NBC, Hulu Help Out Common Sense Media

Donate airtime to "Power to the Parent" ad camapaign

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/2/2010 10:23:13 AM

NBCU and Hulu have teamed with Common Sense Media partners Comcast, Cox and Time Warner in donating airtime to a $40 million ad campaign, Power to the Parent, encouraging parents to take a larger role in their kids' media choices, according to the organization, one of whose founding board members is FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The group has created three TV spots. Also running the spots are Common Sense partners DirecTV, Yahoo! and Facebook.

Common Sense says the message is that while the media world has changed--kids spend 7.5 hours a day with media according to a Kaiser study cited by the group--parenting hasn't. "Parents can and should still be the primary influence in their kids lives and teach them to make smart, safe media choices. The ads drive interested parents to a special section of our site and encourages parents to find the resources they need."

Common Sense partners integrate the group's ratings and recommendations into their on demand or online programming. For example, Comcast carries Common Sense parenting tips On Demand and posts its movie reviews and links to other reviews at www.comcast.net.

Common Sense primarily advocates for parental control over government control of content, saying that the price of a free media is "a little extra homework for the parents."