Broadcasters Support Online Contest Rules Disclosure
Broadcasters supported the FCC-proposed change for stations to disclose material terms of station contests online instead of on-air (see 1411060048), with minor changes suggested, in comments posted Friday in docket 14-226. Broadcasters called it in interviews a rare proceeding where everyone agrees. The commission should decrease its proposed number of times a broadcaster is required to mention a website with contest rules, Entercom and Hubbard Broadcasting said. The NPRM was released Nov. 21 and approved unanimously.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The proposal would require broadcasters to mention a website every time a contest airs. Entercom, which filed the petition for the rule change, suggested a website address be broadcast at least three times per day. Periodic announcements of a website are sufficient and mirror the current rule, Hubbard's comment said. “There certainly needs to be something less than every time someone mentions a contest on air,” said Scott Flick, a broadcast lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop, which represents the Named States Broadcasters Associations. “In the old rule, no one ever defined how many disclosures was adequate. It was always a bit of guess work.”
Announcing where material terms can be found online every time a contest is mentioned or advertised "is overkill and creates clutter that disrupts the viewer or listener experience," said Kathleen Kirby of Wiley Rein, which represents Alpha Media and others in the proceeding. "Three times per day seems to be in accord with the FCC’s goal of ensuring that broadcast licensees promote and conduct contests fairly and honestly." The FCC wouldn't comment.
Most broadcasters and Americans have access to the Internet, so requiring broadcasters to disclose the terms online is “a logical change,” Flick said. The proceeding shows the commission is realizing that people have Internet access and only a small percentage of people and broadcasters don’t, he said.
The updated rules would benefit broadcasters and listeners, an NAB spokesman said. “The idea that in this day and age you need to read disclosures that last as long as the advertisement seems a little outdated.” The change would allow time for additional spots for advertisers and be less annoying for listeners, he said. "This will give listeners and viewers greater ability to digest the contest rules and determine how best to participate in any given promotion," Kirby said. The proposal “accurately reflects how today’s consumers access information,” NAB's comment said. Online disclosure will replace current “fleeting and rapidly communicated on-air announcements,” it said.
The rule shouldn’t keep broadcasters from disclosing these rules on-air, since a small percentage of stations don’t have broadband or their own websites, Flick said. In that case, the commission should allow stations to use a public website for disclosure, he said. The small portion of licensees that don’t have websites could use the broadcast method of disclosure, eliminating the economic burden of creating a website, Entercom's comment said. “The flexibility to continue doing it the existing way or shift to the new way is a reason you see no opposition to this proposal,” Flick said. Replies are due March 19.