[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24308-24309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8300]



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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[MB Docket No. 00-167; DA 07-1716]


Commission Seeks Comment on the Status of Children's Television 
Programming

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission seeks comment on the status 
of children's television programming, and compliance with the 
Children's Television Act (``CTA'') and the Commission's rules. The 
Commission takes steps to ensure that its review of each television 
broadcast license renewal application, has ``served the educational and 
informational needs of children through the licensee's overall 
programming, including programming specifically designed to serve such 
needs.''

DATES: Comments for this proceeding are due on or before June 1, 2007; 
reply comments are due on or before June 18, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by MM Docket No. 00-167, 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request 
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language 
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
    For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on this 
proceeding, contact Holly Saurer, [email protected] of the Media 
Bureau, Policy Division, (202) 418-2120. Press inquiries should be 
directed to Clyde Ensslin, (202) 428-0506. TTY: (202) 418-7172 or (888) 
835-5322.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Public 
Notice, DA 07-1716 released on April 17, 2007. The full text of this 
document is available for public inspection and copying during regular 
business hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal Communications 
Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. These 
documents will also be available via ECFS (http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/
). (Documents will be available electronically in ASCII, Word 97, and/
or Adobe Acrobat.) The complete text may be purchased from the 
Commission's copy contractor, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, 
Washington, DC 20554. To request this document in accessible formats 
(computer diskettes, large print, audio recording, and Braille), send 
an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 
(TTY).

Summary of the Notice

    1. In this Public Notice, we seek comment on the status of 
children's television programming, and compliance with the Children's 
Television Act (``CTA'') and the Commission's rules.
    2. The CTA requires the Commission, in its review of each 
television broadcast license renewal application, to ``consider the 
extent to which the licensee * * * has served the educational and 
informational needs of children through the licensee's overall 
programming, including programming specifically designed to serve such 
needs.'' In enacting the CTA, Congress found that, while television can 
benefit society by helping to educate and inform children, there are 
significant market disincentives for commercial broadcasters to air 
children's educational and informational programming. The objective of 
Congress in enacting the CTA was to increase the amount of educational 
and informational programming available on television. The CTA 
accomplished that objective by placing on every licensee an obligation 
to provide such programming, including programming specifically 
designed to educate and inform children, and by requiring the FCC to 
enforce that obligation.
    3. In November 2004, the Commission released a Report and Order and 
Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (``2004 Order'') in MM Docket 
No. 00-167, Children's Television Obligations of Digital Television 
Broadcasters. The 2004 Order addressed matters related to the 
obligation of television licensees to provide educational programming 
for children and the requirement that television licensees protect 
children from excessive and inappropriate commercial messages. In 
September 2006, the Commission released a Second Order on 
Reconsideration and Second Report and Order (``2006 Order''), which 
adopted the recommendations of a Joint Proposal submitted by 
representatives of the broadcast and cable industries and public 
interest groups involved in children's television issues. This 2006 
Order modified and clarified the rules adopted in the 2004 Order.
    4. As part of the 2004 Order, the Commission indicated that it 
intended to issue a Public Notice ``seeking comment on whether 
broadcasters are complying with the letter and intent of the CTA in 
terms of, among other things, the amount and quality of core children's 
programming being provided and the extent of preemption of such 
programming.'' More recently, the Commission entered into a Consent 
Decree with Univision to resolve petitions to deny filed against 
pending license renewal applications. Petitioners alleged that certain 
Univision stations did not comply with the children's programming 
rules, claiming that the programs relied upon as ``core'' did not serve 
the educational and informational needs of children.
    5. This Public Notice is being issued in furtherance of the 2004 
Order. We invite comment regarding the state of children's television 
programming. Are licensees complying with the CTA? Does the programming 
that licensees have reported as core children's programming generally 
meet the Commission's standards? Educational and informational 
television programming is defined by the Commission as:

    Any television programming that furthers the educational and 
informational needs of children 16 years of age and under in any 
respect, including the child's intellectual/ cognitive or social/
emotional needs. Programming specifically designed to serve the 
educational and informational needs of children (`Core Programming') 
is educational and informational programming that satisfies the 
following additional criteria:
    (1) It has serving the educational and informational needs of 
children ages 16 and under as a significant purpose;
    (2) It is aired between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.;
    (3) It is a regularly scheduled weekly program;
    (4) It is at least 30 minutes in length;
    (5) The program is identified as specifically designed to 
educate and inform children by the display on the television screen 
throughout the program of the symbol E/I;
    (6) The educational and informational objective and the target 
child audience are specified in writing in the licensee's Children's 
Television Programming Report, as described in section 
73.3526(e)(11)(iii) of the Commission's rules; and
    (7) Instructions for listing the program as educational/ 
informational, including an indication of the age group for which 
the program is intended, are provided by the

[[Page 24309]]

licensee to publishers of program guides, as described in section 
73.673 of the Commission's rules.

    6. Are the core programming criteria listed in the Commission's 
rules adequate to properly define educational and informational 
programming? Do these criteria fulfill the requirements of the CTA? 
Should the Commission consider additional criteria? Does the current 
level of preemption affect compliance with the CTA and Congressional 
intent? In what other ways are licensees complying, or not, with the 
CTA and the Commission's rules related to children's programming?
    7. Ex Parte Rules. This proceeding will be treated as a ``permit-
but-disclose'' proceeding subject to the ``permit-but-disclose'' 
requirements under section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules. Ex 
parte presentations are permissible if disclosed in accordance with 
Commission rules, except during the Sunshine Agenda period when 
presentations, ex parte or otherwise, are generally prohibited. Persons 
making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that a memorandum 
summarizing a presentation must contain a summary of the substance of 
the presentation and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed. 
More than a one- or two-sentence description of the views and arguments 
presented is generally required. Additional rules pertaining to oral 
and written presentations are set forth in section 1.1206(b).
    8. Pursuant to Sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 
interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before 
the dates indicated on the first page of this document. All filings 
must be submitted in MM Docket No. 00-167. Pleadings sent via e-mail to 
the Commission will be considered informal and will not be part of the 
official record. Comments may be filed using: (1) The Commission's 
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's 
eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies.
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ 
or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Filers 
should follow the instructions provided on the website for submitting 
comments.
     For ECFS filers, in completing the transmittal screen, 
filers should include their full name, U.S. Postal service mailing 
address, and the applicable docket number: MM Docket No. 00-167. 
Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet e-mail. To 
get filing instructions, filers should send an e-mail to [email protected], 
and include the following words in the body of the message: ``get 
form''. A sample form and instructions will be sent in response.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and four copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by 
hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by 
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we continue 
to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All 
filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the 
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
     The Commission's contractor will receive hand-delivered or 
messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary at 236 
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 20002. The filing 
hours at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be 
held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be 
disposed of before entering the building.
     Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton 
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
     U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, and 
Priority Mail should be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, 
DC 20554.
     People with Disabilities: To request materials in 
accessible formats for persons with disabilities (Braille, large print, 
electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to [email protected] or 
contact the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 
or (202) 418-7365 (TTY).
     Copies of any filed documents in this matter are also 
available for inspection in the Commission's Reference Information 
Center: 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418-7092.

Federal Communications Commission.

Mary Beth Murphy,
Chief, Policy Division, Media Bureau.
[FR Doc. E7-8300 Filed 5-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P