FCC Indecency Actions a No-Show

Coverage Type 

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable 12/30, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
For the first time since 1993, the FCC did not propose any indecency fines in 2005. That's a sharp contrast to the $7,928,080 in fines proposed in 2004 -- and the attention the issue received from federal policymakers. One reason that no actions were taken earlier in the year is that a lot of the complaints went away. A number of major media companies--including Viacom, Clear Channel, and Emmis Communications--had already settled a host of both proposed fines and outstanding complaints through consent decrees with both dollars and pledges to crack down on content the FCC doesn't like. Still, 189,362 complaints were filed in 2005, more than in any year except 2004, when the Super Bowl pushed that number to over a million. And the 2005 complaints were against 720 broadcast and cable programs, according to the FCC's last published count, which is more than twice the number of shows complained about in 2004.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6295524.html?display=Breaking...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)


http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6295524.html?display=Breaking%20News&…