FCC Proposes $3.4 Million In Fines To Stations For Violating Children’s Ad Limits With Hot Wheels Commercials

deadline.com:

The FCC has proposed $3.4 million in fines to 21 broadcast licensees for the airing of Hot Wheels Super Ultimate Garage during episodes of Team Hot Wheels.The FCC said that was a violation of children’s TV programming rules, which limit the number of minutes of commercial time that can air during children’s programming.

In this case, it was a violation of a program-length commercial policy, designed to restrict the interweaving of program content from commercials.The largest proposed fine was $2.65 million to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

In its report — read it here — the agency said that in November, 2020, Sinclair voluntarily informed staff of the Media Bureau that a total of 85 of its stations had aired program length commercials “and thus failed to fully comply with the Children’s Programming Commercial Rules.”In its notice to the stations — read it here — the FCC said, “Specifically, Sinclair reported that for 84 of these stations, on eleven occasions between November 10, 2018, and December 15, 2018, the television stations aired a commercial for the ‘Hot Wheels Super Ultimate Garage’ playset during eight 30-minute showings of the program ‘Team Hot Wheels.’ The only deviation to this was Sinclair station WABM, Birmingham, Alabama, which aired nine ‘Hot Wheels Super Ultimate Garage’ commercials during seven episodes of ‘Team Hot Wheels.'”Starting in June 2020, a number of broadcasters, seeking to renew their licenses, informed the FCC that the Hot Wheels commercial inadvertently aired on 11 occasions of eight episodes of Team Hot Wheels, according to the agency.

The commercial was pulled after it was discovered. Multiple licensees informed the FCC that Sinclair as the provider of the programming with the related Super