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

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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