******************************************************** NOTICE ******************************************************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** DA 97-1480 July 11, 1997 Mr. Rick Cotton Ms. Diane Zipursky National Broadcasting Company, Inc. 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004 Re: Preemption of Children's Television Educational and Informational Programming Dear Mr. Cotton and Ms. Zipursky: This refers to your request for clarification of the children's television educational and informational programming regulations that become effective on September 1, 1997. In particular, you requested clarification regarding preemption of regularly scheduled children's educational and informational, or "core," programming. In the Children's Television Report and Order, the Commission required that, among other things, a children's program must be "regularly scheduled" to be counted as "core" programming for purposes of meeting the three-hour-per-week processing guideline for educational and informational programming, i.e., -- a "core" children's program must "be scheduled to air at least once a week" and "must air on a regular basis." The Commission stated that 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 Mr. Rick Cotton & Ms. Diane Zipursky 2. events. 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. The Commission noted that qualifying core programming should be regularly scheduled in view of the Commission's 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. Finally, the Commission stated that it would 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. In your June 6th letter, you stated that NBC has been providing two and one-half hours each week of regularly scheduled programming that is specifically designed to help meet the informational needs of teens, which you refer to in your letter as "Teen NBC" or "TNBC." Commencing with the 1997/98 season on September 6, you stated that NBC will add another 30- minute program to this block, thus providing your stations with three full hours of "core" programming. You stated that you expect that the majority of your affiliates in the Eastern time zone will regularly schedule the TNBC block from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; in the Central time zone, from 9 a.m. to noon; and in the Mountain and Pacific Time zones from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. You also stated that the Saturday morning time period is the most effective time to reach your audience. For the 1997/98 season, you stated that there are a number of Saturdays on which the broadcast of a live major sports event will require the rescheduling of some of the TNBC shows, and that the impact of the rescheduling varies by time zone. You reported that, during the 1997/98 season, NBC live sporting events will preempt TNBC programming on the East coast on eight specified dates, affecting 7.5 hours, plus one National Football League game ("NFL") to be announced ("TBA") and on the West coast, for 15 specified dates affecting 20 hours, plus one NFL game TBA. In your June 26th supplemental letter you reported that, during the 1997/98 season, in the East and Central time zones, on seven of the eight times when there is a conflict requiring the rescheduling of a TNBC show, the affected stations will reschedule the affected Mr. Rick Cotton & Ms. Diane Zipursky 3. programs to the same time slot (a fixed "second home") in each instance. You stated that although NBC believes that each station should be given the discretion to determine where to reschedule the children's shows when necessary, you envision several likely scenarios that the stations might follow to accomplish this. You state that on these occasions NBC News will reduce the Saturday Today show from two hours to one hour. Thus, it will give stations in the Eastern and Central time zones the option to run the TNBC block in its entirety from 9 a.m. to noon, thereby maintaining the integrity of the programming block and the structured flow from one show to the next. You outline other possible variations for these time zones, all of which would involve showing all three hours on the Saturday they are scheduled to air, albeit with some variation in the scheduled time, and provision of advance notice of changed start time both on-air and through the listing services. You stated that, with respect to stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, which may regularly schedule the TNBC block to air from 8:00 a.m.to 11:00 a.m., the rescheduling options are different and additional flexibility is needed due to the early morning starts of live sports events in these Western time zones. You stated that you believe that, with only a few exceptions, a station should always be able to reschedule the affected program either to a fixed "second home" each instance it is rescheduled or to run adjacent to other qualifying programming the following weekend. You note, again, that the audience will always be given advance notice of any scheduling change. In addition, you stated that NBC is committed to continuing to dedicate a significant amount of resources to promoting its TNBC block. You stated that, as a result of the new children's television regime, and the need to ensure that your audience not only is maintained, but continues to increase, NBC will expand its promotional efforts for the 1997/98 season to include the following: on-air promotion, during premier network sports programming in August, of the launch of the new TNBC season; on-air promotion, during prime time, of the TNBC shows in a way that targets the teen audience; a variety of special promotional efforts in connection with the TNBC shows, including "theme days" and the appearance of well-known professional athletes; intensified efforts of two dedicated director-level employees to promote the TNBC lineup throughout the electronic print media and to develop promotional events; and, preparation and availability to affiliates of promotional spots to be used to promote the TNBC block and for use by the stations in notifying the viewers of any necessary rescheduling. Mr. Rick Cotton & Ms. Diane Zipursky 4. You asserted that it is imperative that local broadcast stations be given the flexibility to reschedule the episodes of core programs that are preempted by live network sports events, as described above, without adversely impacting the program's status as "regularly scheduled." With respect to core programming preempted for breaking news, you proposed that a station would not be obligated to reschedule the preempted episodes, and that those episodes would still count toward computing the station's three-hour average. During the first year that our new children's television core programming definition takes effect, the Commission and broadcasters alike will be working to identify the most effective ways to implement the requirement to provide children's regularly-scheduled, core programming. During this first year, we believe that it is appropriate to allow the Commission and local stations to gain experience with regard to the scheduling of children's core programming that may be preempted by live network sports events. We will, of course, revisit our conclusions here, detailed below, based on the experience gained during the 1997/98 season. Early next spring, the Mass Media Bureau will report to the Commission regarding the effect of preemption on children's educational and informational programming, the impact of promotion, and other steps taken by the stations to make children's educational programming a success. The Bureau will make recommendations regarding future interpretation of "regularly scheduled" programming, based on information obtained with your cooperation. The Bureau's analysis will allow the Commission to consider the effect of implementation of the rules and to decide how to proceed in time to give direction to the networks and broadcasters well in advance of the next year's season. At that time, the Commission also will be better able to determine whether to establish general parameters or guidelines, and, if so, what those parameters or guidelines should be. In these limited circumstances, and based solely on the facts you have presented to us regarding anticipated preemption levels for the 1997/98 season, we conclude that your proposal for promoting and rescheduling preempted programming that otherwise meets the core programming definition, if followed by owned and affiliated stations, will not run afoul of our children's television rules. Turning to the specifics of your proposal, notification to publishers of program listings with the alternate date/time in advance of any core programming preemption for live network sports is essential to assist parents who use these guides to plan their children's television Mr. Rick Cotton & Ms. Diane Zipursky 5. viewing. In addition, advance on-air notification by stations of viewers is necessary to inform parents and children about your rescheduling of the preempted episode. Your proposed measures are thus consistent with scheduling continuity and predictability in this area. In addition, we believe that your plans to promote aggressively the TNBC block, developed on your own initiative, will help to ensure the success of children's educational and informational programming by focusing the attention of viewers on the entire "core" block of programming that you will air. We also find reasonable that stations that preempt a children's core program be able to count that program toward their core programming obligation if they air it either in a fixed "second home" during the "core" time period (i.e., between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.) within the same day or week, or to the following Saturday to a time period adjacent to other regularly scheduled children's programs. This seems likely to serve our goal of maintaining predictability for the children's audience and will assist in maintaining programming continuity for parents and children. In contrast, we have concerns about a scenario you describe where stations, at their option, reschedule programs at any time during core hours (i.e., between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.) during the week of a preemption. By reducing predictability for viewers, such open ended scheduling latitude has the potential negatively to affect predictability and availability of core programming for the children's audience. While it would be preferable for stations to reschedule a preempted program to a "second home" or to a period adjacent to other children's programs, if a station is unable to do so, we are willing to approve those few instances with the expectation that stations will make other good faith efforts to maintain scheduling predictability. We expect such situations to be limited to isolated circumstances. In our evaluation next year of the impact of rescheduling practices, we will assess the success of these efforts. We conclude that it is appropriate, as you suggest, to exempt from the above provisions core programming that is preempted for breaking news. In our opinion, breaking news includes live coverage of news events and other coverage that in the broadcaster's good faith judgment is directly related to or logically a part of breaking news. Presentation of breaking news is plainly in the public interest. By definition, such programming is unpredictable, so that promotion is impractical. Moreover, while we would encourage stations to reschedule preempted programming in these circumstances, we believe such preemption Mr. Rick Cotton & Ms. Diane Zipursky 6. will happen sufficiently infrequently that a station's failure to reschedule a preempted episode would not defeat a station's programming otherwise qualifying as core on this basis. We will revisit our conclusion if we determine, based on experience gained during the 1997/98 season, that this exemption has resulted in more preemptions than anticipated. In summary, as discussed in detail above, we accept your proposals regarding rescheduling and promotion of preempted children's core programming. We note that although we address your specific requests regarding network scheduling, it remains the duty of each television broadcaster to comply with the requirements of the Children's Television Report and Order. The Commission will continue to review each licensee's performance to ensure compliance with the rules. We believe that this response will provide stations owned by or affiliated with your network that adhere to the circumstances and proposals outlined with sufficient flexibility regarding preempted children's core programming while preserving a regular schedule to facilitate children's access to this programming. Sincerely, Roy J. Stewart Chief, Mass Media Bureau