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Licensee, KTXA(TV) c/o Anne C. Lucey, Esq. Viacom Inc. 1501 M Street, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20005 Dear Licensee:  xThis letter constitutes a NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE in the  xamount of twelve thousand, five hundred dollars ($12,500) pursuant to Section 503(b) of the  xLCommunications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  503(b), under authority delegated to the  xjChief of the Mass Media Bureau by Section 0.283 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.283,  xfor repeated violations of the Commission's rule limiting the amount of commercial matter that may be aired during children's programming.  Xe- x>In the Children's Television Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101437, 104 Stat. 9961000, codified at  XP- x=47 U.S.C. Sections 303a, 303b and 394, Congress directed the Commission to adopt rules, inter  X;- xLalia, limiting the amount of commercial matter that television stations may air during children's  xprogramming, and to consider in its review of television license renewals the extent to which the  xlicensee has complied with such commercial limits. Accordingly, the Commission adopted  xzSection 73.670 of the Rules, 47 C.F.R.  73.670, which limits the amount of commercial matter  xwhich may be aired during children's programming to 10.5 minutes on weekends and 12 minutes  xLon weekdays. The Commission also stated that a program associated with a product, in which  x?commercials for that product are aired, would cause the entire program to be counted as  X"- x[commercial time (a "programlength commercial"). Children's Television Programming, 6 FCC  X#- x^Rcd 2111, 2118, recon. granted in part, 6 FCC Rcd 5093, 5098 (1991). The commercial  Xr$- xlimitations became effective on January 1, 1992. Children's Television Programming, 6 FCC Rcd 5529, 5530 (1991).  xLOn March 31, 1998, you filed an application for renewal of license (FCC Form 303S) for station  xKTXA(TV), Arlington, Texas (File No. BRCT980331KS). In response to Section III, Question  x4 of that application, you certify that, during the previous license term, station KTXA(TV) failed"),**qq'"  xto comply with the limitations on commercial matter in children's programming specified in  x=Section 73.670 of the Commission's Rules. In Exhibit 3 to the renewal application, you indicate  xthat between June 26, 1995, and October 1, 1996, station KTXA(TV) violated the children's  xtelevision commercial limits on ten occasions. Of those ten overages, two were 15 seconds in  xduration, one was 20 seconds in duration, two were 30 seconds in duration and five were  x!programlength commercials. As for the programlength commercials, you state that on  Xv- xSeptember 5 and 6, 1995, station KTXA(TV) aired a commercial for a Playmate Toys'  x"Exosquad" product during the "Exosquad" program. The third programlength commercial you  xdescribe occurred on February 14, 1996, when a commercial for Honeycomb cereal, which  xpromoted a Sega game contest and showed a "VR Troopers" character in the background, aired  xin a "VR Troopers" program. The remaining two programlength commercials occurred on  x\September 30 and October 1, 1996, when a commercial for a Hasbro "Transformer" toy aired  xduring the "Beast Wars" program. In addition to these ten overages, in a June 26, 1998  x amendment to the renewal application, you report that on May 28 and June 1, 1998, station  xKTXA(TV) exceeded the commercial limits by two seconds. You attribute the 12 total overages  xto human error or inadvertence and assert that, following each incident, measures were implemented to prevent future violations.  xStation KTXA(TV)'s record during the last license term of exceeding the commercial limits on  xchildren's television programming on 12 occasions, five of which were programlength  xcommercials, constitutes a repeated violation of Section 73.670 of the Commission's Rules.  xAccordingly, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act, Paramount Stations Group  x[of Fort Worth/Dallas (Paramount) is hereby advised of its apparent liability for forfeiture in the  xamount of twelve thousand, five hundred dollars ($12,500) for its apparent repeated violation of  x-Section 73.670 of the Commission's Rules. The amount specified was reached after consideration  xof the factors set forth in Section 503(b)(2) of the Communications Act, and, in particular, the  X- xfollowing criteria: (1) the number of instances of commercial overages; (2) the length and nature  xof each such overage; (3) the period of time over which such overages occurred; (4) whether or  x\not the licensee established an effective program to ensure compliance; and (5) the specific  xkreasons that the licensee gives for the overages. These criteria are appropriate in analyzing  xviolations of the commercial limits during children's programming, since they take into account,  X7- xiinter alia, "the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, and, with respect to the  X"-violator, the degree of culpability," as required under  503(b)(2)(D) of the Communications Act.r "J {O- xԍ In United States Telephone Ass'n. v. FCC, 28 F3rd 1232 (D.C. Cir. 1994), the U.S. Court of Appeals for  {Oe - xthe District of Columbia set aside Policy Statement, Standards for Assessing Forfeitures, 6 FCC Rcd 4695 (1991),  {O/!- xirecon. denied, 7 FCC Rcd 5339 (1992), revised, 8 FCC Rcd 6215 (1993), stating that the guidelines for assessing  xJforfeitures established therein must be subject to public comment to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act.  {O"- xIn accordance with the court's decision, the Commission released Forfeiture Guidelines Notice of Proposed  {O#- x,Rulemaking in CI Docket No. 956, 10 FCC Rcd 2945 (1995). After receiving and considering comments from the  {OU$- xpublic in that proceeding, the Commission adopted Forfeiture Guidelines Report and Order in CI Docket No. 956,   {O%- x12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997) (Forfeiture Guidelines). Forfeiture Guidelines became effective on October 14, 1997.  {O%- xZ62 Fed. Reg. 43474 (August 14, 1997). However, with regard to (i) all cases pending when Forfeiture Guidelines  xwas adopted, and (ii) all cases involving "violations arising from facts that occurred before the effective date of th[at]  xorder," forfeiture amounts are to be assessed "under the casebycase approach in effect when the violation occurred,"  {OC(- xin conformity with the standards set out in Section 503 of the Communications Act. Id. at 171089. Also under"C(,))("  {O- xxthe Forfeiture Guidelines, the Commission retained its "discretion . . . to issue forfeitures on a casebycase basis,  {OZ-under [its] general forfeiture authority contained in Section 503 of the Act. Id. at 17099. ""$,))qq "Ԍ xԙAs discussed above, station KTXA(TV) exceeded the children's television commercial limits on  x12 occasions. This is a significant number of overages. Overages of this number and nature  xmean that children have been subjected to commercial matter greatly in excess of the limits  X- xcontemplated by Congress when it enacted the Children's Television Act of 1990. Children's  X- xTelevision Programming, 6 FCC Rcd at 211718. In this regard, five of the overages were  xprogramlength commercials. Congress was particularly concerned about programlength  xycommercials because young children often have difficulty distinguishing between commercials  x and programs. S. Rep. No. 227, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. 24 (1989). Given this Congressional  xconcern, the Commission made it clear that programlength commercials, by their very nature,  X5- xare extremely serious violations of the children's television commercial limits, stating that the  xprogramlength commercial policy "directly addresses a fundamental regulatory concern, that  xchildren who have difficulty enough distinguishing program content from unrelated commercial  x-matter, not be all the more confused by a show that interweaves program content and commercial  X - xmatter." Children's Television Programming, 6 FCC Rcd at 2118. Accordingly, the Commission  x>has routinely assessed higher forfeitures for programlength commercials than for a greater  X - xnumber of conventional overages. See, e.g., Channel 39 Licensee, Inc. (WDZL(TV)), 12 FCC Rcd 14012, 14015 n.3. (1997).  xThe violations occurred, moreover, over an extended period of approximately three years. When  XS- xit delayed the effective date of Section 73.670 of the Rules until January 1, 1992, the  xLCommission stated that "giving the additional time to broadcasters and cable operators before  xcompliance with the commercial limits is required will have the effect of enabling broadcasters  X- x>and cable operators to hone their plans to ensure compliance . . . . " Children's Television  X- xProgramming, 6 FCC Rcd at 5530 n.10. Although Paramount appears to have made an effort  xto comply with the Commission's children's television commercial limits, that effort apparently  xwas not sufficient in light of the violations described in the station's renewal application. The  xonly reasons Paramount cites for the overages, human error and inadvertence, do not mitigate or  xexcuse such violations. In fact, the Commission has repeatedly rejected human error and  X- xinadvertence as a basis for excusing violations of the children's television commercial limits.   Xq- xSee, e.g., LeSea Broadcasting Corp. (WHKE(TV)), 10 FCC Rcd 4977 (MMB 1995) (LeSea  X\- xBroadcasting); Buffalo Management Enterprises Corp. (WIVBTV), 10 FCC Rcd 4959 (MMB  XG- xy1995); Act III Broadcasting License Corp. (WUTV(TV)), 10 FCC Rcd 4957 (MMB 1995); Ramar  X2- xCommunications, Inc. (KJTV(TV)), 9 FCC Rcd 1831 (MMB 1994). Furthermore, while corrective  xactions may have been taken to prevent subsequent violations of the children's television rules  xand policies, this does not relieve Paramount of liability for the violations which have occurred.  X- xSee, e.g., WHP Television, L.P., 10 FCC Rcd 4979, 4980 (MMB 1995); Mountain States  X - xLBroadcasting, Inc. (KMSBTV), 9 FCC Rcd 2545, 2546 (MMB 1994); R&R Media Corporation  X!- xM(WTWS(TV)), 9 FCC Rcd 1715, 1716 (MMB 1994); KEVN, Inc., 8 FCC Rcd 5077, 5078 (MMB  X"-1993); International Broadcasting Corp., 19 FCC 2d 793, 794 (1969).  X$- x? Given all of these considerations, station KTXA(TV)'s violation of Section 73.670 of the"$$,))qq(#"  x=Commission's rules on 12 occasions, five of which were programlength commercials, warrants  X- xa forfeiture in the abovespecified amount of $12,500. In a similar case, Television Marketing  X- xGroup of Memphis, Inc. (WLMT(TV) and WMTU(TV)), 12 FCC Rcd 15309 (1997) (Television  X- xMarketing Group), we assessed a $12,500 forfeiture for 14 commercial limit violations consisting  xof four programlength commercials, one oneminute overage and nine 30second overages. The  x[overages in that case occurred over a period of approximately three years and two months and  X|- xywere attributed to inadvertent human error. Compared to Television Marketing Group, station  xKTXA(TV) has fewer total violations, but more programlength commercials. In both cases, the  xviolations occurred over an extended period of years and were attributed to inadvertence and  xhuman error. For these reasons, we find station KTXA(TV)'s violations, on balance, to be  X" - x-comparable to those involved in Television Marketing Group. Therefore, having considered the  X - xZforfeiture amount assessed in Television Marketing Group, and in view of the five criteria we use  x/in analyzing violations of the commercial limits, we conclude that a comparable forfeiture is appropriate here.  x\You are afforded a period of thirty (30) days from the date of this letter "to show, in writing,  xwhy a forfeiture penalty should not be imposed or should be reduced, or to pay the forfeiture.  xAny showing as to why the forfeiture should not be imposed or should be reduced shall include  xa detailed factual statement and such documentation and affidavits as may be pertinent."  xSection 1.80(f)(3) of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.80(f)(3). Other relevant provisions of Section 1.80(f)(3) of the Commission's Rules are summarized in the attachment to this letter.  xNotwithstanding the substantial nature of the violations described here and the severity with  xwhich we regard them, we find you qualified to remain a Commission licensee and conclude that  xgrant of your application would serve the public interest, convenience and necessity. Therefore,  xthe license renewal application of Paramount Stations Group of Forth Worth/Dallas, Inc., for station KTXA(TV), Arlington, Texas, File No. BRCT980331KS, IS HEREBY GRANTED.  X- x` `  hh@FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION x` `  hh@Roy J. Stewart x` `  hh@Chief, Mass Media Bureau Enclosures "t$,))qq(#" LGallo/vsd/MMB  X- n:\winapps\wpwin\kidvid\ktxa.nal  X_- x $// Paramount Stations Group of Fort Worth/Dallas, Inc., KTXA(TV) (Arlington, Texas) DA 98 XH-2467//$ $/ 300.503(b) FORFEITURES (NAL) /$  X -$/ 73.670 COMMERCIAL LIMITS ON CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS /$#x6X@`7X@#  Y - #Xw PE37 |XP#