Commercials on Public Media?
Joel Kaplan
April 17, 2012
Don Enderton writes:
"The PBS Spanish language station KVIE in Sacramento is running ordinary commercials (not "brought to you by" or "with the support of") but just flat out advertising, such as by L'Oreal, Oreo Cookies, Kool-Aid and State Farm Insurance. At least those are the commercials I watched between about 5:55 p.m. and 6:05 p.m. tonight.
"I thought this was 1) against FCC regulations and 2) contrary to what most of us (a long term subscriber) thought public television was about.
"Comment?"
I thought so too but because I don't live in Sacramento I was unaware of the programming. Apparently, KVIE subscribes to Vme, which is described on the Maryland Public Television site (which also subscribes to Vme) as a public-private partnership between WNET and the investment firm Baeza Group, the venture capital firm Syncom Funds and Grupo PRISA from Spain.
I asked Mr. Enderton to watch the channel further and report back to me. Mr. Enderton then proceeded to record two hours of Vme programming televised via KVIE on Feb. 24. During those two hours there were commercials for products ranging from Honda and Toyota to Oreo cookies, Mazola corn oil and Securos sin Barreras insurance.
"So my concern is not a KVIE concern, it is a PBS concern: Why do numerous PBS stations broadcast a commercial network on PBS frequencies?" asks Mr. Enderton "And how is this possible given what I thought were constraints on PBS from the FCC, not to mention PBS's own longstanding policies of NOT being a commercial broadcaster?
"Is PBS gradually privatizing itself out of fiscal necessity? If so, PBS should be upfront about this development, so we erstwhile supporters of "public" television know we are supporting something PBS is privatizing. (emphasis is Mr. Enderton's)"
A number of public television stations apparently subscribe to Vme in order to run Spanish-language programming to its viewers interested in such programming. It is not PBS content. But as Maryland Public Television points out:
"Despite being described as 'non-commercial' in some of its promotional materials, the channel does air regular commercials that are unlike the underwriting spots common on U.S. PBS stations."
Certainly the idea of running commercials on public broadcasting is not a new issue. Several politicians have been urging such a move for several years and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has made it part of his platform.
But as things currently stand, both FCC regulations and PBS guidelines prohibit such commercials from running. So how is it that these commercials run on KVIE?
KVIE says it airs Vme content unaltered as a pass-through for its third channel, which is all in Spanish. KVIE says it does not insert any local underwriting sports and its contract with Vme requires that its content comply with PBS and FCC guidelines.
"Vme is a national program service broadcast by many public television stations around the country, including KVIE," says Kevin Smith-Fagan, vice president for development at KVIE. "Our broadcast agreement with Vme requires Vme to provide Spanish language programming and spots consistent with FCC rules. We expect Vme to accept only programs and underwriting announcements that meet public television standards and comply with FCC rules. KVIE does not have the opportunity to evaluate the underwriting spots on Vme prior to broadcast. Spots are placed at the national Vme level."
However, the FCC disagrees. Ken Scheibel, assistant chief in the investigations and hearings division of the FCC, says that KVIE or any station that says they cannot filter Vme's content before it is aired makes that station vulnerable to violation.
Mr. Scheibel says that non oversight of content is not a defense and that the violating stations, not Vme, would face penalties or sanctions.
What is also clear is that any violations of these regulations are an FCC issue, not a CPB issue.
According to Robert Winteringham, CPB's deputy general council, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds stations that operate under non-commercial license rules (which the FCC refers to as "reserved" licenses since the spectrum is reserved for noncommercial educational use).
"One of the terms of a reserved license is that the station may not air commercials," Mr. Winteringham says. "As such, the prohibition on airing advertising is a matter that the FCC enforces. The FCC relies on citizens complaining for their enforcement of the prohibition on advertising. In other words, the FCC does not monitor stations to see whether stations operating under a reserved license are airing advertising or not. The FCC waits until a citizen complains about a station and then will conduct an investigation."
So apparently the FCC does not allow the types of commercials Mr. Enderton is upset about, but will not investigate unless it gets a citizen complaint.
So what does Vme have to say about this?
"Vme is abiding by FCC regulations, reviewing all creative copy to ensure that it meets guidelines," says Roselynn Marra, director of stations relations for Vme Media. "Additionally, as is common among public stations, Vme works with corporations to edit spots they may already have created to make them fit FCC guidelines.
"An example of this is the removal of pricing information from automotive spots that otherwise would be acceptable. It may be that the viewer you mention recognized one of these spots and did not realize that the objectionable portion of the spot had been removed.
"Vme has also created original spots for companies who wish to reach the Hispanic audience in support of public television.
"We are fully aware of our responsibilities in this regard and very concerned that you have received a complaint that has not come to our attention."
When provided with Mr. Enderton's specific complaints, Ms. Marra elaborated:
"I would like to distinguish for the viewer that Vme is not distributed by PBS. Also, it should be clear that Vme is not the only non-PBS provider of programming to local stations. As importantly, please note that Vme is the only Spanish language programming service offered to American public television stations, but NO viewer contributions or any resources from the public television stations are paid to Vme -- we provide this 24-hour Spanish language channel at no cost, and rely on corporate support to make this programming available.
"Created as a public private partnership in order to present a unique, alternative channel/programming for America's Spanish speakers, Vme grew out of the digital transition and the desire of public broadcasters to use the additional channels made possible by the conversion to connect with their local audiences, including the Hispanic community. Vme offers many of the traditional genres of programming, which differentiate public television, including educational preschool programming, news, arts, nature and culturally relevant programming -- all in Spanish. While some of these programs come from public television stations partners and producers, we also acquire programming from international distributors.
"The Vme channel is not subject to PBS guidelines but we do abide by FCC guidelines regarding cost, comparative language and calls to action. In order to accept only spots, which respect these guidelines, we must reject 3 - 4 times as many spots than we accept. A majority are edited as well to remove any objectionable language or visuals. With regard to the spots cited by the viewer, the "seguros sin barreras" was recently reevaluated regarding future broadcast.
"Programs on Vme are not interrupted solely for the purpose of announcements of corporate support; however the sponsor spots do appear during break periods preceding and following programming and in natural program breaks which feature other informational or short form programs, such as news bulletins. Although it is the practice of many stations to include a 'presented by...' credit or preamble for sponsors of a particular program or series, it's not required ...only that the identity of the corporations who have contributed be clear.
"Public television stations are following varying degrees of PBS guidelines and it seems that in order for some stations to survive with less government support, we have noticed more messages similar to those which run on commercial TV appearing on our stations. In those cases, as with the Vme programming, although the spots are similar, they avoid promises, guarantees, pricing, comparisons, and calls to action.
"As the note suggests, these are challenging times for public media. Yet, whether on Vme or on a station's other channels, the content is distinguishable, and is presented in an environment which is a safe haven for children, and an uplifting, life-enhancing space for adults. Standing beside the stations which present it, Vme strives to maintain the highest integrity in the subjective judgments required in following the FCC guidelines while providing the stations with a program service that proudly serves an important, underserved part of the community."
As a result of the ombudsman's inquiry into this issue, Alvaro Garnica, general manager of Vme, then send a memo to stations that carry Vme programming.
Here is what the memo says:
"We've been notified by some stations that certain spots running on Vme have caused some concern. This of course is of the highest priority to us at Vme. I am writing to advise you that we have undertaken a complete review of our current inventory with the assistance of our FCC Counsel, who has also reviewed and advised us on revision of our internal approval process.
"To enable the most complete spot review, we have removed sponsors' spots from our schedule for the next several days and replaced them with promos. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes your traffic or master control staff. The spot review will be completed next week, at which point we can determine which ones will continue; which removed, and which, if modified can be re-introduced for broadcast.
"We greatly value your partnership with us in service to your Hispanic communities, and hope that swift, effective attention to this matter will merit your trust and confidence in our process as we move forward together offering our community content that respects their culture and intelligence; educates their children; and encourages them every day to be, and learn more."
Despite the ongoing political debate about allowing commercials on public broadcasting, there is no question that Vme was pushing the envelope when it comes to current regulations.
Given that, it is probably time for the FCC to weigh in clearly about what is allowed and what is not allowed when it comes to such commercials/sponsorships on public media.
Addendum
April 18, 2012
David Lowe, president and general manager of KVIE, would like to clarify some elements of the above report:
"While Vme is designed to be a pass-through service, it also provides for local stations to insert underwriting spots at times. KVIE has made local insertions at times, but the difference is that our spots are in full compliance and were not any of the ones mentioned by the viewer who made the inquiry to you.
"We're also aware that as a station we are responsible for what is on our air, whether we have an opportunity to review prior to air or not. The report made it appear that the FCC disagreed with our assertion that we were not able to review spots prior to broadcast. We aren't able to review them based on the timing of the feed, but we expect all of our providers of programming and related underwriting messages and other spots to be in full compliance with the FCC rules for non-commercial television.
"In your closing, you mentioned that the FCC might want to weigh in clearly about what's allowed. From my vantage, they have made their rules clear, which is why there are very few violations each year across the country. The rules are there; they just need to be followed."
Addendum 2
April 24, 2012
In connection with the above report, a representative of the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission provided general background guidance to the CPB Ombudsman concerning the responsibilities of all broadcast licensees under the FCC's underwriting and sponsorship identification rules and policies. However, the Enforcement Bureau's representative did not specifically comment on any alleged misconduct by Station KVIE, Vme, or any other station or programmer in particular. As a general policy, the Enforcement Bureau does not comment on any pending investigation or confirm or deny the existence of any pending investigation. No comment attributed to the Enforcement Bureau's representative should be construed as specifically directed towards KVIE or Vme.
