The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week agreed to wind down a compliance-related investigation against Nexstar Media Group over its handling of advertising spots aired during children’s television programming, among other matters.
The agreement was approved Tuesday by the Acting Chief of the FCC’s Media Bureau. The settlement requires Nexstar to make a “voluntary” contribution of $80,500 to end the investigation, which will also resolve matters over the company’s non-compliance of certain public records requirements at a handful of its local TV stations.
The consent decree covers three separate regulatory matters, including violations of federal restrictions on commercials during children’s television programs that occurred at Tribune Media, which Nexstar acquired in 2019.
During a one-month period in late 2018, more than a half-dozen TV stations owned by Tribune aired commercials for the Hot Wheels Super Ultimate Garage toy during episodes of “Team Hot Wheels.” The commercial appeared 11 times across eight half-hour episodes of the program, which was distributed through Sinclair’s former KidsClick programming block.
FCC regulations generally limit commercial advertising during children’s programming to 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends and 12 minutes per hour on weekdays. The rules also prohibit certain advertising practices, including commercials for products directly associated with the program being broadcast. Under those restrictions, the entire episode can be classified as a program-length commercial when an advertisement for an associated product appears during the show.
The FCC initially proposed $182,000 in penalties in September 2022 and affirmed the forfeiture in September 2024. Nexstar and other affected broadcasters subsequently sought reconsideration. The settlement resolves the forfeiture as it applies to Nexstar’s stations.
The affected stations at the center of the children’s advertising non-compliance probe were KDVR (Channel 31, Fox) in Denver, KFCT (Channel 22, Fox) in Fort Collins, KIAH (Channel 39, CW) in Houston, KTLA (Channel 5, CW) in Los Angeles, KTXL (Channel 40, Fox) in Sacramento, independent station WGN-TV (Channel 9) in Chicago, WGNO (Channel 26, ABC) in New Orleans and WDAF-TV (Channel 4, Fox) in Kansas City.
The FCC initially proposed $182,000 in penalties in 2022 and upheld the fine two years later. Nexstar and its affected broadcast stations lobbied the agency for reconsideration.
Separately, the agreement addresses allegations that 43 Nexstar television stations failed to promptly upload certain political advertising records to their online public inspection files. That probe was launched after an informal objection was raised by WNAC (Channel 64, Fox) in a similar matter.
Federal law requires broadcasters to maintain publicly accessible records of political advertising requests, including information about advertising purchased by candidates and organizations addressing matters of national importance. The FCC requires stations to upload those records promptly, generally immediately unless unusual circumstances prevent compliance.
The consent decree dismisses the pending objections with prejudice and requires Nexstar to implement procedures intended to prevent future political file violations.
A third matter involves three television facilities where Nexstar completed authorized construction but failed to submit license-to-cover applications before the applicable deadlines.
Those facilities include KFOR-TV (Channel 4, NBC) in Oklahoma City, WHBF-TV (Channel 4, CBS) in Rock Island, Illinois and KUWB-LD (Channel 22, CW) in Bloomington, Utah.
Nexstar attributed the late filings to administrative oversight. The FCC granted the company’s waiver requests, reinstated the expired construction permits and approved the associated license applications.
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Under the agreement, Nexstar must make its $80,500 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury within 30 days and designate a compliance officer responsible for implementing the new procedures. The company must also develop compliance manuals, provide employee training and establish procedures for reporting potential violations involving children’s advertising and political records. Those requirements will remain in effect for two years.
With the probes resolved, the FCC subsequently renewed the broadcast licenses of numerous Nexstar-owned or operated TV stations for full eight-year terms, dating back to their original expiration dates.
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Disclosure: The author of this story worked for KTXL from 2008 to 2010, while it was under the ownership of Tribune Media.
