FCC Okays ABC's "Secret"
After a four-month investigation (that undoubtedly required lots of rewinding and slo-mo playback), those Fashion Police at the Federal Communications Commission have decided that ABC's airing of The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last fall was not indecent.
In an email made public Monday, the FCC said the November 15 special--which featured scantily clad models like Tyra Banks, Gisele Bundchen and Heidi Klum showing off the latest in barely there lingerie--did not meet the agency's standards for lewd behavior that would warrant it to take tough action.
The note went out to those concerned viewers who groused to the agency. "Based on the information you and other complaintants have provided to us, you have not demonstrated that the sexual aspects of the material was, in context, so graphic or explicit as to be patently offensive," wrote Charles Kelley, head of the FCC's investigations and hearings division. "While we understand that you are offended by the programming described, it does not appear that we have any basis for action at this time."
The feds launched their, um, probe into the matter after fielding dozens of viewer complaints about the salacious commercial cum fall-sweeps stunt.
Although ABC had given the fashion show a TV-14 rating, clearly warning parents that the contents were inappropriate for kids under the age of 14, several irate viewers phoned and wrote the FCC. They demanded ABC be fined for allowing models to strut around in the barest of essentials during the 9 p.m. hour, when children are often watching television.
Ultimately, the government agency decided the fashion show was not scandalous and did not violate the broadcaster's legal guidelines for indecency--i.e. content that depicts "sexual or excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium."
Had the FCC found ABC in violation of federal indecency laws, the network and its affiliates could have faced some pretty stiff fines.
Despite the controversy, The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was a turn-on for much of America. The special, which aired on a Thursday evening during the 9-10 p.m. time slot, gartered, er, garnered DD-sized ratings, attracting an estimated 12.4 million oglers.
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