**GAO-11-659**                      Published: Jul 14, 2011. Publicly Released: Jul 14, 2011.                  

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## Highlights

The Children's Television Act of 1990 (CTA) and related Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules restrict advertising during children's programs, whether aired by broadcast stations, cable operators, or satellite providers, and encourage broadcasters to air at least 3 hours per week of educational and informational programming for children (known as "core children's programming"). Broadcasters that certify in their license renewal application that they aired the minimum amount of core children's programming are eligible for expedited review. As requested, this report discusses (1) trends in children's programming, (2) FCC efforts to enforce the act, and (3) the extent to which parents value and use core children's programming. GAO analyzed FCC data, interviewed FCC and broadcast station officials, and conducted focus groups with parents.

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Full Report (42 pages)

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## Topics

Telecommunications

Broadcasting standardsCable televisionChildrenCommercial televisionEducational televisionGovernment information disseminationSatellite televisionTelevisionTelevision advertisingTelevision broadcastingParentsEducation program evaluationInformation sharing

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##### FCC Oversight of the Children's Television Act

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