The network affiliates want the FCC to "clarify" that its new enhanced sponsorship ID rules for foreign-owned government-supplied programming does not apply to long-form advertising (infomercials).

The FCC in April voted to boost broadcasters' disclosure requirements for programming on airtime leased by a foreign entity. The move comes amid heightened focus on disinformation campaigns and despite some pushback from broadcasters, who argue the FCC is adding regs to an already overregulated service. The FCC's foreign disclosure rules were last updated in 1963.

The updated rules require broadcasters both to provide clear and uniform disclosures at "reasonable intervals" when airing leased content sponsored by a foreign government, but also take a number of steps to determine if leased airtime is being used for such programming. It also requires broadcasters to place copies of their disclosures in their public files.

Representatives of the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliate associations met with the chief of the Media Bureau and other top FCC staffers earlier this month to press home their point that the item deals with leased airtime and was never meant to extend to advertisements, whatever their length.

They said ads are covered by existing FCC disclosure provisions and that to add the enhanced disclosure requirements "would be unduly burdensome on the affiliate television stations, which broadcast thousands of short-form and long-form advertisements every day."

They are seeking a clarification of the scope of the rules "simply to avoid misconceptions."

The enhanced rules make clear that traditional short-form ads are not considered leased time, but it is not as clear on whether it considers, say, a half-hour infomercial supplied by an advertiser to fit the "third party controls and programs a discrete block of time on a broadcast station" definition if that infomercial were supplied by a foreign government entity.

The item does say: "We find that our focus on situations where there are leasing agreements between a station and a third party will narrow the application of the disclosure rules appropriately, and ensure that the new disclosure obligations do not extend to situations where there is no evidence of foreign government sponsored programming."

The FCC will vote at the April 22 open meeting to adopt new disclosure requirements when foreign entities buy airtime on U.S. broadcast outlets.

"If you are consuming programming broadcast over the public airwaves, you have the right to know who is behind that content," said acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in outlining the agenda. The fact that she has scheduled to vote likely means she has Republican support, without which there would be a 2-2 tie and the item would not be adopted. The vote on the initial proposal was unanimous, so this vote is likely to be as well.

Also Read: FCC Proposes Enhanced Foreign Programming Disclosures

Foreign governments and their agents can't hold a broadcast license, but Rosenworcel said that "foreign governmental entities are increasingly purchasing time on domestic broadcast stations," which is why the FCC is acting.

She said under the new sponsorship requirements, broadcasters will have to tell the FCC when a government or its representative leases time. "These rules will help to ensure transparency of foreign government-sponsored broadcast content in the United States," she said.

The chairwoman did not get into specifics on the item, but the fact that she talked only about domestic broadcast stations and broadcast content suggests the item does not extent the requirement to cable content, as broadcasters had suggested.

The FCC voted unanimously last October to propose the disclosure requirements for broadcast TV and radio content sponsored by foreign governments. The proposed rules require “a specific disclosure at the time of broadcast if a foreign governmental entity has paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material, or if the programming was provided to the station free of charge by such an entity as an inducement to broadcast the material.”

Also Read: FCC Sets Deadline for Foreign-Owned Media Outlet Reports

The Biden White House has signaled clear concerns with foreign media content. In a Feb. 3 daily briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the White House’s position on RT (Russia Today). Psaki said she had not spoken with the president about RT, but said it was “pretty factual” to say the outlet was a Russian propaganda tool.

Cable operators and broadcasters agree that the Federal Communications Commission should be careful in making sure viewers know where their video and audio content is coming from, an issue that has taken on new urgency in an age of disinformation campaigns by foreign actors.

The FCC has voted unanimously to approve a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) establishing disclosure requirements for TV and radio content sponsored by foreign governments.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated the item last month, it was voted earlier this month and released Monday (Oct. 26).

The rules require "a specific disclosure at the time of broadcast if a foreign governmental entity has paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material, or if the programming was provided to the station free of charge by such an entity as an inducement to broadcast the material."

There is no minimum threshold. If one of the following five categories of content sponsors provide any remuneration--money, services or anything of value, including the programming itself if it was supplied for free.

The disclosure would be triggered by content sponsored by "1) a 'government of a foreign country' as defined by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA);44; 2) a 'foreign political party' as defined by FARA;45; 3) an entity or individual registered as an 'agent of a foreign principal' under FARA,46 whose 'foreign principal' has the meaning given such term in section 611(b)(1) of FARA and that is acting in its capacity as an agent of such 'foreign principal';47; 4) an entity designated as a 'foreign mission' under the Foreign Missions Act;48; or 5) any entity meeting the definition of a 'U.S.-based foreign media outlet' pursuant to section 722 of the Act that has filed a report with the Commission."

The FCC is proposing this standardized disclosure language:

“The [following/preceding] programming was paid for, or furnished, either in whole or in part, by [name of foreign governmental entity] on behalf of [name of foreign country].” 

That disclosure must be made at the time of broadcast and, for TV, must be "displayed in letters equal to or greater than four percent of the vertical picture height and be visible for not less than four seconds."

The disclosure must be made at the beginning and end of each program and at least once per hour for programming longer than 60 minutes.

The commission said those proposals for wording, time, frequency and duration are tentative and seeks comment on them. 

While the FCC already had rules requiring disclosure of sponsored content, it did not specify when and how content from foreign governments should be disclosed.

Only the Democrats released statements on the vote.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he supported the item because "content created by or on behalf of foreign governments and aired on American stations has the potential to leave listeners unwittingly vulnerable to manipulation by a foreign adversary, we must close any existing loopholes by requiring full sponsorship disclosure....Notably, we take this action in the midst of known attacks on our political processes by foreign governments and their representatives. Although free speech remains a bedrock of our democracy, we as Americans have a right to know when there is a foreign voice behind speech broadcast in the United States."

"We propose to adopt specific disclosure requirements for broadcast programming that is paid for or provided by a foreign government or its representative," said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. "This is about basic transparency and it frankly shouldn’t have taken us so long....Right now, we are awash in reports that foreign actors are attempting to influence our political process and democratic elections in the United States. We also know that foreign entities are purchasing time on broadcast stations in markets across the country, including Russian government-sponsored programming right here our nation’s capital. But it’s mindboggling that the FCC has yet to update its policies under Section 317 to ensure that the public knows when foreign actors who may wish to do us harm are paying to access our airwaves and influence our citizens."

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), who has pushed the FCC for such identificuations to help combat Russian election interference, was pleased with the decision, if not the timing.

“Americans have a right to know when a foreign adversary is buying up time on airwaves owned by the American people.,” she said in a statement. “I commend the FCC for finally taking this critical step to defend our democracy and protect American airwaves after a glacial pace of action. The U.S. Intelligence Community concluded in January 2017 that Russian state-sponsored media outlets RT and Sputnik meddled in our 2016 elections when they pushed anti-U.S. messaging over U.S. airwaves to undermine trust in our democracy. Eight days before a consequential election, the FCC is releasing a rule which should have been implemented by now, an action I’ve called for since May, 2017.”