Univision's Compliance Plan For Children's Programming

Univision secured the FCC's consent decree authorizing the instant transfer of its station licenses to new owner Broadcasting Media Partners, Inc. by making a twenty-four million dollar "voluntary contribution" to the US Treasury and establishing a "compliance plan" designed to prevent future violations of the Children's Television Act.

Plenty has been written about the fine but less, I suspect, will be said about the ten-point compliance plan. For the record, here are the details in all their dryness. (You can read the full text of the plan for yourself starting on pages 33 and 34 of the consent decree. Next Monday Multichannel News will publish an article of mine on Spanish-language children's programming. I cover the Hispanic television industry as a freelance reporter.)

The plan's purpose is to ensure that Univision stations broadcast three hours a week of educational and informative programs for an audience of kids fifteen and under.

The first item in the plan is the hiring of a "children's television compliance officer". Next and within sixty days Univision is to set up the "Educational/Informational Television Programming Advisory Committee" (EITPAC) and fill it with "outside professionals in the field of children's education". Univision appoints all the members.

Univision is to "make its own independent, good faith determination that each proposed program qualifies as E/I under the FCC's rules". The compliance officer will secure a written report and verification from the program producer or distributor that the purpose of the program is to educate and inform children. The network's legal department will review the report as well as some program episodes to ensure they are, in fact, educational and informative.

EITPAC has to file a report with the FCC every six months evaluating Univision's compliance. Again, members of EITPAC will be appointed by Univision. No word in the plan if members will be compensated for their time and effort.

Compliance officers will determine the "appropriate age range for each program acquired". They will also work with network lawyers to provide owned-and-operated stations to "fully and accurately complete FCC Form 398", which spells out how broadcasters are meeting the children's programming requirements.

Univision's legal department has three months to "conduct training sessions to ensure" the compliance officer and all Standards & Practices employees fully understand the network's E/I obligations. Company lawyers will also randomly select and review episodes of E/I programming to ensure they comply with FCC regulations.

The final point of the plan specifies any children's programming complaint will be "immediately" forwarded to the advisory committee, compliance officer and legal department. That's the long and the short of it.

I do not know if other broadcast networks have a similar structure in place. I do not know if the Univision compliance plan is laxer or tougher than what is in place at other networks.

That said, certain features do stand out.

Obviously, the post of compliance officer is vital. I emailed Univision's public relations manager early Tuesday evening and asked if a compliance officer had already been named. No response yet, but again it was after working hours. I wonder if Univision will make a point of letting educators, parents and viewers know of the existence of the compliance officer and how s/he can be reached.

As for the EITPAC, I wonder how independent they can and will truly be considering they are appointed and presumably can be dismissed by Univision. Will they volunteer or be paid? If paid, then how much? On what grounds can they be removed from EITPAC?  Will their names and contact information be prominently displayed on the Univision Web site? There are half a dozen or so prominent Latino experts in children's programming who enjoy a strong reputation (Professors Federico Subervi and Carlos E. Cortés come to mind). The presence of at least some of those experts would certainly allay fears about EITPAC's real independence. I asked the Univision's public relations manager if the members of the EITPAC had already been named. No response yet but I will follow up on Wednesday.

The plan makes clear Univision has no intention of producing its own children's programming.

Univision, however, will "make its own independent, good faith determination that each proposed program qualifies as E/I under the FCC's rules". Well, what is the alternative? A dependent, bad faith determination? Then again, arguing as Univision did that "Complices al Rescate", which centers on the kidnapping of a young girl, is both educational and informative might well be considered bad faith.

That the compliance officer will work with company lawyers to ensure Univision stations properly fill out FCC forms also seems like what someone should have been doing all along.

More later about the consent decree and the "divestiture trusts" to be used to avoid ownership ceilings.

Apologies for the incredibly dry prose but government consent decrees don't tend to be pageturners.