Cable Shopping Channels Must State Benefits

A federal appeals court today upheld rules that require would-be radio or TV licensees such as home shopping channels to make only the briefest assertions that their programming will serve the public interest.

The ruling affirmed an important part of the overall deregulation of broadcasting that began in the early 1980s under the Ronald Reagan Administration.

The case arose when challengers tried to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from awarding licenses in Cleveland and Baltimore to subsidiaries of the Home Shopping Network, whose round-the-clock sell-a-thon stations hawk merchandise to television viewers through telephone orders.

HSN stations typically devote a small portion of their days to public affairs or news shows in order to meet FCC requirements that stations provide “non-entertainment programming responsive to issues of concern in the community to be served.”

Due to revisions the FCC made beginning in 1981, license applicants currently must make only a “brief narrative description” of proposed programming that indicates they understand and intend to comply with their public service obligations--and not make specific promises of what their programming will be.