MMTC to FCC: Name Compliance Officer

Minority Media & Telecommunications Council asks Federal Communications Commission to name official to act as compliance officer for new rule banning discrimination in placement of broadcast advertising.

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/16/2008 10:41:00 AM

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council asked the Federal Communications Commission to name an official to act as a compliance officer for its new rule banning discrimination in the placement of broadcast advertising.

In a letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin July 15, when the new rule took effect, MMTC executive director David Honig said the compliance officer would make sure that broadcasters were aware of their new obligations.

As part of a package of initiatives to boost minority representation in the media, many of which the MMTC recommended, the commission adopted what the MMTC called "the first federal nondiscrimination mandate on any subject" in three decades.

The rule is meant to prevent advertisers from avoiding buying time on Hispanic- or African-American-targeted stations by requiring broadcasters renewing their licenses to "certify that their advertising-sales contracts contain nondiscrimination clauses that prohibit all forms of discrimination."

Broadcasters also took steps to make sure that none of those ad dollars are withheld because of so-called no-urban or no-Spanish dictates.