Washington – The Federal Communications Commission changed its mind and dismissed charges against two TV shows it had deemed indecent but upheld its findings against two others, according to a court filing late Monday.
In April, Fox Television Stations Inc., CBS Broadcasting Inc. and others sued the FCC and asked the appeals court to invalidate its conclusion that all four broadcasts were indecent, saying the action was unconstitutional and contrary to the law.
At issue is when – if ever – broadcasters should be allowed to air foul language. Broadcasters argue that the uttering of “fleeting, isolated and in some cases unintentional” profanities is not enough to render a broadcast indecent. They also argued that the FCC’s enforcement has been inconsistent.
The case is based on a 76-page omnibus order released by the FCC in March 2006 that settled “hundreds of thousands of complaints” regarding broadcast indecency because they aired before a policy change in enforcement of broadcast indecency rules. But it did not include the four shows in the settlement.
The two shows the FCC still considers indecent were two broadcasts of the Billboard Music Awards show on Fox, in 2002 and 2003. In the first, singer Cher used uttered a profanity. In the second, reality show star Nicole Richie did the same.
The agency changed course on two other cases. For several episodes of the ABC police drama “NYPD Blue,” in which characters used minor profanities, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the complaints were dismissed “solely on procedural grounds, and they were not decided on the merits.”
In a similar case involving CBS’s “Early Show,” Martin said, “I believe the commission’s exercise of caution with respect to news programming was appropriate in this instance.”
Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said: “Today’s decision highlights our concern about the government’s inability to issue consistent, reasoned decisions.”
An appeal is planned.
