FCC Unanimously Approves Online Broadcast Contest Rule Disclosure
The FCC unanimously approved updated rules for broadcast contests that will allow TV and radio stations to publicize contest rules on the Internet as an alternative to broadcasting them, as was expected (see 1509040043). “Updating our rules to allow use of the Internet to disclose contest information is a common-sense move that will benefit both broadcasters and consumers,” Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a written statement.
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The order appears to incorporate nearly every request made by broadcasters and appears to follow their suggestions closely, said former Entercom General Counsel Jack Donlevie, who proposed the rule change in 2012 and came out of retirement to attend Thursday’s FCC meeting. Donlevie credited Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and Media Bureau staff with surfacing the proposal and getting it approved.
The new rules allow broadcasters to explain their contest rules through text on a Web page rather than on the broadcast, as required by the original rules from 1976. Instead of periodically scrolling fine print or employing fast-talking voice actors, broadcasters are required to “periodically” announce a website where consumers can go to read the rules. Fast talking and small print don’t lead to a discussion “as fulsome” as the kind of discussion available on a website, Wheeler said. ”The consumer ends up benefitting from this,” he said, saying the FCC will be watching to make sure the new rules are followed.
In response to concerns raised by broadcasters, the rules focus on flexibility, bureau staff told us. They don’t impose a numerical requirement on how often the website must be announced, and they don’t require broadcasters to post the rules on a specific Web page. Licensees can post the information “on the station’s website, the licensee’s website, or, if neither the individual station nor the licensee has its own website, any Internet website that is readily accessible to the public,” the order said. Though the bureau initially proposed requiring broadcasters to announce a “complete, direct website address” on air, that has been abandoned as being “unduly burdensome to broadcasters and confusing to the public,” the order said. Instead, broadcasters must “identify the website in language that enables a typical consumer easily to locate the website’s home page online” and the contest rules must be available in a link or tab, the order said.
Broadcasters are required keep the contest terms online for at least 30 days after the contest ends, and announce on-air if the terms of a contest have changed since it was first announced, the order said.
All FCC members expressed uncritical approval of the rule change. It "brings our Contest Rules up to date with how the public accesses and consumes information today," Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said. Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Ajit Pai both said they hoped the commission's approval of an updated version of an old rule is an omen for other legacy regulations. “From AM radio to the IP transition, I hope that we will continue to work together to ease outdated regulatory burdens in the months to come,” Pai said. “Hope springs eternal that this is a sign of more good things to come,” O’Rielly said.