On Wednesday (7/10/19) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced new rules for
children’s television, including a change in the time that broadcasters are
allowed to air kids’ programming in the morning. According to the FCC’s
announcement, the goal is to give broadcasters more scheduling flexibility and
to enable them to offer diverse educational programming while relieving
unnecessary burdens. Broadcasters can now air children’s programming from 6 am
until 10 pm, an hour earlier than before.
Some of the changes were
not greeted with a smile, like the rule that allows “stations to air the
substantial majority of their core programming on their primary program stream
but allows stations to air up to 13 hours per quarter of regularly scheduled
weekly programming on a multicast stream." This allows channels to move
content away from their main viewership to secondary stations, which allows
the stations to focus more on monetizing. The FCC voted on party lines and the harshest
dissent came from Commissioner Rosenworcel who took to Twitter to express her
criticism.
Take
it from the only mother serving on the Federal Communications Commission.
The
values in the Children’s Television Act are solid.
They
help promote quality content for kids.
But
today the @FCC picks them apart and dismantles them.
This
is a shame. I dissent.
— Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) July 10,
2019
For more information about the FCC's decision, check out their fact sheet.