The commission now says in its NAL that South Central failed to fully and accurately disclose the material terms of the contest. The contest?s official rules specified that weekly winners would receive a hat from Victoria National Golf Club, and that the grand prize was a $350 gift certificate to the Tom Howard Golf Superstore. The advertisements relating to the contest that South Central broadcast over the air, however, stated only that contestants could qualify to win a Lexus automobile -- the ads did not mention the hat or the gift certificate. That means, according to the FCC, that those announcements failed to describe the actual extent, nature, and value of the prizes South Central intended to award. In addition, the promos didn't describe any of the procedures by which prizes would be awarded, including the fact that the Lexus automobile would be awarded only to a finalist hitting a hole-in-one. The commission also concluded that the promos failed to describe the means of selecting the winners. South Central argued that the most effective method of informing potential contestants of the rules is online. However, the commission still requires ?stations to broadcast all of the material terms of a contest." Although rules announced through non-broadcast means can supplement broadcast announcements, they cannot yet substitute for such announcements. Along with the failure to accurately disclose the material terms of the contest over the air, the FCC claims South Central has developed a pattern of misconduct: "While this aspect [the deficient announcements] of South Central?s contest rule violation would, standing alone, warrant a finding of liability, because we find that South Central violated the rule on other grounds, it is not necessary for us to rely upon South Central?s deficient announcements to find liability, and we do not do so in this case. At the same time, this failure reflects a broad pattern of contest misconduct and informs our overall calculation of the monetary forfeiture proposed below." Under FCC rules, a broadcast licensee must conduct station-sponsored contests ?substantially as announced or advertised,? and must fully and accurately disclose the ?material terms? of such contests. That's the source of the requirement that announcements include, among other things, any eligibility restrictions, means of selection of winners, and the extent, nature, and value of prizes. The commission has acknowledged that ?the standards are high, for while contests are particularly susceptible to abuse, abuses can be prevented by diligent licensee attention to the planning and the conduct of contests.?
The commission has therefore ruled that South Central violated Section 73.1216 of the FCC rules by failing to conduct the contest substantially as announced or advertised: First, in the notification letters it sent to contestants on December 30, 2009, South Central altered the rules by excluding professional golfers and club pros from eligibility. Additionally, South Central failed to complete the contest within the promised timeframe. Although the final phase was supposed to occur in early November 2008, it didn't take place until January 19, 2010 -- over one year after the originally-scheduled date.
South Central has 30 days to respond.
Read the NAL HERE
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