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Braverman Senior Vice President & General Counsel ABC, Inc. 77 West 66th Street New York, NY 10023-6298 Re: Preemption of Children's Television Educational and Informational Programming Dear Mr. Braverman: This refers to your request for clarification of the children's television educational and informational programming regulations that become effective on September 1, 1997. In particular, you requested clarification regarding preemption of regularly scheduled children's educational and informational, or "core," programming. In the Children's Television Report and Order, the Commission required that, among other things, a children's program must be "regularly scheduled" to be counted as "core" programming for purposes of meeting the three-hour-per-week processing guideline for educational and informational programming, i.e., -- a "core" children's program must "be scheduled to air at least once a week" and "must air on a regular basis." The Commission stated that television series typically air in the same time slot for 13 consecutive weeks, although some episodes may be preempted for programs such as breaking news or live sports events. Programming that is aired on a regular basis is more easily anticipated and located by Mr. Alan N. Braverman 2. viewers, and can build loyalty that will improve its chance for commercial success. The Commission noted that qualifying core programming should be regularly scheduled in view of the Commission's emphasis on improving the flow of information to parents through published program guides and other means to enable them to select educational and informational programs for their children. Finally, the Commission stated that it would leave to the staff to determine, with guidance from the full Commission as necessary, what constitutes regularly scheduled programming and what level of preemption is allowable. In your letter you stated that ABC will produce a five-hour block of children's programming in the 1997/98 season, of which at least three hours will consist of programs which have as a significant purpose addressing the education/informational needs of children. Your letter also stated that ABC intends to schedule its five-hour block of children's programming from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday mornings, and 7:00 to 12:00 noon, Central Time and Pacific Time. You also noted that coverage of live network sports events, "primarily college football," will affect ABC's Saturday Morning schedule, and that the impact of preemption will vary by time zone. You reported that ABC will preempt children's core programming on 11 dates during the 1997/98 season, ranging from 13 hours on the East Coast to 27 hours on the West coast. (These data encompass preemptions for live sports for the entire 12-month 1997/98 season.) You also noted that because the World Cup Soccer matches will not be finalized until December, 1997, there may be up to three additions to this schedule. You stated that it is ABC's intention to promote aggressively the Saturday Morning educational block during prime time on Friday evenings, as well as through the purchase of paid media, such as local cable and print. In addition, you stated that you plan to produce a preview guide to the Saturday Morning block, which will be inserted in Disney Adventure magazine and will be given out at Disney theme parks and Disney stores. Mr. Alan N. Braverman 3. You requested that local television stations be given the flexibility to reschedule the episodes of core programs that are preempted by live network sports events without adversely impacting the program's status as "regularly scheduled," and set forth a proposal for advising viewers of scheduling changes, aggressively promoting the educational block, and minimizing the disruptive impact of rescheduling on viewers. With respect to core programming preempted for breaking news, you requested that we excuse such a preemption, i.e., counting the preempted episode toward the station's three-hour- per-week of core programming whether or not the station reschedules and broadcasts the episode. With respect to preemption for a live network sports event, you proposed that a children's program series will not lose its status as "regularly scheduled" provided that the following three conditions are met: i. The station reschedules and broadcasts the preempted episodes either in another "core" time period within the same day or week (i.e., between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.), or, at the station's option, to a subsequent week to a time period in which children's programming is regularly scheduled; ii. the station furnishes publishers of program guides the alternate broadcast date and time of the episodes; and iii. the station notifies viewers of the preemption both during the broadcast of the previous regularly scheduled episode of the program and at the time of the preemption. You advocated that all preempted episodes which are rescheduled and broadcast as provided above should continue to count toward the three-hour average. Mr. Alan N. Braverman 4. During the first year that our new children's television core programming definition takes effect, the Commission and broadcasters alike will be working to identify the most effective ways to implement the requirement to provide children's regularly-scheduled, core programming. During this first year, we believe that it is appropriate to allow the Commission and local stations to gain experience with regard to the scheduling of children's core programming that may be preempted by live network sports events. We will, of course, revisit our conclusions here, detailed below, based on the experience gained during the 1997/98 season. Early next spring, the Mass Media Bureau will report to the Commission regarding the effect of preemption on children's educational and informational programming, the impact of promotion, and other steps taken by the stations to make children's educational programming a success. The Bureau will make recommendations regarding future interpretation of "regularly scheduled" programming, based on information obtained with your cooperation. The Bureau's analysis will allow the Commission to consider the effect of implementation of the rules and to decide how to proceed in time to give direction to the networks and broadcasters well in advance of the next year's season. At that time, the Commission also will be better able to determine whether to establish general parameters or guidelines, and, if so, what those parameters or guidelines should be. In these limited circumstances, and based solely on the facts you have presented to us regarding anticipated preemption levels for the 1997/98 season, we conclude that your proposal for promoting and rescheduling preempted programming that otherwise meets the core programming definition, if followed by owned and affiliated stations, will not run afoul of our children's television rules. Turning to the specifics of your proposal, notification to publishers of program guides with the alternate date/time in advance of any core programming preemption for live network sports is essential to assist parents who use these guides to plan their children's television viewing. In addition, notification by stations of viewers during the previously scheduled episode and at the time of preemption with respect to the alternate date/time when the preempted show will air is necessary to afford parents and children at least two on-air notifications regarding rescheduling of the preempted episode. Your proposed measures are thus consistent with scheduling continuity and predictability in this area. In addition, we believe that your plans to promote aggressively the Saturday morning educational block during prime time on Friday evenings, through the purchase of paid media, and in a preview guide in Disney Adventure magazine, developed on your own initiative, will help to ensure the success of children's educational and informational programming by focusing the attention of viewers on the entire "core" block of programming that you will air. Mr. Alan N. Braverman 5. We also find reasonable that stations that preempt a children's core program be able to count that program toward their core programming obligation if they air it during the Saturday morning children's block of programming, as defined in your letter, either earlier that day or the next Saturday. This seems likely to serve our goal of maintaining predictability for the children's audience and will assist in maintaining programming continuity for parents and children. We are also willing to approve for this first year the few instances where the children's core programming in the Pacific time zone will need to be rescheduled to the Saturday of a subsequent week due to consecutive network sports preemptions, when accompanied by adequate publication and promotion. In contrast, we have concerns about your proposal that stations, at their option, reschedule programs at any time during core hours (i.e., between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.) during the week of a preemption. By reducing predictability for viewers, such open ended scheduling latitude has the potential negatively to affect predictability and availability of core programming for the children's audience. While it would be preferable for stations unable to reschedule a preempted program during the children's block, as described above, to reschedule it to a fixed alternative time, if a station is unable to do so, we are willing to approve your proposal with the expectation that stations will make other good faith efforts to maintain scheduling predictability. We expect such situations to be limited to isolated circumstances. In our evaluation next year of the impact of rescheduling practices, we will assess the success of these efforts. We conclude that it is appropriate, as you suggest, to exempt from the above provisions core programming that is preempted for breaking news. In our opinion, breaking news includes live coverage of news events and other coverage that in the broadcaster's good faith judgment is directly related to or logically a part of breaking news. Presentation of breaking news is plainly in the public interest. By definition, such programming is unpredictable, so that promotion is impractical. Moreover, while we would encourage stations to reschedule preempted programming in these circumstances, we believe such preemption will happen sufficiently infrequently that a station's failure to reschedule a preempted episode would not defeat a station's programming otherwise qualifying as core on this basis. We will revisit our conclusion if we determine, based on experience gained during the 1997/98 season, that this exemption has resulted in more preemptions than anticipated. In summary, as discussed in detail above, we accept your proposals regarding rescheduling and promotion of preempted children's core programming. We note that although we address your specific requests regarding network scheduling, it remains the duty of each television broadcaster to comply with the requirements of the Mr. Alan N. Braverman 6. Children's Television Report and Order. The Commission will continue to review each licensee's performance to ensure compliance with the rules. We believe that this response will provide stations owned by or affiliated with your network that adhere to the circumstances and proposals outlined with sufficient flexibility regarding preempted children's core programming while preserving a regular schedule to facilitate children's access to this programming. Sincerely, Roy J. Stewart Chief, Mass Media Bureau