A Step Toward Better Kids’ TV : FCC breaks its impasse over 3 hours of educational shows a week

With a welter of TV broadcasting licenses coming up for renewal before the Federal Communications Commission, progress on educational programming for children seems possible.

FCC commissioners are considering whether broadcasters should be required to adhere to an educational programming standard as a condition for renewal. That standard would include at least three hours of educational programming per week in return for free use of the public airwaves.

For two years FCC Chairman Reed Hundt has led a campaign to close loopholes in the Children’s Television Act of 1990 that have allowed broadcasters to pass off shows such as “The Flintstones” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” as educational. Until recently, Hundt had been unable to muster adequate support from his colleagues because he was seeking an outright mandate on the number of hours.

Now there’s a break in the impasse, thanks to the softened stance of FCC Commissioner James Quello, who had led the fight against the three-hour requirement on behalf of broadcasters. Quello now says that three hours a week is “reasonable” and proposes that stations providing that much acceptable programming be guaranteed license approval. A station providing fewer hours would have to make a case for license renewal.

Resolution of the matter probably will depend on the language that emerges within the FCC--whether the standard is a mandate or just a guideline. The important thing is that, in the end, children have at least three hours of educational broadcasts.

Broadcasters still claim that a three-hour standard would infringe on free speech rights, but clearly they want to avoid being painted as inimical to children’s interests. In an ideal world, a television industry committed to public service would use its considerable influence to teach and guide children. But temptations on the commercial side of television lead the other way, to using popular shows to merchandise toys to young viewers. Three hours a week of thoughtful, useful, educational programming is not too much to ask.