FCC Bolsters Children's TV Requirements
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U.S. television broadcasters that  decide to offer more programming on over-the-air digital  channels will also have to include some additional shows geared  toward children, U.S. regulators ruled on Thursday.
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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) changed its rules on Friday in hopes of promoting wider broadband access throughout the nation by offering the service over power lines.
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Children's cable TV channels owned  by Viacom Inc. and Disney Corp. have agreed to settle  allegations they violated federal advertising restrictions for  children's programming, U.S. regulators said on Thursday.
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The U.S. Federal Communications  Commission this week hopes to do what Congress could not  accomplish this year -- help AT&T Inc. and Verizon  Communications get into the television business faster.
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Federal regulators are stepping up their pressure on television stations to give up billions of dollars worth of airwaves in major markets around the country, saying the spectrum is urgently needed by local public safety officials.
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The popular childrenâs cable network is pushing hard into the online world with a new Web site that will let its young users enter their own world of Internet activities.
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In a broad discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show, U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)&#160;Chairman Kevin Martin on Tuesday confirmed that the deadline for the country&#39;s switch to digital TV next year will not be postponed, explained the rationale behind the requirements for the current 700MHz auction, and gave hints about his thinking regarding various communications megamergers.Interviewed at the show by Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro, Martin said the February 2009 deadline for the digital TV switch is a &quot;hard deadline.&quot; He said a postponement would &quot;dis-incentivize&quot; industry to make the transition.&quot;After all of our efforts we couldn&#39;t just turn around and say &#39;We&#39;re just kidding,&#39;&quot; he said.About 50 percent of all homes in the U.S. now have digital TVs, and the CEA forecasts that some 28 million digital TVs will be bought in the U.S. this year, Shapiro noted.The transition to digital will not only improve picture quality for consumers, but also free up spectrum that can be used for wireless broadband, Martin stressed. He also noted that the extra spectrum provided by the switch would be used to improve public safety, allowing for better communications between fire departments and police. The need for better coordination among law enforcement and safety officials was a major point made in the 9/11 Commission report, he noted.Requirements related to the auction for 700MHz spectrum blocks in the U.S. will play an important part in bringing broadband access to more people, such as inhabitants in rural areas, who have limited wireless options now, he said.The spectrum auction has been broken up into blocks. One block, for example, has open-access rules and is broken up into 12 regional licenses across the U.S. There are also &quot;buildout&quot; requirements that will ensure that auction winners will actually put the spectrum to use in a reasonable timeframe, Martin said.He declined to comment directly on the planned merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, currently under review by the Department of Justice. But he noted that the companies have been talking about a la carte pricing plans for shows, which would give consumers a wide range of options to choose different bundles of programs and prices. Martin said he would encourage content providers -- especially cable TV companies -- to offer this type of program-options plan.One disappointment in the wake of communications industry deregulation has been the rising price of cable TV, he said.Martin stopped short of saying that approval of the Sirius-XM merger would set a regulatory precedent for a rumored merger deal between satellite TV companies Echostar and DirecTV. But he did say that it would be important for the satellite TV companies to give consumers more pricing and program bundle options as part of any merger plan.&quot;This is the type of thing we&#39;d be looking at,&quot; he said.
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TV stations are prescribing more renewals for "Dr. Phil."
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Watching television can harm children much more than previously thought as it raises the risk of bad eyesight, obesity, premature puberty and autism, a study has shown.
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Ministers will order television companies this week to come up with a new set of rules to stop children being exposed to advertisements encouraging them to fill their stomachs
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For all the hand-wringing  policymakers do over television, parents say they are gaining  control over what their kids watch, according to a survey  released Tuesday.
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Lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday aimed at protecting children from indecent television programs by forcing cable and satellite providers to offer a modified form of la carte programming or make other changes in the way they operate.
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WASHINGTON - It&#39;s one of the biggest technical changes in television since color TV: the digital transition. And because many Americans remain in the dark about it, federal regulators began an education campaign Monday to enlighten them.
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By JANICE RHOSHALLE LITTLEJOHN  LOS ANGELES - Before her daughter was born, Marnie Cooper sifted through newspaper and magazine articles, weighing the pros and cons of exposing young children to TV.
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Broadcasters and other entertainment providers unveiled a $300 million ad campaign Thursday to teach parents how to shield their children from objectionable television shows.
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TiVo is looking to religious leaders to get the word out about a new feature that helps parents control the TV shows their children watch.
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The U.S. Federal Communications  Commission on Tuesday set a roadmap for making airwaves between  television channels available for other services by early 2009,  when broadcasters are due to switch to digital signals.