Adelstein: Rate Commercials for Content

Federal Communications Commission member to Appear on C-SPAN's The Communicators

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/13/2008 5:26:00 PM

Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein said children are "swimming in a sea" of inappropriate material across the TV, cable, satellite and video-game platforms and programmers should rate their commercials as well as their shows.

He also said he expects the FCC's decision on the XM Satellite Radio-Sirius Satellite Radio merger to happen "pretty shortly."

Adelstein was being interviewed for C-SPAN's The Communicators series.

Adelstein opined that he has talked with friends who, while watching family programming like sports or American Idol with their kids, have seen an ad for erectile dysfunction or beer or a violent program come on that is inappropriate for children.

If broadcasters are going to do that, they should rate their ads just as they rate their shows. Adelstein said a parent has the right to control that ad, as well as the program.

He also called for simplifying the ratings system and the V-chip and making the ratings more uniform.

Adelstein gave the cable and broadcast industry a shout-out for their digital-TV-education campaigns. "The broadcast and cable industries have really stepped to the plate," he said.

He added that he had still seen no proposal from FCC chairman Kevin Martin on the proposed XM-Sirius merger, but nonetheless he thought it would happen "pretty soon."

Adelstein said the decision will have to come in two parts, with the FCC first changing its rules to allow one company to own the two satellite-radio licenses. "Then we have to decide what to do about the merger and whether there are any specific conditions that need to be placed on it,” he added. “I expect that will happen pretty shortly."