Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, 19 other fined $3.4M for children’s TV advertising violation

FCC children’s TV advertising fine overview: 

• Who: The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) issued a combined $3.4 million fine to 21 broadcast licensees, including Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group. 
• Why: The FCC accused the broadcast licensees of violating the Children’s Television Act by playing Hot Wheels-themed commercials during a children’s show involving Hot Wheels. 
• Where: The fines were nationwide. 

The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) fined 21 broadcast licensees, including Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, a combined $3.4 million for allegedly violating the Children’s Television Act (CTA). 

The FCC issued the fine after the broadcast licensees continuously aired commercials for Hot Wheels during a show that was Hot Wheels-themed and directed at a child audience. 

The agency argued that airing the Hot Wheels commercials during a Hot Wheels-themed show could cause children to become confused between what is regular programming and what is commercial content. 

“In the Children’s Television Act, Congress sought to ensure that broadcasting would remain a special place for kids’ content,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says in a statement. “The law put clear limits on advertising on children’s programming.” 

The CTA limits the amount of commercials that can be aired during programming for children to 10.5 minutes per hour on the weekends and 12 minutes per hour on a weekday, Law360 reports. 

Broadcasters say they accidentally aired commercials during Hot Wheels children’s show

Additionally, the CTA considers it a violation for a broadcaster to play commercials for a product during a children’s show that features the same product. 

“Those limits were ignored here where broadcasters mixed toy commercials with content and violated our rules,” Rosenworcel says. 

Several of the broadcasters who have now been fined by the FCC over the children’s TV advertising violation disclosed to the agency in their license renewal applications in June 2020 that they had accidentally aired the Hot Wheels commercials during episodes of “Team Hot Wheels.” 

The broadcasters told the FCC that the commercial was pulled from the air immediately after they discovered it while pointing the finger at Sinclair for providing the Hot Wheels programming, Law360 reports. 

The FCC fined all but one of the Sinclair stations it found violated the CTA $32,000 each while each Nexstar station was fined $26,000. All other stations were fined $20,000 each, according to the FCC’s Notice of Apparent Liability. 

In other FCC fine news, in July, the FCC said it wanted to fine Verizon $100,000 for allegedly failing to provide the agency with enough data about its Premium Visual Voicemail service. 

Have you seen children’s TV advertising that violates the CTA? Let us know in the comments! 

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