Action for Children's Television v. F.C.C., 84-1052
| Decision Date | 19 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-1052,84-1052 |
| Citation | 756 F.2d 899 |
| Parties | , 11 Media L. Rep. 2080 ACTION FOR CHILDREN'S TELEVISION, Petitioner, v. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION and United States of America, Respondents, CBS, Inc., National Association of Broadcasters, Washington Association for Television and Children, Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., Communication Commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Association of Independent Television Stations, Inc., Forward Communications Corp., et al., National Broadcasting Company, Inc., Intervenors. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Petition for Review of an Order of the Federal Communications commission.
Henry Geller, Washington, D.C., with whom William August, Cambridge, Mass., was on the brief, for petitioner.
C. Grey Pash, Jr., Counsel, F.C.C., Washington, D.C., with whom Bruce E. Fein, Gen. Counsel, and Daniel M. Armstrong, Associate Gen. Counsel, F.C.C., Washington, D.C., were on brief, for respondents. George Edelstein and Robert B. Nicholson, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., entered appearances for respondent Dept. of Justice.
Sally Katzen, Washington, D.C., with whom Carl R. Raney, Joel Rosenbloom, Carol H. Fishman, Valerie G. Schulte, Washington, D.C., Corydon B. Dunham, New York City, and Howard Monderer, Washington, D.C., were on joint brief, for intervenors American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., et al. Erwin G. Krasnow, Washington, D.C., also entered an appearance for intervenor Nat. Ass'n of Broadcasters.
Barbara R. Shufro, Wilhelmina Reuben Cooke, Washington, D.C., and Donna Demac, New York City, were on brief, for intervenors Wash. Ass'n for Television and Children, et al.
J. Laurent Scharff, Jack N. Goodman and Robert J. Aamoth, Washington, D.C., were on brief, for intervenor Ass'n of Independent Television Stations, Inc. James M. Smith, Washington, D.C., also entered an appearance for intervenor Ass'n of Independent Television Stations, Inc.
Robert M. Gurss and Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Washington, D.C., were on brief, for amicus curiae Nat. Educ. Ass'n urging reversal.
Before WRIGHT, GINSBURG, * and SCALIA, Circuit Judges.
Opinion PER CURIAM.
Petitioner Action for Children's Television and supporting intervenors ("petitioners") challenge the Federal Communications Commission's January 4, 1984 Report and Order defining the obligations of television broadcast licensees to their child audiences. See In re Children's Television Programming and Advertising Practices, 96 F.C.C.2d 634 (1984) ("1984 Order"). There the Commission found that the video market, considered as a whole, does not exhibit a clear failure to serve the needs and interests of the child audience, and that mandatory programming rules (including flexible processing guidelines for license renewal applications) raise serious problems of law and policy; and accordingly elected simply to reaffirm "the general licensee obligations emphasized by the Commission in its [Children's Television Report and Policy Statement, 50 F.C.C.2d 1 (1974) ("1974 Statement"), aff'd sub nom., Action for Children's Television v. FCC, 564 F.2d 458 (D.C.Cir.1977) ] and ... the general requirement that stations provide programming responsive to the needs and interests of the communities they serve." 96 F.C.C.2d at 655 (footnote omitted). Petitioners assert that the agency improperly considered the children's programming available from all video sources in finding no market failure warranting more intensive regulation of commercial broadcasting; that it gave insufficient consideration to flexible processing guidelines; that it arbitrarily and without explanation dropped the 1974 Statement's requirement that licensees make a reasonable effort to provide age-specific, informational, and educational children's programming; and that it ignored relevant evidence.
After carefully considering petitioners' arguments, we conclude that the Commission's decision was within the broad scope of its discretion and was adequately explained by the 1984 Order. See FCC v. WNCN Listeners Guild, 450 U.S. 582, 593-96, 101 S.Ct. 1266, 1273-75, 67 L.Ed.2d 521 (1981); NAACP v. FCC, 682 F.2d 993, 998 (D.C.Cir.1982). The differences between the 1984 Order and the 1974 Statement are attributable to changes in the Commission's judgment about how best to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity, and the reasons for these changes are stated in the Order with sufficient clarity to withstand judicial scrutiny. See Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Ass'n, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 463 U.S. 29, 42-43, 103 S.Ct. 2856, 2866-67, 77 L.Ed.2d 443 (1983).
Only two issues raised by petitioners require brief...
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Action for Children's Television v. F.C.C.
...of the audience." Children's Television Programming and Advertising Practices, 96 F.C.C.2d 634, 656 (1984), aff'd sub nom. ACT v. FCC, 756 F.2d 899 (D.C.Cir.1985). In 1983, the Commission embarked upon a general program of deregulating the commercial and programming content of television. S......
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Office of Communication of United Church of Christ v. F.C.C.
...television programming, and declining to impose specific children's programming guidelines), aff'd, Action for Children's Television v. FCC, 756 F.2d 899 (D.C.Cir.1985) (per curiam). We see no reason for requiring special treatment, in an applicant's programming statement, for this componen......