspection file. Our new rules will require commercial 
television licensees to prepare these reports using a standardized 
format on a quarterly basis. The reports will describe their efforts to 
comply with the CTA-related programming requirements outlined in this 
decision. Licensees will be required to provide a brief explanation of 
how particular programs meet the definition of ``core'' programming. 
Commercial television licensees will be required to separate the 
children's programming reports from the other reports they maintain in 
their public files.
    100. The impact of this requirement will depend on the specific 
class into which a small station falls. Network-affiliated stations, 
regardless of staff size, may have network support in fulfilling 
aspects of the reporting requirement for the programs that are 
broadcast by the network. For example, we assume that, in developing 
the educational and informational programming they furnish to 
affiliates, networks will have prepared program information about the 
educational and informational benefits to children that can be 
disseminated to affiliated stations.16 Assuming that the network 
furnishes such material, a small station may be able to rely on it in 
preparing its programming report, with respect to the network programs 
that it airs. In addition, program syndicators may also provide the 
information needed for a small station to complete its children's 
programming reports with respect to the programs furnished by the 
syndicator, further lessening any burden on small stations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ See e.g., NBC Comments at 7, 19; NBC Reply Comments at 9 
(written articulation of the educational theme or goal of each 
educational segment furnished to affiliates for inclusion in their 
children's programming reports); see also ABC Comments at 12 (ABC 
currently provides to its affiliates a brief explanation of how 
particular programs meet the definition of educational and 
informational programming for children).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    101. A small station that wishes to produce its own children's 
educational programming will not have the benefit of any such material 
provided by a network or syndicator in fulfilling the program report 
requirements. However, assuming a determination of the

[[Page 43996]]

educational and informational attributes of the program has been made 
at the pre-production/development stage, additional analysis may not be 
necessary in preparing the programming report. It is not required, nor 
should it be necessary, for a small station to hire additional 
personnel or a children's educational expert to prepare such reports. 
The Commission considered but specifically rejected such a requirement 
in order to minimize regulatory burdens on licensees.
    102. A number of broadcasters and other commenters requested that 
the Commission develop a standardized form to facilitate their assembly 
of children's programming reports, which they are required to do under 
our current rules. See Report and Order, para. 69 and n. 174 supra. So 
that the reporting burden will be minimized, the Commission will 
develop a standardized form to be used for preparing the quarterly 
children's programming reports. We believe that the standardized form 
will make compliance with the reporting requirements easier and less 
burdensome for all entities, including small entities. See Report and 
Order, Paras. 69-72.
    103. With regard to licensees publicizing the availability and 
location of the programming reports, we believe that this requirement 
should not be burdensome on small entities because we do not prescribe 
the manner in which licensees are to publicize the availability and 
location of the reports, but allow the licensees flexibility to do so 
in an appropriate manner. Therefore, licensees may choose to fulfill 
the requirement in a manner that is least burdensome to them, provided 
they do so in an appropriate manner.
    104. Our new rules also require commercial television licensees to 
designate a liaison for children's programming and to include the name 
and method of contacting that individual in the station's children's 
programming reports.17 Licensees already employ sufficient staff 
in order to maintain the children's programming reports 18 and 
letters received from the public in their public inspection files, as 
required by our current regulations.19 Thus, we do not expect that 
the new requirement for designation of a liaison will impose a 
significant additional burden on licensees. The rules do not require 
that a new or additional employee be hired to perform this function, 
and we believe that it is reasonable to require licensees to designate 
a liaison for children's programming since someone at each station 
must, as a practical matter, be responsible for carrying out the 
broadcaster's responsibility under the CTA to air children's 
educational television programming. In addition, our rules place no 
limitations on the licensee's discretion in assigning the liaison 
function and determining how it will be carried out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ As noted earlier, noncommercial educational television 
licensees are exempt from this requirement.
    \18\ NPRM, 60 FR 20586; 47 CFR Sec. 73.1202.
    \19\ 47 CFR Sec. 73.1202. Commercial stations are required to 
maintain a number of other reports, records, and applications in 
their public inspection file as well. See id. at Sec. 73.3526.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Definition of ``Specifically Designed'' Programming
    105. The CTA requires the Commission to consider the extent to 
which a broadcaster has ``served the educational and informational 
needs of children through the licensee's overall programming, including 
programming specifically designed to serve such needs.'' We determined 
that we should adopt a definition of programming specifically designed 
to serve children's educational and informational needs (or ``core 
programming'') because our current definition is very broad, does not 
distinguish between general audience/entertainment programs and 
programs that are specifically designed to educate and inform, and does 
not provide licensees with sufficient guidance regarding their 
obligation to air ``specifically designed'' programming as required by 
the CTA. The definition is designed to be sensitive to our concerns 
that the rules be explicit, clear, simple, and fair and that they 
afford clear guidance to licensees as to their obligations under the 
CTA.
    106. In adopting the definition, we attempted to minimize 
regulatory burdens and economic impact on small entities. For example, 
the Commission rejected a proposal advanced by several commenters that 
licensees be required to consult with educational experts in order for 
a program to qualify as core programming. Report and Order, para. 90. 
The Commission rejected this proposal in order to minimize burdens on 
our licensees. An element of our core programming definition is the 
requirement that commercial television licensees specify in writing in 
their children's programming report the educational and informational 
objective of a core program as well as its target child audience. While 
we recognize this element of the revised definition may impose an 
additional paperwork burden on commercial licensees, we conclude that 
the burden is outweighed by the benefits of the proposal. See Report 
and Order, Paras. 91-95. The description of a program's educational 
objective does not have to be lengthy, and we do not require that the 
description be prepared by an expert.
3. Processing Guideline
    107. We adopt a three-hour per week safe harbor processing 
guideline. A processing guideline is consistent with the text of the 
CTA and with the First Amendment, and we conclude that our current ad 
hoc approach provides inadequate guidance to licensees and Commission 
staff. Under the new processing guideline adopted, we would permit 
staff approval of the children's programming portion of the renewal 
application where the three-hour benchmark is met. A measure of 
flexibility is afforded to licensees, including small businesses, since 
a licensee falling somewhat short of this benchmark could still receive 
staff approval based on a showing that it has aired a package of 
different types of educational and informational programming that, 
while containing somewhat less than three hours per week of core 
programming, demonstrates a level of commitment to educating and 
informing children that is at least equivalent to airing three hours 
per week of core programming. In this regard, specials, PSAs, short-
form programs and regularly scheduled non-weekly shows with a 
significant purpose of educating and informing children can count 
toward the three hour per week processing guideline. Renewal 
applications that do not meet these criteria will be referred for 
consideration to the Commission, where they will have a full 
opportunity to demonstrate compliance with the CTA. Such applicants may 
be able to demonstrate compliance, for example, by relying in part on 
sponsorship of core educational and informational programs on other 
stations in the market that increases the amount of core educational 
and informational programming on the station airing the sponsored 
program and/or on special nonbroadcast efforts that enhance the value 
of children's educational and informational television programming. A 
processing guideline is consistent with the text of the CTA that the 
Commission ``consider the extent'' to which licensees serve the 
``educational and informational needs of children through the 
licensee's overall programming, including programming specifically 
designed to serve such needs.'' Report and Order, Paras. 120-130.
    108. In adopting this guideline, the Commission seeks to minimize 
the

[[Page 43997]]

regulatory burdens and economic impact on licensees, including small 
businesses, by delegating authority to the Mass Media Bureau to approve 
Category A or Category B renewal applications. See Report and Order, 
Paras. 120-34. Additionally, the Commission allows broadcasters 
scheduling flexibility by adopting a per-week rather than a per-day 
safe harbor and by permitting the three-hour benchmark to be averaged 
over a six-month period, and further attempts to minimize the economic 
impact by allowing repeats and reruns of core programming to be counted 
toward fulfillment of the three-hour guideline.
    109. With respect to network affiliates, we expect that networks, 
as they have in the past, will provide programming and compliance 
information to their affiliates so that, regardless of revenues, the 
burden on network-affiliated stations will be minimized. Indeed, as 
noted in para. 132 of the Report and Order, Westinghouse Electric 
Corporation has announced that it will provide three hours per week of 
children's educational programming over the CBS network and on its 
owned and operated stations by the fall 1997 season. Further, we assume 
that the three-hour per week guideline will not be burdensome because, 
as the National Association of Broadcasters (``NAB'') reports, 
broadcasters today air an average of more than four hour per week of 
total educational and informational programming under the CTA. See 
Report and Order, para. 40. Even though that figure may be inflated by 
the inclusion of some programming that may not qualify under the 
definition of core programming, it suggests that a three-hour 
processing guideline is a reasonable level that should not be 
particularly difficult for broadcasters to achieve.
    110. The Commission considered but did not adopt two alternative 
options to the processing guideline: (1) Commission monitoring of the 
amount of educational and informational programming on the air during a 
period of time following the adoption of measures to improve the flow 
of programming information to the public and a definition of core 
programming; and (2) adoption of a programming standard that would 
require broadcasters to air a specified average number of hours of 
programming specifically designed to serve the educational and 
informational needs of children. The rule adopted furthers the goal of 
making the Commission's rules and processes as clear, efficient, and 
fair as possible, while affording licensees discretion to augment their 
core programming responsibility with program sponsorship or other 
exceptional programming efforts.
    111. The Commission concludes that the option chosen strikes the 
appropriate balance between the need for certainty and flexibility in 
enforcing the CTA and is thus preferable to both the monitoring and 
programming standard proposals set forth in the NPRM. It should be 
noted that the option chosen, a processing standard, is less burdensome 
and affords licensees, including small businesses, greater flexibility 
than if the Commission had imposed a programming standard. Based on the 
record, the Commission does not believe that three hours of educational 
programming would be difficult for most broadcasters to achieve. While 
mere monitoring might be less burdensome than a processing guideline, 
the Commission concludes in the Report and Order that it is inadvisable 
to process renewals under the CTA without some quantitative guidelines 
that are published in advance to provide licensees notice as to means 
by which they can fulfill their CTA obligations.
    112. Finally, the Commission will revise its license renewal form 
to reflect the new three hour core programming processing guideline. To 
minimize the regulatory burden and economic impact on broadcasters, 
including small businesses, they will be able to demonstrative 
compliance either by checking a box and providing supporting 
information indicating that they have aired an average of three hours 
per week of core programming or by showing that they have aired a 
package of different types of educational and informational programming 
that, while containing somewhat less than three hours per week of core 
programming, demonstrates a level of commitment to educating and 
informing children that is at least equivalent to airing three hours 
per week of core programming. In revising the renewal form, we will 
seek to minimize the reporting burden on licensees, including small 
businesses, by, for example, permitting them to rely on the children's 
programming reports they have previously prepared.

F. Report to Congress

    113. The Secretary shall send a copy of this Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis along with this Report and Order in a report to 
Congress pursuant to Section 251 of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, codified at 5 U.S.C. Section 
801(a)(1)(A). A copy of this FRFA will also be published in the Federal 
Register.

Ordering Clauses

    114. Accordingly, it is Ordered that, pursuant to the authority 
contained in Sections 4 (i) & (j), 303(r), 308, and 403 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 154 (i) & (j), 303(r), 308, 403, 
as amended, and the Children's Television Act of 1990, 47 U.S.C. 
303b(a), 303b(b), and 394, Part 73 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR 
Part 73 IS AMENDED as set forth below. The rule changes to Sections 
73.673, 73.3526(a)(8)(iii), and 73.3500, 47 CFR Secs. 73.673, 
73.3526(a)(8)(iii), 73.3500, shall take effect on January 2, 1997, 
subject to OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Appropriate 
public notice will be given upon OMB's action to confirm this effective 
date. The rule changes to Sections 73.671 and 73.672, 47 CFR 
Secs. 73.671, 73.672, shall take effect on September 1, 1997.
    115. It is further ordered that the new or modified paperwork 
requirements contained in this Report and Order (which are subject to 
approval by the Office of Management and Budget) will go into effect 
upon OMB approval.
    116. It is further ordered that the Secretary shall send a copy of 
this Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration in accordance with paragraph 603(a) of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, Public Law No. 96-354, 94 Stat. 1164, 5 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq. (1981).
    117. It is further ordered that this proceeding is terminated.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

    Television.

Federal Communications Commission
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.

Rule Changes

    Part 73 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended 
as follows:

PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES

    1. The authority citation for Part 73 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334.

    2. Section 73.671 is amended by removing the Note following the 
section, revising paragraph (a), and by adding paragraph (c) and Notes 
1 and 2 to read as follows:

[[Page 43998]]

Sec. 73.671  Educational and informational programming for children.

    (a) Each commercial and noncommercial educational television 
broadcast station licensee has an obligation to serve, over the term of 
its license, the educational and informational needs of children 
through both the licensee's overall programming and programming 
specifically designed to serve such needs.
* * * * *
    (c) For purposes of this section, educational and informational 
television programming is 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 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.;
    (3) It is a regularly scheduled weekly program;
    (4) It is at least 30 minutes in length;
    (5) 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 Sec. 73.3526(a)(8)(iii); 
and
    (6) 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 licensee to publishers of 
program guides, as described in Sec. 73.673(b).

    Note 1 to Sec. 73.671: For purposes of determining under this 
section whether programming has a significant purpose of serving the 
educational and informational needs of children, the Commission will 
ordinarily rely on the good faith judgments of the licensee. 
Commission review of compliance with that element of the definition 
will be done only as a last resort.
    Note 2 to Sec. 73.671: The Commission will use the following 
processing guideline in assessing whether a television broadcast 
licensee has complied with the Children's Television Act of 1990 
(``CTA''). A licensee that has aired at least three hours per week 
of Core Programming (as defined in paragraph (c) of this section and 
as averaged over a six month period) will be deemed to have 
satisfied its obligation to air such programming and shall have the 
CTA portion of its license renewal application approved by the 
Commission staff. A licensee will also be deemed to have satisfied 
this obligation and be eligible for such staff approval if the 
licensee demonstrates that it has aired a package of different types 
of educational and informational programming that, while containing 
somewhat less than three hours per week of Core Programming, 
demonstrates a level of commitment to educating and informing 
children that is at least equivalent to airing three hours per week 
of Core Programming. In this regard, specials, PSAs, short-form 
programs, and regularly scheduled non-weekly programs with a 
significant purpose of educating and informing children can count 
toward the three hour per week processing guideline. Licensees that 
do not meet these processing guidelines will be referred to the 
Commission, where they will have full opportunity to demonstrate 
compliance with the CTA (e.g., by relying in part on sponsorship of 
core educational/informational programs on other stations in the 
market that increases the amount of core educational and 
informational programming on the station airing the sponsored 
program and/or on special nonbroadcast efforts which enhance the 
value of children's educational and informational television 
programming).


Sec. 73.672  [Removed and Reserved]

    3. Section 73.672 is removed and reserved.
    4. New Section 73.673 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 73.673  Public information initiatives regarding educational and 
informational programming for children.

    (a) Each commercial television broadcast licensee shall identify 
programs specifically designed to educate and inform children at the 
beginning of the program, in a form that is in the discretion of the 
licensee.
    (b) Each commercial television broadcast station licensee shall 
provide information identifying programming specifically designed to 
educate and inform children to publishers of program guides. Such 
information shall include an indication of the age group for which the 
program is intended.
    5. Section 73.3526(a)(8)(iii) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 73.3526  Local public inspection file of commercial stations.

    (a) * * *
    (8)(i) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (iii) For commercial TV broadcast stations, on a quarterly basis, a 
completed Children's Television Programming Report (``Report''), on FCC 
Form 398, reflecting efforts made by the licensee during the preceding 
quarter, and efforts planned for the next quarter, to serve the 
educational and informational needs of children. The Report for each 
quarter is to be filed by the tenth day of the succeeding calendar 
quarter. The Report shall identify the licensee's educational and 
informational programming efforts, including programs aired by the 
station that are specifically designed to serve the educational and 
informational needs of children, and it shall explain how programs 
identified as Core Programming meet the definition set forth in 
Sec. 73.671(c). The Report shall include the name of the individual at 
the station responsible for collecting comments on the station's 
compliance with the Children's Television Act, and it shall be 
separated from other materials in the public inspection file. Licensees 
shall publicize in an appropriate manner the existence and location of 
these Reports. For an experimental period of three years, licensees 
shall file these Reports with the Commission on an annual basis, i.e., 
four quarterly reports filed jointly each year, preferably in 
electronic form. These Reports shall be filed with the Commission on 
January 10, 1998, January 10, 1999, and January 10, 2000.
* * * * *
    6. Section 73.3500 is amended by adding entry 398 in numerical 
order to read as follows:


Sec. 73.3500  Application and report forms.

* * * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Form number                             Title                
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
                  *        *        *        *        *                 
398.............................  Children's Television Programming     
                                   Report.                              
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 96-21798 Filed 8-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P