FCC Lags on Indecency Fines; Adelstein Pushes Payola Probe
The FCC hasn’t acted on an indecency complaint backlog, despite late Sept. remarks by Chmn. Martin that the Commission would rule quickly on several such items. A stack of rulings that staffers and industry officials expected commissioners to approve hasn’t made the 8th floor rounds, an aide to Comr. Adelstein said. There was no immediate explanation, but one observer suggested blaming a politically split Commission, noting that in all of 2005 the FCC hasn’t levied a single indecency fine.
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Martin said this month he hoped “to do something soon” on the backlog (CD Dec 16 p1). Some commissioners have endorsed bundling complaints for a package vote (CD Oct 5 p5). Regulators, legislators and the cable and broadcast industries are feeling heat from the Parents TV Council and other such groups to clean up TV.
The bundle was expected out by Dec. 31, said Adelstein media adviser Rudy Brioche. “But that just hasn’t happened,” he said. FCC officials we spoke with last week wouldn’t talk of any action’s timing; an official in Martin’s office wasn’t available to comment Fri.
The lull on indecency gripes follows a lag in publicizing an FCC report on a la carte cable pricing that reversed the conclusions an earlier one reached (CD Dec 23 p10). The new study says selling individual cable channels would cut prices (CD Dec 1 p2). Adelstein hasn’t been able get Martin’s office to let him meet with FCC Chief Economist Leslie Marx, who helped write the latest a la carte report, said Brioche.
Adelstein wants to study the report’s methods and get “information other than what has been publicly provided,” said Brioche. Marx is all for a sit-down. “I'd be happy to meet with him,” she said, adding she hasn’t heard directly from Adelstein’s office: “That would be an appropriate role for the chief economist in this case.”
Adelstein has been hectoring Martin to jump harder on payola, after a news report on sponsorship at Washington, D.C., TV stations. “I am very concerned about the issues raised” in a Washington Post article, said Adelstein in a statement. The Post reported Wed. that Gannett’s WUSA (CBS) and NBC Universal’s WRC-TV (NBC) engaged with firms sponsoring charity campaigns staged by the stations in mixes of ad sales and promotion that other D.C.-area stations said they don’t do. For instance, one sponsor got big play in news stories, the paper reported. “To give certain companies air time simply because they have made undisclosed payments to the broadcaster is a serious breach of the public’s trust,” said Adelstein: “The FCC needs to investigate all potential violations.” Officials at Gannett and WRC weren’t available to comment.
Adelstein has pushed the Commission to investigate other possible payola cases. He wants deeper and wider FCC review of music company settlements with N.Y. Attorney Gen. Eliot Spitzer. “The Enforcement Bureau is reviewing a small fraction of Spitzer’s documents,” said Brioche. An official at the bureau had no comment; Brioche expects Martin will back Adelstein’s demand. “Given his commitment to enforce FCC regulations, we would expect an investigation to be launched,” said Brioche.
Media activists urged a more intense FCC probe, calling the Commission soft on payola. Martin “should make this a priority issue,” said Timothy Karr, Free Press campaign dir.: “I don’t think he’s been making it a priority.” Free Press wrote Fri. to Comrs. Copps, Adelstein and Martin asking for an enhanced inquiry: “Federal regulators should intervene, not only to stop the current violations, but to tighten the rules to prevent future abuses.” A fellow activist seconded that. “It cries out for FCC action,” Andrew Schwartzman, Media Access Project exec. dir., said. “This is happening right under their nose, and the Commission ought to be embarrassed by what the Spitzer investigations have turned up.”
Payola probes and indecency sanctions may have slowed due to the Commission’s partisan split, said George Wash. U. Prof Chris Sterling. Also holding back payola inquiries could be lack of congressional interest, said Sterling, an FCC 8th floor staffer 1980-1982. “To some degree it’s foot dragging,” said Sterling, who expects indecency fines next year. “I would not have predicted that we would have gone through 2005 without any fines,” he said. “It’s like the calm before the storm.” - Jonathan Make