Does Public Television Get Away With Running Infomercials?

Public television stations are (theoretically) licensed as non-commercial.

Last night, a local public television station ran a two-hour infomercial for a diet program package (books, CDs, DVDs - $144). I've seen it and others on the schedule before but this is the first time I stopped and watched. Maybe two-thirds of the show was a "doctor" pitching how his diet of "superfoods" let you lose weight as you eat as much as you want and even cure cancer. The rest of the time period was like a standard public television pledge drive segment - same host and "volunteers" to take your call - but they weren't asking for money for the station or "quality television." They were asking for orders for the package of diet books and CDs.

The "doctor's" presentation offered little information or recommendations on "healthy eating." Just claims. Clearly, the purpose - as in any infomercial - was to tease the viewer and sell the product. The pitch even had the same overly-excited studio audience with close-up reaction shots of people nodding or laughing or frowning on cue.

There were very specific calls to action, and general comparisons to other diets and weight loss programs.

This isn't the only one. The station seems to run a lot of them.

Have you all seen these on public television? And how do they get away with them?

Major infomercials have long been a staple of Public Television pledge week programming. Self-help gurus like Wayne Dyer share the spotlight with concerts by groups like Celtic Woman or Andre Rieu as the primary content for pledge periods.

But there's nothing to "get away" with. It's all perfectly legal and within the rules and regulations. The station airs a program with content that is of benefit to the audience, like the aforementioned Dyer giving one of his sermons on how to be a nicer person or the women of Celtic Woman walking around and singing with their breasts squashed into tight dresses. Then, the station breaks to beg people to pledge a voluntary donation to support the station. And, as a "thank you" for your voluntary donation, you'll receive a nice "thank you" gift, like a set of Dyer's books and CDs, or maybe tickets to see Celtic Woman in concert.

No rules or regulations are violated in that process, so there's nothing to "get away with".

Avid, read my post again. They didn't ask for donations to the station and offer the diet program as a thank you gift. They were asking people to call to order the package. That is crossing the line.

Yes, they have been edging close to the line for years. This seems like they crossed it. On top of that, the local host of the segment in which people were asked to call and order (call to action) was endorsing the medical effectiveness and scientific validity of this "superfoods" "GOMBBS" diet. Sounds like they also have gotten into FDA territory, as well.

In commercial television, back when programs had sponsors, hosts or announcers often asked listeners and viewers to show their appreciation of the program by buying the sponsor's product ("See your DeSoto-Plymouth dealer tomorrow. And when you get there, tell them Groucho sent you."). So, even some token link to supporting the station does not mean they aren't basically selling a product. Except this time, there wasn't even a token link to supporting the station. A viewer might infer that from the presence of the regular pledge host and volunteers (from a Montessori school) to take calls but they didn't say that.

Even those "thank you gifts" you describe sound a heck of a lot like good old per-inquiry advertising. If the station buys the books and CDs beforehand to give away to donors, that's one thing and they might get away with that. If the "donation" triggers the purchase order with the station and Dyer or whoever splitting the take, it's a PI ad.

Given your other posts, I'm surprised to see you letting public broadcasters slide so easily.

FCC rules require some form of disclosure about the programming. There are also rules regarding the types of organizations. So more specifics would be helpful.

Gary Null offers a diet plan on non-commercial WBAI in NYC. He's been a regular on non-commercial radio and TV for 15 years. If he's the guy you saw, what he does has somehow been approved. Although the folks at PBS aren't particularly pleased about it.

Just guessing, but I'll bet the local station gets a cut from running the ad, and it's set up to be in the same format as most other PBS begathon shows enough to where it's allowed.

Even the regular begathon shows on PBS stations are really nothing but infomercials as far as I'm concerned, although they're usually wrapped around some sort of a program that's stretched out to twice the time because of begging for money. What irritates me is when they lie and claim your donations "help keep programming like this on your PBS station," but you'll never see anything like it again until the next begathon.

Speaking of public television "infomercials", I'm surprised stations haven't interrupted Sesame Street to "Get on the phone and keep this programming for your kids on your station!" But it seems after the kids shows are done, here come the 2.5 hour long begathons...

-crainbebo

TheBigA said:

FCC rules require some form of disclosure about the programming. There are also rules regarding the types of organizations. So more specifics would be helpful.

Gary Null offers a diet plan on non-commercial WBAI in NYC. He's been a regular on non-commercial radio and TV for 15 years. If he's the guy you saw, what he does has somehow been approved. Although the folks at PBS aren't particularly pleased about it.

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Specifics: The program was "Three Steps to Incredible Health" with Dr. Joel Fuhrman. The program lasted two hours. There were three segments with Fuhrman doing a presentation to a small studio audience (Popeil-style) interspersed with four segments with the station's regular pledge-drive host and a co-host who interviewed Fuhrman (all in the style of a pledge segment). The product being sold was a collection of Fuhrman's books and DVDs for $144. This was presented as a straight sale, not a thank-you gift. The station on which I saw this was WHYY-TV12, Philadelphia. The station regularly and frequently runs this and other "self-help" programs of a similar format. There was no disclosure about the station's arrangement with Fuhrman. Fuhrman attended medical school in Philadelphia and lives in region, so this may be a station product; I don't know if it is shown on other public television stations. WHYY has been the subject of some public controversy over the high salaries paid to senior executives, so they may need all the money they can get.

It's my impression that PBS has nothing to do with most of the fund-raising infomercial and nostalgia type shows.

FredLeonard said:

It's my impression that PBS has nothing to do with most of the fund-raising infomercial and nostalgia type shows.

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You're absolutely correct about that, and in fact the President of PBS spoke out against the Gary Null show because of the various claims he made about his product.

You say there was no disclosure about the station's arrangement, but was there a disclaimer at the beginning or end?

TheBigA said:

You're absolutely correct about that, and in fact the President of PBS spoke out against the Gary Null show because of the various claims he made about his product.

You say there was no disclosure about the station's arrangement, but was there a disclaimer at the beginning or end?

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At the beginning: Consult your doctor before making any change in your diet.
At the end: Copyright by Winkydink Productions 2011.

I have no idea who the copyright holder is or what their connection with the station is (if any). "Winky Dink," of course, was a 50s kid show hosted by Gene Barry. Barry was later host and producer of several rigged quiz shows (including "21"). Winky Dink was a cartoon character. The show sold an over-priced sheet of plastic and some washable crayons. You were supposed to put the plastic over the TV screen and then draw on the screen whatever Barry told you to draw to "save" Winky Dink.

The one common thing I see in these programs is they're promoting health products, not kitchen utensils or garden appliances. That obviously has a lot to do with the way they meet FCC guidelines.

FredLeonard said:

Avid, read my post again. They didn't ask for donations to the station and offer the diet program as a thank you gift. They were asking people to call to order the package. That is crossing the line.

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I read your post. You pretty much described how the PBS stations in Atlanta do the exact same thing that I described. Without actually seeing the pledge breaks, I only have your word to go on that they didn't phrase the pitch properly, with the correctly phrased references like, "as a thank you gift for your pledge". And if all I have to go on in your word that they didn't phrase it exactly right, then I don't believe that they didn't phrase it properly.

That's what happens when you have no credibility and do not actually name names, such as the city where this happened, the call letters of the station, the name of the diet "doctor", etc. When you only make the vaguest of allegations and provide no details, what do you expect?

Jack Barry, not Gene Barry, was host of "Winky Dink And You" as well as the rigged "Twenty-One" and the rigged, original "Tic Tac Dough." Gene Barry is best remembered for "Bat Masterson," "Burke's Law," and "Name Of The Game." Jack Barry was virtually persona non grata on television from the late '50s until the late '60s, when he was asked to host the ABC primetime game "The Generation Gap"; this was followed by a syndicated revival of his first big hit, "Juvenile Jury," and another ABC primetime show he created, "The Reel Game." But it was "The Joker's Wild," which aired on CBS from 1972-75 and which he hosted in syndication from 1977 to his death in 1984 that permanently re-established him; he and partner Dan Enright actually rebuilt their company into a bigger moneymaker than it had been in the '50s.

frankberry said:

They are accepting a 'donation' from the advertiser (or someone connected to the advertiser).

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Or perhaps the doctor is operating as a non-profit, educational foundation. The FCC seems to view health programming as educational rather than commercial.

The one thing non-commercial broadcasters have in common with commercial folks is that revenues appear to be harder to come by. And even "enhanced sponsorship mentions" aren't enough to attract the kind of funding required to keep these stations on the air. They're increasing, not decreasing. In New York, Gary Null is the one dependable source of revenue for WBAI. He's making it possible for the station to stay on the air.

Maybe there is a loophole. Wouldn't be the first. Kevin Trudeau, as I recall, took to doing infomercials for books on diet and health instead of the other products he sold previously (such as a memory course) and tried to claim 1st amendment protection. He went to jail anyway.

I'm going to have to watch the other "infomercials" the station runs. Many of them do deal with health/issues products.

I read your post. You pretty much described how the PBS stations in Atlanta do the exact same thing that I described. Without actually seeing the pledge breaks, I only have your word to go on that they didn't phrase the pitch properly, with the correctly phrased references like, "as a thank you gift for your pledge". And if all I have to go on in your word that they didn't phrase it exactly right, then I don't believe that they didn't phrase it properly.

That's what happens when you have no credibility and do not actually name names, such as the city where this happened, the call letters of the station, the name of the diet "doctor", etc. When you only make the vaguest of allegations and provide no details, what do you expect?

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Gee, if you wanted the specifics, all you had to do was ask. I had intended to keep the topic somewhat generic. I wondered how far other public TV stations were going. Someone else asked and I provided details without him calling me a liar. Please go back and re-read that post. Also note that a moderator is participating in this thread before you get nasty again.

WHYY-FM, home of "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross runs a good number of enhanced underwriting announcements during local cut-aways in Morning Edition and All Things Considered from pharmaceutical companies and others in the medical and health care fields. They also run some glowing "news stories" on topics directly related to the areas of these underwriters' business products and services. I'm a bit suspicious of that, too.

frankberry said:

Commercials are strictly prohibited.

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Prohibited, yes. But "strictly" isn't a word in the FCC's vocabulary.

Last night, WHYY-TV12 (re)ran a program/infomercial called "Brain Change." Very similar. Another doctor doing a presentation to an excited studio audience about a diet program, this one claims to reverse memory loss. And with a pledge-drive format "call to action." This time, the pitch was a little different, apparently in an attempt to stay within the "loophole." They made a brief reference to a $5 a month offer including a DVD of the show plus a station membership. Mostly, they pitched a $20 a month package including several books and DVDs.

They did not say, for either offer, how many months you would have to pay. Or make it clear that this was installment payments and not a month to month subscription you could cancel at any time. They also did not say or show how much of the amount being requested was the purchase price of the product and how much was a donation to the station, which they are required by law to provide. Donations to non-profit organizations (like public television stations) are deductible. Premiums are not. Usually, during pledge drivers stations show the donation required for a premium in large text with the breakdown in small text on-screen. Not here. "Strictly" may not be in the FCC's vocabulary, It is in the IRS'. Also the FDA's.

This appears to be a local production of WHYY-TV. One of the recommendations of the diet to halt or reverse memory loss is no gluten. One of the organizations credited for "supporting" the program with an "educational grant" is a company which says it is "expanding the world of gluten testing." Another grant came from a company "pioneering the new era of brain science and diagnostic imaging." A third "educational grant" came from a supplement manufacturer. This is not new or novel for WHYY. On the FM side, as I mentioned earlier, they cut away from Morning Editor or All Things Considered for very favorable health stories "made possible" by companies in that industry.

FredLeonard said:

they cut away from Morning Editor or All Things Considered for very favorable health stories "made possible" by companies in that industry.

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It may not be ethical, but I'm not aware that it's illegal, as long as it's disclosed. Just as payola isn't illegal as long as you disclose the spin was paid for by a record label.

TheBigA said:

It may not be ethical, but I'm not aware that it's illegal, as long as it's disclosed. Just as payola isn't illegal as long as you disclose the spin was paid for by a record label.

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Depends on how define "disclosure." Station cuts away for local "news" from :33-:40. In the break, they run an extended and glowing story about some "breakthrough." At the end of the break, they give a "donor" credit. Is that disclosure?