FCC charges TV station in airing paid ads as ‘special news reports’

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined a Las Vegas TV station for disguising infomercials as “special news reports.” 

KTNV-TV, a station licensed by the Journal Broadcast Corp., is being forced to pay a $115,000 fine for broadcasting “Special Reports” that were actually paid commercials about liquidation sales at local Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Nissan and Hyundai dealerships. 

The FCC said the station formatted the commercials in the same style as news reports, sending a KTNV-TV staffer out to the dealership to pose as a journalist. Failure to disclose to viewers when segments are paid advertisements, the agency said violates the Sponsorship Identification Rule. 

“Broadcasters are not allowed to deceive the public by presenting commercial announcements or other paid programming in the guise of news or editorial content,” FCC’S Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said. 

“Transparency is especially crucial in a situation like this one where a pseudo news report invites viewers to rely on their perception of the station’s independence and objectivity when, in fact, the message has been bought and paid for by an undisclosed third party.”