Indiana TV Says FCC Fine Was Misplaced

INDIANA TV SAYS FCC FINE WAS MISPLACED
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John M.Higgins]
WSBT South Bend, Ind., was one of more than 100 CBS affiliates fined $32,500 apiece for airing an episode of crime drama Without a Trace that depicted hormone-crazed teens writhing in various stages of undress for a casual afternoon orgy. The episode, which aired Dec. 31, 2004, was perfectly decent for East Coast stations-Trace's 10 p.m. time slot is within the FCC's "safe harbor" for indecency (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). But it was a prime time no-no for stations in Midwest and Mountain states that air the show at 9 p.m. But much of Indiana defies the switch to daylight savings time and stays on Central Time only half the year. In a letter sent to the commission last Thursday, an attorney representing WSBT owner Schurz Communications, explained that on the date in question, "most of Indiana - including South Bend - was not in the Central Time Zone, but instead followed Eastern Time." Indeed, the WSBT's log shows that the Trace episode aired at 10 p.m., not 9 p.m.
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