Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008 - (Page 36)

the $75 rate to become the LUC for any spot run during the 6-7 p.m. period of the entire week and the candidate would be entitled to a $25-per-spot refund. Thus, stations generally try to run make-goods within the same time slot as originally scheduled. Special considerations apply to make-goods which arise not because of technical failure, scheduling errors or preemption, but rather due to a short-fall in a promise of audience delivery. The problem here is that pertinent audience information may not be ascertainable until after an election. In such cases, a station normally will either provide a prompt rebate or offer a make-good in connection with any subsequent general or special election in which the candidate may be running. Time Sensitive Make-Goods If a station’s policy is to make good a spot preempted by a higher-paying advertiser, and if it is willing to run the make-good spot within a specific time frame (i.e., a holiday sale make-good would be sure to run before the holiday or an event makegood would have to run before the date of the event), then it must also ensure that make-goods for political spots air before the election. On the other hand, if a station does not make good preempted commercial spots, there is no obligation to do so with respect to political ads. If that is the station policy, then candidates may prefer more expensive fixed-rate spots to assure the exposure they seek. IX. The Disclosure The FCC emphasizes that stations must fully disclose their selling practices to political advertisers out of concern that stations may steer naïve political advertisers toward premium-priced fixed or non-preemptible time when their needs would have been served by a lower-priced class of time. Following the 1990 election, many candidates complained that they were not aware that they could have had their spots run without paying for non-preemptible time, even though they had the services of experienced advertising agencies and time buying services. (In their defense, stations complained that agencies and buyers deliberately bought unduly expensive ads in order to bolster their own compensation, which was a percentage of the total amount spent.) To reduce station liability and confusion about what disclosure is required, the FCC now requires that stations must disclose to political advertisers all discount privileges available to commercial advertisers. Many stations attach the disclosure to any avail sheet provided to political advertisers. Additionally, stations often require their rep firms to attach the disclosure to any avails it provides and to any order it returns to the station. The burden of disclosure is on the station, not the candidate. Broadcasters must always disclose their selling practices to political advertisers, not just during the 45day period preceding primary or run-off elections and the 60-day period before the general election, but during the “comparable rate” periods as well. This disclosure requirement applies regardless of the complexity of a station’s rate structure and even if it has no rate structure at all, but rather negotiates deals based on whatever price it can obtain. The FCC has declined to adopt a model disclosure form, but has stated that the disclosure made to candidates must include at a minimum the following: • • • A description and definition of each class of time available to commercial advertisers that is complete enough to permit candidates to identify and understand the specific attributes of each class of time. A complete description of the LUC and related privileges (such as priorities against preemption and make goods prior to specific deadlines) for each class of time offered to commercial advertisers. A description of the station’s practices with regard to selling preemptible time based on advertiser demand (including “current selling level” or “street rate”) with the assurance that candidates will be able to purchase time at these demandgenerated rates on the same basis as commercial advertisers. An approximation based on current experience of the likelihood of preemption of each class of preemptible time. This is designed to protect candidates from being steered to higher-priced fixed or non-preemptible time when there is an acceptable probability that a certain level of preemptible time would air. If a station has a practice of selling preemptible time to a high-volume advertiser with an understood assurance that the station will see to it that the spot will run, that same privilege must be accorded to the political advertiser even if the candidate is only purchasing a single spot. If the station has any sales practices based on audience delivery (such as no charge bonus spots if the promised audience is not delivered), these practices must also be made known and made available to the candidate. • • Once the initial disclosure is made to a candidate, it need not be repeated each time the candidate purchases additional time. However, the station remains obligated to update or modify all previous information as often as necessary to ensure its accuracy. 36 « March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008

Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008 Contents Introduction – The Scope of the Political Broadcasting Rules “Legally Qualified” Candidates Reasonable Access “Uses” of Broadcast Facilities Exempt Programs Requests for Equal Opportunities Equal Opportunities Lowest Unit Charges The Disclosure Censorship of Uses Sponsorship Identification Political File Contents Access to the Political File The Fairness Doctrine Political Editorials Personal Attacks Issue Advertising News Distortion Conclusion

Campaigns & Elections' Political Broadcast Manual - March 2008

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