P.M. BRIEFING : Limit on Children’s TV Ads Urged

WASHINGTON —  The amount of TV commercials aimed at children has increased dramatically since the Ronald Reagan Administration lifted regulations on such advertising, Congress was told today at a hearing on a bill that would reimpose restrictions on children’s TV programs.

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said the three major television networks had steadily increased the number of minutes per hour of advertising in children’s TV shows from below the 9.5-minute limit established by the Federal Communications Commission in 1974 to as much as 11 minutes per hour today.

Markey told the House Energy and Commerce telecommunications and finance subcommittee that the government must stem the “endless streams” of TV commercials on children’s shows because broadcasters are not regulating themselves.

But the president of the Assn. of National Advertisers said the bill before the House and a companion measure before the Senate were unconstitutional and that less advertising may lead to worse programs for children.