WMAQ Hit with Fine Over Kids' Programming
NBC-Owned Chicago Station Failed to Publicize 'Existence and Location' of Childrens'-TV-Programming Reports
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/23/2007 3:04:00 PM
The Federal Communications Commission proposed fining NBC-owned WMAQ-TV Chicago $10,000 for failing to publicize the “the existence and location” of its children’s-TV-programming reports.
In a 2005 license-renewal application, the station volunteered that it inadvertently failed to announce the information but had since rectified the situation. The FCC does not accept inadvertence as a defense and proposed the baseline fine.
The commission has been levying numerous fines for kids'-TV reporting and kids'-ad-limit violations as stations confess at renewal time.