FCC to review rules on children’s programming

The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing a rule that requires broadcasters to air children-friendly content each week.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said on Tuesday that Chairman Ajit Pai had asked him to lead a review of the regulation — dubbed the Kid Vid rules.

“My goal in reviewing the Kid Vid rules is to understand whether the rules the Commission imposed on broadcasters to carry out the Children’s Television Act — in many cases more than two decades ago — still make sense in today’s media marketplace,” O’Rielly said in a statement.

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The FCC currently mandates that broadcasters air at least three hours a week of educational children’s content.  

But O’Rielly explained that since the rule was adopted in 1990, cable networks have gained a larger audience and offer a wide variety of child-friendly programming, including networks focused on children’s program. There are also content providers outside of television, such as Netflix, which offer their own kids’ shows.

O’Rielly had published a critical blog post about the rules in January.

“With today’s dynamic media marketplace there are very little, if any, additional benefits provided by the Kid Vid rules. Not only are they unnecessary, but after over two decades of experience with the 1996 enhanced regulations, there is scant evidence to indicate that children’s programming on broadcast stations has improved,” he wrote at the time.