Three of Six Major Broadcasters Allow Condom Ads

A report released Tuesday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation concluded that a decade after Fox ran the first condom advertisement on network television, condoms still aren't much more common on the air today. CBS and NBC have since joined Fox in allowing condom ads, yet their policies are so restrictive that prophylactic manufacturers do not bother making many ads. ABC, the WB and UPN do not allow paid condom advertising, according to the health-oriented foundation.

Both CBS and NBC changed their policies prohibiting condom ads after they began showing commercials for birth control pills following the relaxation of federal rules for prescription drug advertising. A CBS executive told Kaiser that the network felt it could not justify turning down condom ads while accepting other contraceptive commercials. Although Fox accepts condom ads, the network limits them to the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour, and requires them to focus on disease protection instead of pregnancy prevention. NBC only allows condom ads after 11 p.m. and requests that they not be "overly erotic." CBS usually keeps the ads off until at least 9 p.m., the report said.

A Fox executive told Kaiser that a problem with condom ads is that other advertisers do not want their commercials airing near them, further limiting the chances that they will get on the air. In a survey conducted by Kaiser this spring, 71 percent of Americans said they favored allowing condom ads on TV. About half of those people said the ads should run at any time; others said they should be restricted to late at night. "This research indicates that long-held concerns at some networks about the impact of condom ads may be outdated," said Victoria Rideout, a Kaiser vice president.

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