BAN SOUGHT ON HIGH-TECH KID SHOWS

A consumer group has asked the federal government to block a new generation of children’s television programming that would interact with controversial high-tech toys.

Action for Children’s Television asked the Federal Communications Commission to issue a declaratory ruling that the shows, scheduled to air next fall, are nothing more than “program-length commercials” and violate the public interest.

The interactive toys, designed to react to patterns of sound or lights integrated into the special TV shows, are not in stores yet but are on display this week at the annual American International Toy Fair in New York.

The programs and toys--mostly robots and guns--also have drawn protests from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which says the interactive shows are too violent, stunt children’s creativity and take advantage of children who do not realize they are being sold a product.

The FCC in the past few years has lifted most TV programming restrictions, including limits on commercials and virtually all guidelines for children’s TV shows.

Several toymakers, however, asked the commission to review their plans based on a 1960s case in which the commission ruled that TV networks should not disturb the picture by putting a dot on the screen to alert affiliates that a commercial break was coming up.

Bill Johnson, deputy chief of the FCC’s Mass Media Bureau, said the staff approved those plans that fully incorporated the audio and light signals into the regular TV program.

The ACT petition resembles previous unsuccessful efforts by the group to stop children’s shows that promote toys, including “Thundercats,” “G.I. Joe” and “Masters of the Universe.”