House: Hearings On Food Marketing To Kids

As if TV networks don't have enough to worry about when it comes to food advertisers.

Now word comes that the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), will probably hold hearings on the media's food marketing to kids--possibly this summer.

The only question is whether to hold them before or after a government-industry task force on childhood obesity and food marketing makes its recommendations to Congress.

That task force could recommend limiting--or even eliminating--food ads for children's television programs. Markey doesn't want to wait, which could raise concerns for nervous kids' TV advertisers--especially those that buy TV time in the high-demand fourth-quarter holiday sales.

In a separate but related matter, the FCC yesterday gave WKBW-TV in Buffalo, N.Y. an official reprimand for failing to maintain its files on children's programming.

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