*Pages 1--4 from  Microsoft Word - 55578.doc*
 Federal  Communications  Commission  Washington,  D.  C.  20554 
 March  10,  2006 
 DA  06-  550  Released:  March  10,  2006 


 CERTIFIED  MAIL    RETURN  RECEIPT  REQUESTED 
 WATL,  L.  L.  C.  WATL(  TV) 
 One  Monroe  Place  Atlanta,  Georgia  30324 


 Re:  WATL,  L.  L.  C.  WATL(  TV),  Atlanta,  Georgia 
 Facility  ID  No.  22819  File  No.  BRCT-  20041201BFO 


 Dear  Licensee: 
 This  refers  to  your  license  renewal  application  for  station  WATL(  TV),  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
 In  the  Childrens  Television  Act  of  1990,  Pub.  L.  No.  101-  437,  104  Stat.  996-  1000,  codified  at  47  U.  S.  C.  Sections  303a,  303b  and  394,  Congress  directed  the  Commission  to  adopt  rules,  inter 
 alia,  limiting  the  number  of  minutes  of  commercial  matter  that  television  stations  may  air  during  childrens  programming,  and  to  consider  in  its  review  of  television  license  renewals  the  extent  to 
 which  the  licensee  has  complied  with  such  commercial  limits.  Pursuant  to  this  statutory  mandate,  the  Commission  adopted  Section  73.670  of  the  Rules,  47  C.  F.  R.    73.670,  which  limits 
 the  amount  of  commercial  matter  which  may  be  aired  during  childrens  programming  to  10.5  minutes  per  hour  on  weekends  and  12  minutes  per  hour  on  weekdays.  The  Commission  also 
 reaffirmed  and  clarified  its  long-  standing  policy  against  program-  length  commercials.  The  Commission  defined  a  program-  length  commercial  as  a  program  associated  with  a  product,  in 
 which  commercials  for  that  product  are  aired,  and  stated  that  the  entire  duration  of  any  program-  length  commercial  would  be  counted  as  commercial  matter  for  the  purpose  of  the 
 childrens  television  commercial  limits.  Childrens  Television  Programming,  6  FCC  Rcd  2111,  2118,  recon.  granted  in  part,  6  FCC  Rcd  5093,  5098  (1991).  The  commercial  limitations 
 became  effective  on  January  1,  1992.  Childrens  Television  Programming,  6  FCC  Rcd  5529,  5530  (1991). 


 On  December  1,  2004,  you  filed  the  above-  referenced  license  renewal  application  for  station  WATL(  TV).  In  response  to  Section  IV,  Question  5  of  that  application,  you  certify  that,  during 
 the  previous  license  term,  WATL(  TV)  failed  to  comply  with  the  limitations  on  commercial  matter  in  childrens  programming  specified  in  Section  73.670  of  the  Commissions  Rules.  In 
 Exhibit  19  to  that  application,  you  indicate  that  station  WATL(  TV)  violated  the  childrens  television  commercial  limits  and  policies  on  September  24,  2002  and  October  18,  2003.  You 
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 attribute  both  incidents  to  errors  which  occurred  in  the  programming  supplied  by  the  stations  national  television  network,  The  WB  Network,  and  describe  corrective  measures  taken 
 subsequently  to  prevent  future  violations.  First,  you  state  that  one  conventional  overage  occurred  on  Saturday,  October  18,  2003,  and  was  45-  seconds  in  duration. 


 Second,  you  report  that  on  September  24,  2002,  station  WATL(  TV)  aired  a  WB  Network  commercial  for  the  Nintendo  GameBoy  E-  Reader,  during  the  Pokemon  program.  You  assert 
 that  station  WATL(  TV)  was  not  warned,  and  did  not  know  until  after  broadcast,  when  the  WB  Network  brought  the  matter  to  the  licensees  attention,  that  the  commercial  contained  a  fleeting, 
 obscured  image  of  a  Pokemon  game  card.  You  state  that,  the  image,  in  which  only  the  letters  MON  are  visible  for  just  over  one  second,  does  not  depict  any  Pokemon  character. 
 According  to  your  description,  the  Pokemon  card  appears  as  three  of  six  cards  arranged  in  the  shape  of  a  fan  during  the  display  and  Pokemon  is  not  mentioned  in  the  audio  of  the 
 commercial.  You  maintain  that  it  was  the  licensees  good  faith  judgment  that  the  program-length  commercial  policy  was  inapplicable  in  this  case  because  there  is  no  likelihood  that 
 children  would  perceive  any  linkage  between  the  Pokemon  program  and  the  GameBoy  commercial.  Further,  you  contend  that  the  WB  Network  expressed  its  belief  that  the  GameBoy 
 commercial  does  not  violate  the  Commissions  rules  or  policies  of  the  Childrens  Television  Acts  commercial  time  limits. 


 As  a  preliminary  matter,  we  note  that  Congress  was  particularly  concerned  about  program-  length  commercials  because  young  children  often  have  difficulty  distinguishing  between  commercials 
 and  programs.  S.  Rep.  No.  227,  101  st  Cong.,  1  st  Sess.  24  (1989).  Thus,  in  Childrens  Television  Programming,  the  Commission  made  it  clear  that  program-  length  commercials,  by  their  very 
 nature,  are  extremely  serious  violations  of  the  childrens  television  commercial  limits,  stating  that  the  program-  length  commercial  policy  directly  addresses  a  fundamental  regulatory  concern, 
 that  children  who  have  difficulty  enough  distinguishing  program  content  from  unrelated  commercial  matter,  not  be  all  the  more  confused  by  a  show  that  interweaves  program  content  and 
 commercial  matter.  1  6  FCC  Rcd  at  2118.  Accordingly,  in  interpreting  and  applying  the  Commissions  policies  regarding  program-  length  commercials,  we  are  concerned  about  and 
 dealing  with  the  cognitive  abilities  of  young  children,  not  adults.  See,  e.  g.,  Scripps  Howard  Broadcasting  Company  (KNXV-  TV),  12  FCC  Rcd  19504,  19505  (MMB  1997)  (Scripps  Howard), 
 affg  9  FCC  Rcd  2547  (MMB  1994). 
 With  respect  to  the  stations  broadcast  of  the  commercial  for  the  Nintendo  GameBoy  E-  Reader,  although  you  contend  that  the  Pokemon  game  cards  appeared  for  one  second  during  the 
 commercial,  it  is  well-  established  that  the  determination  as  to  whether  a  particular  program  is  a  program-  length  commercial  is  not  dependent  on  the  duration  of  the  appearance  of  the  program-related 
 product  in  the  commercial  announcement.  The  Commission  has  stated  on  numerous  occasions  that,  where  a  commercial  announcement  includes  a  product  related  to  the  program  in 


 1  To  avoid  being  considered  a  program-  length  commercial,  commercial  matter  related  to  a  childrens  program  must 
 be  separated  from  that  program  by  intervening  and  unrelated  program  material.  Childrens  Television  Programming  (Recon.),  6  FCC  Rcd  at  5099.  To  prevent  confusion,  the  Commission  specifically  note[  d]  that 


 intervening  commercial  matter  will  not  suffice  as  a  separation  device.  Id.  at  5099  n.  89. 
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 which  the  commercial  is  broadcast,  then  the  program  is  a  program-  length  commercial  regardless  of  the  duration  of  the  appearance  of  the  program-  related  product  in  the  commercial.  UTV  of  San 
 Francisco,  Inc.  (KBHK-  TV),  10  FCC  Rcd  10986,  10988  (1995);  see  also  WPIX,  Inc.,  14  FCC  Rcd  9077  (MMB  1999)  (commercial  for  Spirit  of  Mickey  home  video  showing  brief  image  of 
 Donald  Duck  on  cover  of  video  aired  during  Quack  Pack  program);  Act  III  Broadcasting  License  Corp.  (WUTV(  TV)),  10  FCC  Rcd  4957  (1995),  affd,  13  FCC  Rcd  10099  (MMB  1997) 
 (commercial  for  a  fast  food  restaurant  promoting  a  trip  to  Disney  World  as  a  contest  prize  contained  a  brief  image  of  Goofy  and  aired  during  the  program  Goof  Troop).  Moreover,  we 
 believe  that,  in  the  context  of  the  cognitive  abilities  of  young  children,  there  is  the  potential  for  confusion  between  the  Gameboy  commercial  and  the  Pokemon  program  regardless  whether 
 any  Pokemon  character  is  depicted  given  the  image  of  a  Pokemon  game  card  contained  in  the  commercial  and  the  consequent  likelihood  that  children  my  associate  it  with  the  program. 
 Based  on  these  circumstances,  where  there  is  a  clear  potential  for  confusion  in  the  minds  of  young  children,  the  Commissions  program-  length  policy  is  applicable.  Scripps  Howard,  12 
 FCC  Rcd  at  19506. 
 Regarding  the  reasons  given  for  the  overages,  the  fact  that  they  resulted  from  errors  which  occurred  in  the  programming  supplied  by  station  WATL(  TV)  s  television  network  does  not 
 relieve  WATL(  TV)  of  responsibility  for  the  violations.  In  this  regard,  the  Commission  has  consistently  held  that  a  licensees  reliance  on  a  programs  source  or  producer  for  compliance 
 with  our  childrens  television  rules  and  policies  will  not  excuse  or  mitigate  violations  which  do  occur.  See,  e.  g.,  Max  Television  of  Syracuse,  L.  P.  (WSYT(  TV)),  10  FCC  Rcd  8905  (MMB  1995); 
 Mt.  Mansfield  Television,  Inc.  (WCAX-  TV),  10  FCC  Rcd  8797  (MMB  1995);  Boston  Celtics  Broadcasting  Limited  Partnership  (WFXT(  TV)),  10  FCC  Rcd  6686  (MMB  1995).  Furthermore, 
 corrective  actions  may  have  been  taken  to  prevent  subsequent  violations  of  the  childrens  television  rules  and  policies,  but  that,  too,  does  not  relieve  WATL(  TV)  of  liability  for  the 
 violations  which  have  occurred.  See,  e.  g.,  WHP  Television,  L.  P.  (WHP-  TV),  10  FCC  Rcd  4979,  4980  (MMB  1995);  Mountain  States  Broadcasting,  Inc.  (KMSB-  TV),  9  FCC  Rcd  2545,  2546 
 (MMB  1994);  R&  R  Media  Corporation  (WTWS(  TV)),  9  FCC  Rcd  1715,  1716  (MMB  1994);  KEVN,  Inc.  (KEVN-  TV),  8  FCC  Rcd  5077,  5078  (MMB  1993);  International  Broadcasting 
 Corp.,  19  FCC  2d  793,  794  (1969). 
 While  we  consider  any  violation  of  our  rules  limiting  the  amount  of  commercial  matter  in  childrens  programming  to  be  significant,  the  violations  described  in  your  renewal  application 
 appear  to  have  been  isolated  occurrences.  Although  we  do  not  rule  out  more  severe  sanctions  for  violations  of  this  nature  in  the  future,  we  have  determined  that  an  admonition  is  appropriate  at 
 this  time.  Therefore,  based  upon  the  facts  and  circumstances  before  us,  we  ADMONISH  you  for  the  violations  of  the  childrens  television  commercial  limits  rule  and  policies  described  in  station 
 WATL(  TV)  s  renewal  application.  We  remind  you  that  the  Commission  expects  all  commercial  television  licensees  to  comply  with  the  limits  on  commercial  matter  in  childrens  programming. 


 Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED  that,  a  copy  of  this  Letter  shall  be  sent  by  First  Class  and  Certified  Mail,  Return  Receipt  Requested  to  WATL,  L.  L.  C.  at  the  address  listed  above,  and  to  its 
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 counsel,  Jennifer  Tatel,  Esquire,  Sidley  Austin  Brown  &  Wood,  1501  K  Street,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C.  20005. 
 Sincerely, 
 Barbara  A.  Kreisman  Chief,  Video  Division 
 Media  Bureau 
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