Janet MIA, but Porn Still Pops Up in Super Bowl

Investigation launched after Comcast's feed was hijacked and 30 seconds of porn aired during big game

Nipplegate had nothing on Super Bowl XLIII.

As if the unexpected sight of Bruce Springsteen's crotch hurtling toward their screens wasn't enough of a shocker (and don't even mention that last-second touchdown catch), some Tucson-area pigskin watchers had their sensibilities extra offended last night when live coverage of the big game was interrupted by a 30-second burst of porn.

The clip, transmitted to roughly 80,000 Comcast customers, showed a woman unzipping a man's pants, followed by some in-your-face full frontal male nudity.

Here's hoping viewers remembered to remove their 3-D glasses.

(Editor's note: The extremely NSFW clip has been immortalized online. Proceed with caution.)

The X-rated clip, which originated from the adult cable channel Club Jenna, assaulted viewers' screens with 2:37 left in the game. It was only seen by standard cable subscribers, not those who were watching the game on high-definition television.

The coverage was restored for the game's final moments, but the damage had already been done. KVOA-TV, the local NBC affiliate airing the game, said that the station received "a flurry of angry phone calls and emails to our newsroom" after the incident. Management quickly issued an apology and sought to absolve the station of blame, claiming that its feed was hacked.

"We are appalled this highly inappropriate material was displayed for some Comcast customers," said KVOA's president and general manager Gary Nielsen. "Our internal investigation shows the signal left KVOA with no interruptions or inappropriate material.

"This did not emanate with us."

Comcast went one step further today, with the cable purveyor saying it was "mortified by last evening's Super Bowl interruption and we apologize to our customers."

"Our internal investigation suggests this was an isolated malicious act," said Comcast spokeswoman Kelle Maslyn. "We are conducting a thorough investigation to determine how this happened."

Customers of the area's other cable provider, Cox Communications, were unaffected.

Maslyn told the Arizona Star that Comcast is already working on a plan to compensate the affected customers, though no course of action has yet been decided upon.

Meanwhile, the watchdog Parents Television Council was quick to rip the broadcasters.

"Comcast and Cox are pointing fingers at each other about this 'accident,' " says PTC President Tim Winter, "but these 'accidents' seem to happen more often than they should, and if it truly was an accident, why is it always porn that's aired? TV station 'accidents' never include a rerun of The Cosby Show."

Winter calls on the providers to "take immediate remedial steps to ensure this type of indecent material does not air again during times when children are in the audience."

As it stands, one bright spot in the ordeal, at least for the affected broadcasters, is that the FCC hasn't come a-calling.

"Any complaints we get we follow normal procedures, but at this point we have no information," FCC spokesman David Fisk tells E! News, adding that the offenders aren't necessarily in the clear just yet.

"I haven't heard a thing. When complaints do come in, though, it takes awhile for them to be processed depending on whether people write letters or email."

Sort of makes PETA's Veggie Love ad seem positively innocent by comparison.

(Originally published Feb. 2, 2009 at 12:05 p.m. PT.)