Earlier this week, Comcast — the largest cable operator in the U.S. — stated in a filing to the Federal Communications Commission that it would commit to limit interactive advertising in children’s programming as a condition of obtaining approval of its acquisition of NBC Universal.  Specifically, as long as they have control over the program’s advertising, Comcast and NBCU will not insert interactive advertising into broadcast and cable programming that targets an audience of children 12 years old and younger.  Comcast defined “interactive advertising” to mean:

advertising for commercial products that is primarily targeted to children 12 and under and includes: interactive, overlap pop-up advertising; telescoping; long-form advertising (but does not include enabling the consumer to ‘telescope’ to additional linear or on demand programs); voting or polling requests that promote a product or service or gain information about consumer commercial preferences; T-Commerce that enables a consumer to purchase advertised products using a remote; and branded, interactive gaming which promotes a product.

In 2004, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on interactive advertising, but the Commission hasn’t taken any further action to adopt any new rules in this area.  In its Notice, the FCC tentatively concluded that it should prohibit interactivity during children’s programming that connects viewers to commercial matter unless parents opt in to such services.  As noted by FCC staff during a recent ABA program on marketing to minors, however, industry and even some consumer groups have urged that requiring opt-in consent for interactive advertising in children’s programming might not be the right approach.   As technology improves and interactive advertising becomes more widely used, marketers should pay attention to this ongoing proceeding.    

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Photo of Lindsey Tonsager Lindsey Tonsager

Lindsey Tonsager helps national and multinational clients in a broad range of industries anticipate and effectively evaluate legal and reputational risks under federal and state data privacy and communications laws.

In addition to assisting clients engage strategically with the Federal Trade Commission, the…

Lindsey Tonsager helps national and multinational clients in a broad range of industries anticipate and effectively evaluate legal and reputational risks under federal and state data privacy and communications laws.

In addition to assisting clients engage strategically with the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Congress, and other federal and state regulators on a proactive basis, she has experience helping clients respond to informal investigations and enforcement actions, including by self-regulatory bodies such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and Children’s Advertising Review Unit.

Ms. Tonsager’s practice focuses on helping clients launch new products and services that implicate the laws governing the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising and social media, the collection of personal information from children and students online, behavioral advertising, e-mail marketing, artificial intelligence the processing of “big data” in the Internet of Things, spectrum policy, online accessibility, compulsory copyright licensing, telecommunications and new technologies.

Ms. Tonsager also conducts privacy and data security diligence in complex corporate transactions and negotiates agreements with third-party service providers to ensure that robust protections are in place to avoid unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of customer data and other types of confidential information. She regularly assists clients in developing clear privacy disclosures and policies―including website and mobile app disclosures, terms of use, and internal social media and privacy-by-design programs.