FCC Plan Might Pay PBS to Air Kid Shows : Television: A marketplace ‘baby-sitting’ proposal could help commercial stations meet federal programming mandates, but children’s TV advocates don’t like the sound of it.

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a plan to allow TV stations to fulfill their obligation to put on children’s programming by paying another station in the same market to run such fare.

Under the proposal, a commercial TV station could pay a PBS station in its market to air “Sesame Street” and would then be able to count that hour as one of its own in terms of meeting the mandate to provide children’s programming.

The plan has been put forth by FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and members of the commission staff as the agency grapples with formulating guidelines to ensure broadcasters’ compliance with the Children’s Television Act of 1990, a law that required TV stations to carry educational and informational programming for children but didn’t specify how much.

FCC sources said the proposal is seen as a means of getting more such programming on the air with a minimum of regulation. But advocates for children’s television charge that the agency is retreating from enforcing the Television Act.

“I think the FCC is caving in to pressure from broadcasters,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Media Education, a children’s advocacy group that, along with the National PTA, the National Education Assn. and other groups, has petitioned the commission to ask stations to air an hour per day of educational programming for children. “The intent of the law was for every station to air a significant amount of programming for children.”

“What kind of idea is this, trading away children’s rights and having one station fulfill the obligation of others?” asked Peggy Charren, founder of Action for Children’s Television, which lobbied for passage of the Television Act. “PBS serves the needs of children now. Allowing stations to simply pay another station to do programming does not fulfill stations’ obligations to serve the needs of children.”

According to sources, the plan would ask stations to air one hour a week of educational fare for children on each outlet’s own air, plus some as-yet undetermined additional hours--one to three, possibly varying according to market size--that the station could pay another station in its market to air.

“The intent of the concept is to maximize marketplace forces and minimize government regulation,” said one senior FCC staffer, who asked not to be identified.

Chairman Hundt, an appointee of President Clinton, is said to favor stronger enforcement measures but may not have sufficient support from his fellow commissioners. Broadcasters have lobbied against establishing a specific number of hours for children’s programming, and several sources said their position is bolstered by the new Republican majority in Congress.

“The regulatory climate has changed,” said one source, “and there is a fight going on at the FCC.”

Commission officials had said at one time that their proposed rules for children’s programming would be formally issued for public reaction in February, but sources said it now will be March or later before they are ready.

Broadcast executives said they were intrigued with the “marketplace” concept as a way to provide programming for children, although they did not want to comment on any proposed guidelines before the FCC puts them out for official comment.

“I give them credit for trying to come up with a creative approach,” said Martin Franks, CBS’ senior lobbyist in Washington. But, he added, “If they’re still going to get into specifying hours of programming, time of day and other provisions, then I think you’re into having the government defining content of programming, which broadcasters have opposed on Constitutional grounds of free speech.”

Commercial broadcasters have stepped up production of educational programming over the past two years but have complained that it would be a financial burden to do significantly more because the programs do not garner big ratings. They also point to PBS and cable’s Nickelodeon as outlets that already cater to youngsters.

Children’s advocates, on the other hand, are concerned that broadcasters will eliminate some of the shows they’re now doing if the FCC does not put more muscle into its enforcement policy.

“It has been shown over many years in broadcasting that the theory of ‘letting the free market decide’ does not work when it comes to providing programming for children on commercial television,” said Kathryn Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education.

“Producers of several children’s TV shows now on the air have told me that they are sure they would not be on TV if broadcasters had not felt pressure from the children’s TV act to do some new hours of programming for kids. If the FCC now signals that it does not intend to put any teeth in the act, then I fear that shows like ‘Beakman’s World’ and ‘Bill Nye, the Science Guy’ will simply go off the air.”

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who as chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee played a key role in passing the Children’s Television Act, said in an interview, “The children’s TV act left it up to the FCC to come up with the formula, but, whatever the rules, broadcasters have a clear responsibility to meet the needs of children under the provisions of the act. The intent of the act was not to have stations pay PBS to do their programming for them.”