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Noncom HD-2 & 3 Commercials?

C

Chuck

A friend asked me if noncommercial stations are allowed to air commercial content on their HD-2 & HD3 channels. My knee-jerk reaction was “no.” Noncommercial is noncommercial. But I wonder if that is another unexplored loophole in the FCC Rules? There seem to be a number of them when it comes to HD.

It seems he has witnessed a noncommercial station running what he thinks are “commercial” spots with a call to action, etc.

Any thoughts? More importantly, does anyone know the actual rule?
 
Same rules as the HD1.

A noncom can air underwriting that to the average listener sounds like a commercial, but to someone who knows exactly what a call to action is, it's legal.

You can say "The Z88.9 Z-Mobile is hitting the streets of Burlington County. Our friends at Burlington Automotive gave it to us to use. Burlington Automotive is located at 750 Route 130 in Burlington, NJ. Over 700 new and used vehicles in stock. It includes Burlington Kia and Burlington Volkswagen. Their number is 609-894-8900 and the website is myburlingtonauto.com"

You can't say "shop now at Burlington Automotive, choose from over 700 new and used vehicles priced under $10,000 each. Call 609-894-8900 or visit the website myburlingtonauto.com"

The difference is that you can't tell the listener to do something directly or mention any prices, but you can inform the listener on a non-comm.
 
Nick said:
Same rules as the HD1.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty familiar with the underwriting rules, having dealt with them for the last eight years. I wasn't sure about the HD part though. I agree with you that they is should be the same. I'm not sure that message has been driven home to all NCE's though. If my friend is correct, and I suspect that he is, then at least one is choosing to ignore those rules. I guess they figure nobody is listening to the HD.
 
Nobody is listening to the HD2. If someone were to complain to the FCC, they would have to document evidence from the HD2 audio, not the web stream.
The advertiser for the HD2 is wasting their money, unless the station has a lot of Internet listeners to the HD2. A noncom can have full blown advertisements on the web stream.
 
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