O'Rielly Wants FCC Deregulation Effort to Take On Kidvid

The FCC should roll back or eliminate outdated children’s TV rules, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blogged Friday. Kidvid rules require broadcasters shoehorn unprofitable children’s TV into their packed schedules and impose burdensome paperwork requirements, O’Rielly said. “With today’s dynamic media marketplace there are very little, if any, additional benefits provided by the Kid Vid rules.” Trimming such rules was a frequent request by commenters on the FCC’s media deregulation efforts (see 1707060060). O'Reilly said though the rules were intended to ensure the availability of children’s educational programming, the modern media market offers such content on streaming services, online video and MVPDs. Children’s TV is “booming,” O’Rielly said. “Where is the market failure to warrant the continuation of the FCC’s Kid Vid mandates?” The current rules caused broadcasters to move away from children’s programming shorter than its 30-minute mandate or non-regularly scheduled programming, such as after-school specials, O’Rielly said. By crowding out more in-demand programming, the requirement “depresses the value of broadcast stations and threatens their financial resources to create and air costly programming, like news and community specials” O’Rielly said. “It is high time the Commission consider whether the Kid Vid rules are still necessary,” he blogged. “At the very least, there are substantial portions of these rules that can be rolled back or reconsidered.” The rules are "one of television broadcasters’ last public interest obligations" remaining after the wave of deregulation under the Republican majority FCC, said Benton Foundation Executive Director Adrianne Furniss in a statement posted under the headline "Now They Come for the Children." The proposal "should be dead on arrival," Furniss said. "It is unthinkable that the FCC would turn its back on children -- and the law."