[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 946 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 946
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multichannel video
programming distributors to provide a kid-friendly tier of programming.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 28, 2005
Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multichannel video
programming distributors to provide a kid-friendly tier of programming.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Kid Friendly TV Programming Act of
2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) More than a decade ago, the American Psychological
Society concluded that ``There is absolutely no doubt that
higher levels of viewing violence on television are correlated
with increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and increased
aggressive behavior.''.
(2) A study in 2003 found that adults who were ``high TV-
violence viewers'' as children are more than three-to-four
times as likely as other adults to be convicted of a crime and
to use violence against their spouses and other adults.
(3) Adults who watched more violent programming as children
were more likely to be arrested and convicted for spousal and
child abuse, murder and aggravated assault.
(4) Ten percent of violent acts committed by youths are
attributable to their exposure to violence on television.
(5) Forty percent of parents surveyed in l999 in Rhode
Island reported that at least one symptom of post-traumatic
stress disorder occurred after their child viewed a scary event
on television, and that this symptom lasted at least 1 month.
(6) The average child who watches 2 hours of cartoons a day
will view almost 10,000 violent acts a year.
(7) Teenagers who watched television with the greatest
amount of sexual content were twice as likely to initiate
sexual intercourse the following year as those who watched
television with the least amount of sexual content.
(8) The Kaiser Family Foundation reported in 2002 that 72
percent of teenagers think sex on television influences
``somewhat'' or ``a lot'' the sexual behavior of their peers.
(9) The Kaiser Family Foundation reported in 2003 that 64
percent of all television shows have some sexual content, and
that in prime time, 71 percent of the top 4 broadcast network
shows have some sexual content.
(10) The continued exposure of children to obscene,
indecent, sexual, or gratuitous or excessively violent content
on television is harmful to the public health and welfare of
communities across the country.
(11) Efforts to limit the exposure of children to
television programming that contains material with obscene,
indecent, violent, or sexual content, or to impose fines and
penalties for the broadcast of such content, have not been
successful in protecting children from harmful content.
(12) The number of homes in the United States that receive
television programming via cable or satellite providers is
estimated to have grown to 85 percent of American households,
and of that percentage, an estimated 95 percent of the
households subscribe to basic or expanded basic programs.
(13) The efforts to limit the exposure of children to
harmful television content have not been successful because
Federal regulatory agencies have not had the authority to
require cable and satellite providers to offer a child-friendly
tier of programming.
(14) Parents need more effective ways to limit the exposure
of children to television with harmful content through
alternative, child-friendly tiers of programs.
SEC. 3. BASIC TIER CONTENT RESTRICTIONS.
Part IV of title VI of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 641. KID-FRIENDLY PROGRAMMING TIER.
``(a) In General.--Within 1 months after the date of enactment of
the Kid Friendly TV Programming Act of 2005, each multichannel video
programming distributor shall offer a child-friendly tier of
programming consisting of no fewer than 15 channels.
``(b) Blocking Instructions.--Beginning 6 months after the date of
enactment of the Kid Friendly TV Programming Act of 2005, each
multichannel video programming distributor shall provide, as part of
the monthly statement of charges, instructions for how to block any
channel whose content a subscriber may wish to block.
``(c) Penalties.--In addition to any other penalty imposed under
this Act or title 18, United States Code, failure to comply with the
requirements of this section is punishable by a civil penalty of up to
$500,000 per day. Each day of such failure shall be considered a
separate offense.
``(d) Child-Friendly Defined.--In this section, the term `child-
friendly tier' means a group of channels that do not carry programming,
advertisements, or public service announcements that would be
considered inappropriate for children due to obscene, indecent,
profane, sexual, or gratuitous and excessively violent content.''.
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