Buzz Lightyear Bites Another Station
FCC Fines Two TV stations for Violations of Children's-TV Ad Limits
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/28/2007 9:22:00 AM
Buzz Lightyear struck again, costing one station a proposed $15,000, while another station faces a $13,000 fine for 25 separate violations.
Both stations ran afoul of the Federal Communications Commission's children's-TV ad limits.
Drawing the biggest fine was WZTV Nashville, Tenn., which was cited for four airings of a commercial that featured the Buzz Lightyear character in a Buzz Lightyear TV show. The FCC considers such "host selling," however fleeting the association, converting a show into a program-length commercial.
Buzz has been the bane of a number of stations.
Nexstar Broadcasting Group's WTVW (TV) Evansville, Ind., admitted to 25 instances where it exceeded the limits on commercials in children's-TV shows -- 12 minutes on weekdays, 10.5 minutes on weekends. The violations ranged from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.
In other kids’ TV decisions, the FCC admonished but did not fine Paxson's (now Ion Media Networks') WPXE Winosha, Wis., for failing to give electronic-program-guide publishers the age ranges for its kids’ shows, as the agency requires.
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