The FCC Wants to Expand It's Decency Fight
 

Mother fuckers.

-Rudey

Gotta love the FCC.

















Oh wait, no you don't.

That's a lot nicer than what I was going to post.

I wish I could find the article or something in writing about this, but on the radio they were discussing a situation in which massive numbers of letters were sent to the FCC complaining about something. They successfully had a huge fine implemented and barred the show from being shown on network TV again. After reviewing the letters, it turned out that out of something like 9000 letters, they came from only 23 different addresses and each letter was one of 3 form letters. So, 23 people copying 3 letters can get a show removed from a network!

I just watched Howard Stern on Letterman talking about the FCC, Powell, and Sirius Satellite Radio. He said that he was removed from about 20 radio stations and that Sirius is the wave of the future in radio like cable was for television. It was pretty interesting.

i never heard it on the radio, but i saw the E! show a couple times. what was missing from the Howard Stern Show because of censorship? the midget hooker/stripper who wants breast implants gets pixilated, the F-word gets bleeped. i don't think his show can get much less outrageous.

He also referred to the news item I'd heard on the radio. It was about complaints regarding the show Married by America and they traced it down to 3 different complaints and over 1.2 million in fines!

Some quick comments:

I've never heard the story about three people sending thousands of complaints -- but it's certainly possible.

In the end, it would only take one complaint to generate millions of dollars of fines if the complaint is legitimate.

It would be the the same with a stations license.

I'm going to be interested to see what happens with Sirius. Mel Karmazan, former CEO of Viacom/CBS was just named Sirius CEO. He's a master salesman and adds huge status just by having his name involved. Although many would say he destroyed CBS. BTW, I think he was still in charge there during the Rather/Bush/National Guard fiasco.

The question is will the population be ready to pay for radio -- which is now "free." Obviously, they are for TV (cable).

Remember when listening to Stern that he has a clearly defined agenda -- not only against the FCC, but for Sirius. Which is his prerogative.

I thought it would be fun to work for a cutting edge group like Sirius and sent them a resume. Thought maybe I could work on/for and oldies channel either on air or in programming or production. Never heard a word from them. Of course, it's been a long time since I've done radio.

More on the original topic, the FCC could get scary with conservative membership, and a conservative Congress and President backing them.

On the other hand, some of the stuff they do is necessary. Totally unregulated electronic media can be a disaster.

You have a choice not to actually tune in to that radio station just like you have a choice of not watching those nasty television shows with all sorts of fondling going on.

-Rudey

Yeah I heard about this. It happened to Fox right?

-Rudey
--Fascists!

That's true, but it's never been part of the equation for the FCC. They are the "guardian" of the "Public Airwaves" and have certain mandates from Congress as parts of the Communications Acts -- the latest revision of which was passed in the 1990's.

BTW, I try to keep up with the various internet bulletin boards and also several of the broadcasting magazines, and I never saw anything about a few people sending in thousands of complaints.

I wonder if that's what we would consider an "urban legend?"

While I'm not saying it didn't happen, I would think that it would have been published in one or more of the trade journals.

Can anyone give me more details? Station/Network? Time frame?

only 3
 

What I heard Stern say on Letterman (Thus. night) was that the FCC acted after only three people complained. He didn't say that the three had sent 1000's of complaints.

He also said he was fined for discussing penises, while Oprah's aternoon TV show discusses the exact same thing and is not fined. Stern said some FCC person said Oprah was not censored becaused she is "beloved".

I expect we will see Stern on a lot of talk shows now, since he has to try to get his 20 million (?) listeners to start paying $4 per month for Sirius. Last time Stern was on Letterman he said he would probably never come back.

Re: only 3
 

Oprah didn't just talk about penises. Oprah discussed quite a few acts including tossing a salad. Oh and Oprah defined these acts. "Tossing a salad" got quite a few middle-aged housewives giggling.

DeltAlum, I did a search and here is what I found: http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_11_15.html

-Rudey