FCC Revises ‘Political Programming Policy’ : Television: An entertainer-candidate’s old movies or TV shows will not trigger the equal time proviso for his opponents unless it is ‘controlled, sponsored or approved by the candidate.’

Had Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono chosen to run for the Republican nomination for U.S. senator in any previous year, his candidacy could have created problems for California television stations. They could have been required to provide equal time to his opponents whenever the former entertainer popped up in an old movie or series rerun.

But that won’t happen in 1992.

Under revised regulations that the Federal Communications Commission put into effect Jan. 3, a program only triggers the “equal time” provision if it is “controlled, sponsored or approved by the candidate.”

The change came about because of a “general review of our political programming policies,” according to Milton O. Gross, chief of the FCC’s fairness/political programming branch.

“We specifically said this interpretation has the effect of overruling the Ronald Reagan cases,” Gross said, referring to equal time demands made whenever one of his old films showed up during the 1980 and 1984 presidential campaigns. Indeed, in 1980, the Lawyers Committee for Carter-Mondale established a “Ronald Reagan movie monitor subcommittee” to search for old Reagan movies on television and then ask for equal time for then-President Jimmy Carter.

“We said (that) while Reagan voluntarily appeared in the films when they were made, any control over when or whether the films were broadcast ended prior to him becoming a legally qualified candidate,” Gross said.

Therefore, Fox Broadcasting should not have any problems with its plans to air the 1988 film “Hairspray,” in which Bono stars, on June 3, the night before the California primary.

The change also means that when a candidate appears, either pictured or verbally, on a broadcast sponsored by an independent committee uncontrolled by the candidate, an opponent will not be granted equal time, Gross said.

Previously, when requested, television and radio stations had to provide equal time to opposing candidates whenever a candidate who had qualified for the ballot appeared recognizably--by either picture or voice--on a broadcast outside of bona fide newscasts, interview programs, documentaries or spot coverage of news events.

Most stations tried to avoid the problem by not showing series episodes and movies that included actors-turned-candidates during campaign periods. Occasionally they slipped up, but some performers who had considered running for office--including actors Ed Nelson and George Takei--opted against it, claiming they would have lost work and/or residuals from reruns that would have been pulled off the air during campaigns.

(Because the equal-time regulation was contained in the Communications Act of 1934 and became law long before cable television was envisioned, it only applies to broadcast television and radio stations. Programming on cable networks has never been subject to equal-time provisions.)

At least three previous efforts had been made to overturn the regulation, all unsuccessful.

Comedian Pat Paulsen, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, and Jerry Fogel, a regular on the ‘60s NBC sitcom “The Mothers-In Law” who sought the 1976 Republican nomination for a Los Angeles congressional seat, each filed suits. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation in the early ‘80s that sought to exempt dramatic appearances from the equal-time rule.

Some experts believed a candidate’s appearance on an entertainment program boosted his or her popularity with voters. But Takei, who portrayed Sulu on “Star Trek,” said he doubted that episodes where he was “zapped by an alien force” or went crazy after contracting an alien disease would endear him to voters.

And Rep. Fred Grandy (R-Iowa) humorously wondered if he should have filed for equal time to counter episodes of “The Love Boat,” where he played the buffoonish purser Gopher.

“On balance, being on ‘The Love Boat’ got a lot of people to know who I was and whetted their curiosity, but they never would have voted Gopher into office in a million years,” Grandy said recently.

He said that during his first campaign, in 1986, the ABC affiliate in Sioux City, Iowa, pulled “The Love Boat” after a request from his primary opponent.

“That so angered the senior citizens that the guy went down in the polls,” Grandy said.

Grandy called the past policy “kind of a dumb law,” and “to some extent demeaning to the American viewing public that they will watch somebody on TV and say ah, ‘This is clearly a campaign message.’ I don’t think anybody got that message when I was running around the Lido deck.”