FCC Forces Broadcasters to Behave

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) showed broadcasters that they still have to behave, even four years after the infamous Janet Jackson incident.

The FCC clobbered ABC with a $1.2 million fine for a show that has been cancelled for several years, NYPD Blue.

Due to the airing of an actor's naked rear end in 2003, ABC was fined for each of the 45 stations that aired the show before 10 p.m.

The hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. are "safe harbor" hours, in which broadcasters are allowed to get away with nudity or foul language. However, NYPD Blue aired at 9 p.m. in the Central time zone.

ABC paid the fine and then filed an appeal in federal court.

As a result, broadcasters are terrified of offending the FCC to the point where nobody is even thinking of pushing that envelope. In fact, over the last seven years, network TV shows have gotten a lot more violent and a lot less sexy.

That's to be expected, since a show with nudity can always air on cable, which has fewer FCC restrictions.

The FCC isn't afraid to go after networks on this topic even while it fights legal battles from past incidents. The commission is still in litigation over the Janet Jackson incident and over a pair of naughty incidents on the Fox network.

The first incident took place when people used profanity at the Billboard awards. This sparked action by the FCC and an appeal from Fox, who asked the court to clarify the definition of profanity.

The second incident took place during the ill-conceived Married by America reality show in 2003, which had pixelated nudity from strippers at the bachelor and bachelorette parties.

TV Week has a very good article on the effect the FCC's vigilance is having on which shows appear on network TV, which are moved to cable and which don't make it on the air at all.

Television is not the only medium that is feeling the pinch of the FCC. Radio hosts like Opie & Anthony and Rover are always censoring themselves and talking about how they can't go too far or they will get in trouble with the FCC. They even have to keep a tight rein on callers to make sure they don't say anything inappropriate.

It's funny how things change. At the beginning of this decade, broadcasters were trying to shock us any way they can. Now they are trying to avoid the shock of a huge fine from the FCC.