A What? A "Standardized Television Disclosure Form"
Yes, but, this is Radio-Info?
Just watch, we radio folks will be filling out something similar to this form if the lefty idiots on the Commission get their way.
The TV form is out just as a draft now., awaiting rubber-stamp approval from OMB (there is supposed to be a law against new regulatory burdens on small business, but, hey, laws only apply to everyone else, not the government).
Sample questions:
1. Percentage of overall programing for the following: national news, local news, locally produced, local news produced by someone else ( e.g. a regional network like the Ohio News Network, or ABN), local civic affairs, local electoral affairs (e.g. kissing up your congressman by giving him/her free time to spout), other local programming, PSA's, and paid public affairs.
2. (This is where the fun begins)--a list of all "local civic affairs", "local electoral affairs", "independently produced program" and "local programming (anything that doesn't fit elsewhere by date aired, who produced, title, length, number of times aired, and whether it was sponsored.
3.List of all PSA's aired, how many times, who for, who sponsored (and includes, as does the next several items, the time they were aired, where produced (local or not), sponsored or not, etc.)
4.All programs aimed at underserved communities, e.g. whoever shouts the loudest when the first of the month checks are late...
5.Religious programming--aired for no charge. The ones you would make a little money on don't count?
Plus listing of the local and national news programs and if they included stories with "significant treatment of community issues"
Once all that is cataloged then all the times emergency information was broadcast must be listed, as well as any ascertainment efforts were made by the station.
I've left out some of the other TV-specific items such as closed-captioning, and programing on secondary channels, but you get the idea. When done, the form is posted on the station web site.
With a little tweaking, the FCC bureaucrats could easily dream up a similar form for radio. And, reading between the lines in the "localism" rule making proposal, it appears this just what they intend to do. Go to http://www.helpradionow.com/ for further information about this proceeding, comments are due by March 14.
This is the proceeding that talks about returning to 24/7 manned operation, the old main studio rules, bringing back ascertainment and requiring that radio set up community advisory boards. I suspect that a deal has already been cut, in return for the approval of the Tribune and CC privatization deals, we will get a radio version of this form. Thereby allowing the ngo pressure groups and the FCC bureaucrats to sit in their swivel chairs in Washington and send out nasty letters or notices of violation if we don't post the form on time, or our percentages of PA programs don't meet some shifting standard.
Yes, but, this is Radio-Info?
Just watch, we radio folks will be filling out something similar to this form if the lefty idiots on the Commission get their way.
The TV form is out just as a draft now., awaiting rubber-stamp approval from OMB (there is supposed to be a law against new regulatory burdens on small business, but, hey, laws only apply to everyone else, not the government).
Sample questions:
1. Percentage of overall programing for the following: national news, local news, locally produced, local news produced by someone else ( e.g. a regional network like the Ohio News Network, or ABN), local civic affairs, local electoral affairs (e.g. kissing up your congressman by giving him/her free time to spout), other local programming, PSA's, and paid public affairs.
2. (This is where the fun begins)--a list of all "local civic affairs", "local electoral affairs", "independently produced program" and "local programming (anything that doesn't fit elsewhere by date aired, who produced, title, length, number of times aired, and whether it was sponsored.
3.List of all PSA's aired, how many times, who for, who sponsored (and includes, as does the next several items, the time they were aired, where produced (local or not), sponsored or not, etc.)
4.All programs aimed at underserved communities, e.g. whoever shouts the loudest when the first of the month checks are late...
5.Religious programming--aired for no charge. The ones you would make a little money on don't count?
Plus listing of the local and national news programs and if they included stories with "significant treatment of community issues"
Once all that is cataloged then all the times emergency information was broadcast must be listed, as well as any ascertainment efforts were made by the station.
I've left out some of the other TV-specific items such as closed-captioning, and programing on secondary channels, but you get the idea. When done, the form is posted on the station web site.
With a little tweaking, the FCC bureaucrats could easily dream up a similar form for radio. And, reading between the lines in the "localism" rule making proposal, it appears this just what they intend to do. Go to http://www.helpradionow.com/ for further information about this proceeding, comments are due by March 14.
This is the proceeding that talks about returning to 24/7 manned operation, the old main studio rules, bringing back ascertainment and requiring that radio set up community advisory boards. I suspect that a deal has already been cut, in return for the approval of the Tribune and CC privatization deals, we will get a radio version of this form. Thereby allowing the ngo pressure groups and the FCC bureaucrats to sit in their swivel chairs in Washington and send out nasty letters or notices of violation if we don't post the form on time, or our percentages of PA programs don't meet some shifting standard.