The Nation - News from May 27, 1988

The House Commerce and Energy Committee voted 39 to 3 to send to the House floor a bill to limit the amount of advertising that may be shown during children’s television programs. The bipartisan compromise is stripped of earlier proposals to prohibit programs built around toy manufacturers’ products. The bill passed by the House committee would limit TV stations to no more than 10 1/2 minutes of commercials per hour during children’s shows on weekends and 12 minutes per hour during these programs on weekdays. It also would require the Federal Communications Commission to consider, when deciding whether to renew a station’s license, whether the station complied with the advertising limits and served the educational needs of children.