New Year Brings New Rules for Children’s Programs

WASHINGTON —  To help parents find educational TV shows for their kids, broadcasters beginning this week must flag shows they classify as educational and promote them in TV listings.

The on-screen symbols or on-air announcements are different from TV ratings, designed to alert parents to a show’s sexual and violent content. Some broadcasters already have begun to air the on-screen ratings tags.

The educational symbols, required as of Thursday, are part of new federal children’s television rules. At the beginning of each educational show, broadcasters plan to air an on-screen symbol, “E/I” for educational/informational.

If TV stations don’t air the symbol, they can use an on-air announcement at the beginning of the show, the Federal Communications Commission says.

Depending on the station, some viewers may see the symbols a lot, while others may not.

But beginning in September, all TV stations will be required for the first time to air at least three hours of educational shows each week. The goal is to give America’s kids more and higher-quality shows to watch.

The three-hour requirement doesn’t apply to cable television because cable is not federally licensed, as TV stations are.

Broadcasters say the three-hour rule won’t make a big difference because the average TV station already airs more than four hours of high-quality educational shows a week. These shows include Fox’s “Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego” and CBS’ “Beakman’s World.”

Also beginning this week, TV stations must start collecting more detailed information about the educational shows they air.

The information must be filed quarterly and be available at the station for public inspection. The new information includes the number of educational shows a station airs, what the educational purpose is and ages targeted. Stations are to file their first reports on April 10, the FCC said.

Under the rules that take effect in September, stations will face a tougher definition of what constitutes an educational show than previous regulations, when some broadcasters had listed “The Jetsons” and “Leave It to Beaver” in that category.

But like the old definition, the new one could be interpreted differently by broadcasters and regulators. It generally defines educational material as designed for youngsters 16 and younger and serving their intellectual, cognitive, social and emotional needs.