Suze Orman: Public Television Parasite

Thank you for your message to PBS about the underwriting of children's programming.

Public television is made possible by a remarkable public-private partnership involving individuals, businesses, state and federal governments, foundations and educational institutions. We are grateful to our underwriters for their generous support of our unique program service, which is used each week by 96 million Americans.

Federal statutes require that program underwriters be disclosed on the air at the time of a broadcast. PBS has strict guidelines for the underwriting announcements on our nationally distributed programs. Our independently owned and operated member stations are encouraged to follow these guidelines as well in their decisions regarding local underwriting announcements. PBS underwriting messages are limited to 15 seconds in duration and never interrupt programs.

PBS's national underwriting guidelines prohibit the promotion of any specific product or service (e.g., no price information, product comparisons, calls to action, or superlatives are allowed). We track the numerous FCC cases which interpret the word "advertisement" and know that PBS guidelines are invariably stricter than what the FCC would seem to allow. The federal statutes and regulations, as well as PBS guidelines, recognize that it is important and necessary to be able to identify underwriters by their specific products or services, without promoting them.

PBS has been parents' trusted television partner for nearly three decades. We take added measures to make sure underwriting announcements before and after children's programs do not evoke advertising messages that are commonly aimed at children on commercial stations. For example, if an underwriter is a product or service that would particularly appeal to children, we allow no depiction of that product, and any message directed toward children must be one of support for public television or for learning and education. Companies whose products or services are not intended to appeal to children, such as Pfizer underwriting Sesame Street, must follow our regular guidelines. We are pleased and gratified when such corporate funders choose to create underwriting spots that relate to the content of the program they are supporting while at the same time delivering a message directed to parents that is both appropriately informative and value-neutral as to its own features.

When it comes to judging whether or not a product is a good one for children to have or to want, we believe that decision is best made by parents. While there are categories that we exclude entirely from underwriting on our national broadcasts (such as firearms, tobacco and distilled spirits), every family has its own standards regarding what is suitable for children.

Finally, since your correspondence reflects that you are concerned about the commercial influence of television on children, we encourage you to help your local public television station obtain the resources it needs to continue to offer fine educational programs in a noncommercial environment. Only PBS member stations present curriculum-based programs accompanied by informative outreach materials to every American home commercial-free and free-of-charge. Obtaining the funds necessary to produce and promote these programs is a constant challenge. We welcome and need the assistance of every individual who desires to improve the children's television landscape.

Again, thank you for bringing your views to our attention. We hope we can work with you to fulfill our mission of ensuring that top quality, noncommercial, nonviolent, educational programming and services are available free of charge to every American child.

Sincerely,

PBS Viewer Services