**STATEMENT OF**

**COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS**

 

*Re:*     *Children's Television Obligations of Digital Television
Broadcasters*

 

In the Children's Television Act, Congress directed the Commission to
protect children against excessive advertisements on television and
required the Commission to consider during the license renewal process
whether a station's programming has served the educational and
informational needs of children.  This is absolutely vital.  Television
plays such an enormous role in children's development.  The average
child will have watched well over 10,000 hours of television and been
bombarded with hundreds of thousands of commercials before he or she
reaches adulthood.  Television has vast and growing powers to educate
and inform --- or to misinform in sometimes harmful ways.    

 

One important responsibility that we on this Commission have is to make
sure, as best we can, that everyone -- certainly including the
kids---can harvest the full benefits of digital television.  I commend
those who met to formulate the proposals that are the subject of today's
further notice.  Groups such as Children Now, the American Psychological
Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National PTA, the
United Church of Christ, the Action Coalition for Media Education and
the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University, as
well as representatives from broadcast networks and cable channels,
worked long and hard to reach these joint recommendations. 

 

The ball is in our court now to move forward as expeditiously as
possible to complete this proceeding.  I am hopeful we will do just
that.  But that's not all we need to do.  Let's remember that, in the
children's TV order adopted in September 2004, we also committed to
issuing a report addressing how well the objectives set by Congress in
the Children's Television Act are being met.  We should all be
concerned---even disturbed---when independent reports find that
one-fourth of the educational and informational programming served up to
our children has little educational value.  Likewise, we should all be
concerned when a recent study by the Parents Television Council
demonstrates that there are nearly eight violent incidents per hour on
children's shows -- more than during primetime.  Think about that one
for a moment! 

 

Once again, I point out how much work is left undone regarding the more
general public interest obligations of DTV broadcasters.  As an initial
step, we need promptly to complete our proceeding on disclosure of
broadcaster activities.  And the Commission is long overdue to address
the full range of public interest issues that we teed up six years ago,
including, among others, how the digital transition can enhance
political discourse, improve access to the media for those with
disabilities, and increase localism, diversity and competition on the
people's airwaves.  I would like to think that this example of
discussions and a joint proposal by diverse interested parties that we
are talking about today in the children's television item can serve as a
model for these other proceedings.  We really can't delay any longer in
bringing some certainty for both broadcasters and the public.  It is not
enough for us to address only the mechanics of the DTV transition.  More
important by far is determining how this transition is to serve the
broad interests of American viewers and listeners. With a full
complement of Commissioners soon to be aboard, these questions deserve
the full attention of the Commission.