The Nation : New Rules on Children’s TV Ads Vetoed

Legislation that would have limited advertising during children’s TV shows and required stations to provide informative programming for youngsters expired with a pocket veto by President Reagan. The bill, passed by the Senate on a voice vote in October and the House by a 328-78 margin in June, would have reimposed advertising limits abandoned by the Federal Communications Commission four years ago, limiting commercials in children’s programming to 10 1/2 minutes per hour on weekends and 12 minutes per hour on weekdays. It required stations to “serve the educational and information needs of children” in overall programming. The President said in a statement that while he supports efforts to improve the quality of children’s programs, “this bill simply cannot be reconciled with the freedom of expression secured by our Constitution.” Stations would have had until 1990 to comply with the advertising limits.