FCC Fines ABC for Indecency
By AMY SCHATZ WAll Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- After a brief lull, the Federal Communications Commission recommenced its battle against provocative television shows late Friday, proposing a $1.43 million fine against the ABC and its affiliates for a February 2003 episode of "NYPD Blue."
The agency proposed the highest fine possible for the broadcast, which briefly showed the side and back of a naked woman getting into a shower.
"Although ABC argues, without citing any authority, that the buttocks are not a sexual organ, we reject this argument, which runs counter to both case law and common sense," the FCC said in its complaint.
Some 52 ABC stations in the Central Standard Time and Mountain Standard Time zones were assessed a $27,500 fine for broadcasting the show. ABC's East and West coast affiliates were not charged fines because they aired the broadcast at 10 p.m., which falls outside the 6 a.m to 10 p.m. period in which the FCC can fine stations for broadcasting nudity, overly suggestive scenes and obscene words.
Although almost five years in the making, the FCC fine is notable for its size and because it could signal the beginning of a new round of indecency fines that may soon emanate from the agency. Complaints have been piling up at the FCC in recent years, as the agency has paused from issuing new fines while defending previous decisions in federal appeals courts.
In some ways, the ABC stations may have gotten off relatively easy, since the FCC under Republican chairman Kevin Martin has taken a hard line on broadcast nudity and profane words, often socking stations with the highest possible fine allowed under federal law, as it has in this instance.
In 2005, Congress raised the maximum indecency fine to $325,000. If the NYPD Blue episode had aired after Congress raised the limit, the stations could have been facing a combined $16.9 million fine for the scenes briefing showing the woman's bare buttocks.
Indeed, FCC commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate suggested in a prepared statement released with the proposed fine that the commission would have assessed a higher fine, if possible. "Our action today should serve as a reminder to all broadcasters that Congress and American families continue to be concerned about protecting children from harmful material and that the FCC will enforce the laws of the land vigilantly," Ms. Tate said.
Concerned about the FCC's hard-line approach to indecency regulation, the big four networks (including Fox Television, which is owned by News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal) and local station owners have joined together to challenge the agency's actions in federal court. They've been concerned about the financial ramifications of the commission's decision to frequently propose multi-million dollar fines for risqué television broadcasts and its new policy of punishing stations for broadcasting even unscripted, inadvertent profanities on live radio or television broadcasts.
A federal appeals court tossed the FCC's no-tolerance policy on the fleeting use of profanities on news and live broadcasts but the agency has appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which has not yet decided whether to accept the case. A better known FCC decision -- to fine CBS and its affiliates $550,000 for showing Janet Jackson's infamous breast-baring Super Bowl half-time performance in 2004 -- is currently being challenged in a federal appeals court.
Court challenges by the broadcasters have had something on an impact on the agency, mostly halting the FCC's efforts to impose new indecency fines as it waits for the court's decision. But complaints have been piling up. Indeed, complaints have already begun pouring into the agency for actress Diane Keaton's recent use of a profanity on a live interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Since the NYPD Blue episode involved nudity and not dirty words, the agency clearly felt more confident in assessing a fine.
In a statement, ABC defended its program and said that it had not violated federal indecency laws. "ABC feels strongly that the FCC's finding is inconsistent with prior precedent from the Commission, the indecency statute, and the First Amendment, and we intend to oppose the proposed fine," the network said in a prepared statement.
The Parents Television Council, a public interest group which has been behind many of the complaints filed about broadcast television and radio shows that have resulted in fines, said in a statement that it was happy the FCC had finally taken action. "We are thankful that the FCC has finally taken a stand for children and families with this unanimous order," PTC president Tim Winter said.
Amy Schatz Wall Street Journal
By AMY SCHATZ WAll Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- After a brief lull, the Federal Communications Commission recommenced its battle against provocative television shows late Friday, proposing a $1.43 million fine against the ABC and its affiliates for a February 2003 episode of "NYPD Blue."
The agency proposed the highest fine possible for the broadcast, which briefly showed the side and back of a naked woman getting into a shower.
"Although ABC argues, without citing any authority, that the buttocks are not a sexual organ, we reject this argument, which runs counter to both case law and common sense," the FCC said in its complaint.
Some 52 ABC stations in the Central Standard Time and Mountain Standard Time zones were assessed a $27,500 fine for broadcasting the show. ABC's East and West coast affiliates were not charged fines because they aired the broadcast at 10 p.m., which falls outside the 6 a.m to 10 p.m. period in which the FCC can fine stations for broadcasting nudity, overly suggestive scenes and obscene words.
Although almost five years in the making, the FCC fine is notable for its size and because it could signal the beginning of a new round of indecency fines that may soon emanate from the agency. Complaints have been piling up at the FCC in recent years, as the agency has paused from issuing new fines while defending previous decisions in federal appeals courts.
In some ways, the ABC stations may have gotten off relatively easy, since the FCC under Republican chairman Kevin Martin has taken a hard line on broadcast nudity and profane words, often socking stations with the highest possible fine allowed under federal law, as it has in this instance.
In 2005, Congress raised the maximum indecency fine to $325,000. If the NYPD Blue episode had aired after Congress raised the limit, the stations could have been facing a combined $16.9 million fine for the scenes briefing showing the woman's bare buttocks.
Indeed, FCC commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate suggested in a prepared statement released with the proposed fine that the commission would have assessed a higher fine, if possible. "Our action today should serve as a reminder to all broadcasters that Congress and American families continue to be concerned about protecting children from harmful material and that the FCC will enforce the laws of the land vigilantly," Ms. Tate said.
Concerned about the FCC's hard-line approach to indecency regulation, the big four networks (including Fox Television, which is owned by News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal) and local station owners have joined together to challenge the agency's actions in federal court. They've been concerned about the financial ramifications of the commission's decision to frequently propose multi-million dollar fines for risqué television broadcasts and its new policy of punishing stations for broadcasting even unscripted, inadvertent profanities on live radio or television broadcasts.
A federal appeals court tossed the FCC's no-tolerance policy on the fleeting use of profanities on news and live broadcasts but the agency has appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which has not yet decided whether to accept the case. A better known FCC decision -- to fine CBS and its affiliates $550,000 for showing Janet Jackson's infamous breast-baring Super Bowl half-time performance in 2004 -- is currently being challenged in a federal appeals court.
Court challenges by the broadcasters have had something on an impact on the agency, mostly halting the FCC's efforts to impose new indecency fines as it waits for the court's decision. But complaints have been piling up. Indeed, complaints have already begun pouring into the agency for actress Diane Keaton's recent use of a profanity on a live interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Since the NYPD Blue episode involved nudity and not dirty words, the agency clearly felt more confident in assessing a fine.
In a statement, ABC defended its program and said that it had not violated federal indecency laws. "ABC feels strongly that the FCC's finding is inconsistent with prior precedent from the Commission, the indecency statute, and the First Amendment, and we intend to oppose the proposed fine," the network said in a prepared statement.
The Parents Television Council, a public interest group which has been behind many of the complaints filed about broadcast television and radio shows that have resulted in fines, said in a statement that it was happy the FCC had finally taken action. "We are thankful that the FCC has finally taken a stand for children and families with this unanimous order," PTC president Tim Winter said.
Amy Schatz Wall Street Journal
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