Children's Television Act of 1988

Children's Television Practices Act of 1988 - Title I: Children's Television Advertising Practices - Requires the Federal Communications Commission to prescribe standards for commercial television broadcast licensees with respect to advertising in programs for children.

Requires the standards to: (1) limit the duration of advertising to a specified number of minutes per hour; (2) assure adequate separation between program content and commercial messages; and (3) eliminate the use of program characters to promote products.

Directs the FCC to initiate rulemaking proceedings in conjunction with these standards within ten days of this Act's enactment and to promulgate the final standards within 120 days of the enactment date.

Title II: Children's Educational Television Programming Practices - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to add provisions in the interest of encouraging television programming to meet the educational and informational needs of children.

Requires each television broadcasting station to schedule throughout the week a substantial amount of educational programming directed to specific age groups of children of age 12 and younger.

Directs the FCC to designate for a hearing any television broadcast license renewal application with respect to which a petition for denial has been filed based on the applicant's failure to meet children's programming requirements. Places the burden of proof on the applicant in such context.

Requires the FCC's annual report to the Congress to: (1) list and explain television station broadcast license renewals made despite failure to meet children's programming requirements; and (2) describe the impact of this title on children's educational and informational television programming.