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FCC and CBS Not Breast Friends
CBS will have to finally pay up for putting the boob back in the boob tube.
That's the verdict from the good folks at the Federal Communications Commission, who will reportedly uphold their record $550,000 fine against 22 of the Eye network's affiliates for broadcasting Janet Jackson's now infamous wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
FCC sources tipped off Bloomberg News ahead of the official public announcement. The commissioners had been reviewing an appeal from CBS, which called the punishment excessive. Ultimately, however, the FCC has deemed the fine to fit the crime.
News of the ruling comes just three weeks after Super Bowl XL, during which penalty-averse ABC censors managed to tone down some potentially off-putting Rolling Stones lyrics, much to the band's chagrin.
CBS felt the FCC's wrath after the commission was bombarded by some 542,000 complaints from people apparently offended by Jackson's right breast. Most of the calls originated from such conservative activist groups as the Parents Television Council and Focus on the Family, who called on the FCC to revoke the stations' licenses.
In their 78-page rebuttal, the 22 Viacom-owned affiliates claimed they were as shocked as the FCC when the "Control" singer's duet with Justin Timberlake spun out of control, with the former 'N Syncer tearing off Jackson's bodice to reveal her exposed breast adorned with a nipple shield.
The CBS stations said that if the fine stood, it would have a "chilling effect" on all broadcasters and likely lead to the end of live television as Americans have known. Indeed, most "live" shows are now aired on a delay, including the Super Bowl and Hollywood award shows.
So far, the network and its parent company are declining to comment on the matter until the FCC officially announces its decision, which is expected any day.
The network would have little recourse, other than possibly file a First Amendment suit to defend itself from a fine that head honcho Leslie Moonves has called "grossly unfair."
Boobgate aside, the FCC is expected to announce several other indecency fines. Chairman Kevin Martin, who took the reins from Michael Powell a year ago, has promised stricter and swifter enforcement of indecency violations. Last year, 40 programs elicited complaints.
Meanwhile, according to reports, the agency is planning to uphold sanctions levied against NBC Universal for U2 singer Bono's F-bomb at the Golden Globes three years ago.
The FCC is also standing by its decision to penalize Fox for Nicole Ritchie twice uttering the S-word during the 2003 live broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards.
Things could be worse for the networks. Post-nipple, Congress urged the FCC to crack down on plummeting broadcast standards, even proposing to up the maximum $32,500 broadcasters could be fined per incident, the legislation stalled after fierce lobbying by the networks.
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