• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, February 3, 2005

The ad industry Wednesday asked federal regulators to reconsider new children's TV advertising rules on the grounds that they would have a negative impact on children's programming, as well as the "nascent interaction between television and the Internet."

The appeal, which was made by the Association of National Advertisers, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and the American Advertising Federation, comes at a time when another major regulatory threat--the marketing of food products aimed at kids--also may undermine much of the economic base that supports children's television programming.

In a petition filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the ad groups argued that the FCC "erred" when it recently made two changes to the rules governing children's programming:

1) Redefining "commercial matter" and removing the exclusion for internal promotional spots for other programs on the same channel.

2) Imposing serious restrictions on the display of commercial Web site addresses during children's programming.

"The new FCC rules would impose a dramatic new squeeze on the amount of time available during children's programming," stated Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the ANA. "They would also place premature, speculative, and unreasonable barriers on the interaction between TV and the Internet. These rules will harm advertisers, broadcasters, Web sites, and ultimately, children's programming."