Changes in the Children's Television Marketplace, the Children's Television Act, and the First Amendment

Authors

Joel Timmer, Texas Christian University

Abstract

Since the passage of the Children's Television Act of 1990, broadcast television stations have been required to provide educational programming for children as a condition for license renewal. Since 1996, broadcasters can fulfill this obligation by providing three hours of such programming according to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) guidelines. These requirements were later extended to broadcasters' multicast channels. With more children's programming available today than ever before from a wide variety of sources, and with changes in the ways children consume programming, the FCC has proposed to revise its rules to reflect these changes. This Article considers the constitutionality of existing and proposed modifications of the children's programming requirements. Due to the relaxed level of First Amendment scrutiny applied to regulations of broadcast speech, many of the requirements would likely survive constitutional challenge. Others, though, may need to be changed or better justified.

Disciplines

Communications Law | Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law | First Amendment | Juvenile Law | Law | Television

Recommended Citation

Joel Timmer, Changes in the Children's Television Marketplace, the Children's Television Act, and the First Amendment, 37 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 731 (2019).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoaelj/vol37/iss3/11