The United Church of Christ (UCC) filed a petition to deny the license renewal of 2 Miami TV stations for rejecting the group’s controversial ad (CD Dec 2 p12). The group asked the FCC to deny WFOR-TV (Ch. 4, CBS) and WTVJ (Ch. 6, NBC) renewals for failing to recognize the UCC’s limited right of access to purchase air time in the absence of the fairness doctrine.
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The draft TRO remand order circulating among commissioners doesn’t cover a wide area of issues, but rather is limited to concerns raised earlier this year by the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Jeffrey Carlisle said Thurs. at an FCBA-Practising Law Institute conference. Carlisle told the group that the court basically upheld the impairment standard set in the earlier TRO order “so we're using the upheld standard to review 3 elements” questioned by the court -- local switching, high-capacity loops and transport. “We're not starting from zero and building up an unbundling policy,” he said.
Fearing possible FCC indecency fines, several ABC affiliates preempted an uncut version of the award-winning film Saving Private Ryan, scheduled to air Thurs. WOI-TV (Ch. 5) Des Moines, KHGI-TV (Ch. 13) Kearney, Neb., and ABC stations in Boston, Orlando and Atlanta said FCC policies on programming broadcast before 10 p.m., including the Janet Jackson Super Bowl ruling, prompted the stations not to show the movie. WOI-TV ran the film uncut in 2001 and 2002. “The inconsistent manner in which the FCC is choosing to apply these rules puts TV stations like ours in a most difficult position,” WOI-TV Pres. Ray Cole said in a statement. ABC agreed to indemnify any affiliate for any FCC fines issued for broadcasting the film, a network spokeswomen said. But Cole said with the current Commission the station didn’t know if the film’s intense language and violence would pass FCC indecency guidelines in prime time. KHGI-TV said it “reluctantly” made the decision to preempt the program, having been denied the chance to edit the profane language in the film. “That movie was praised almost universally for its ability to categorize the war,” said MPAA Pres. Dan Glickman at an Media Institute lunch Wed. Glickman said if he were an FCC commissioner, he wouldn’t fine the stations. NAB said the stations’ actions are reflective of the “dilemma” that many stations are facing with FCC indecency rules. Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman agreed. “When you come up with whip cream and nipple regulations, you are going to find more managers nervous about what they're allowed to air,” he said, referring to recent FCC rulings. The Parents TV Council (PTC) said it wouldn’t object to the uncut film, just as it didn’t object to another Steven Spielberg work, Schindler’s List. “In both films, the content is not meant to shock, nor is it gratuitous,” PTC Pres. Brent Bozell said in a statement.
Pappas Telecasting is complying with the FCC’s equal- time ruling but hasn’t ruled out appealing the decision to the full Commission, a company spokesman said Mon. The FCC ordered Pappas late Fri. not to provide free air time for Republicans or else provide equal time to Democrats. The order followed a complaint filed last week by a Cal. Democrat saying Pappas violated federal equal-time rules by offering more free air time to GOP candidates (CD Nov 1 p9). “When a candidate is furnished time at no cost, competing candidates are entitled to receive the same amount of free time in comparable time periods,” the FCC said. The FCC disagreed with Pappas’ argument that airtime was a in-kind political contribution that didn’t require the company to offer free time to rivals under Cal. campaign law. Pappas also said the company was exercising free-speech rights and the right to make contributions. The FCC emphasized that its ruling was limited to the specific circumstances of the complainant’s request for equal opportunities. The ruling came as no surprise to Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman, who called Pappas’ action “absurd.” Schwartzman said the Pappas incident was reflective of broadcasters’ election actions. “This is an accumulative affect of broadcasters thinking the FCC no longer cares what they do. I'm glad to say they're wrong,” he said. Last week, a complaint was dropped against Sinclair Bcst. for airing an anti- Kerry documentary after Sinclair modified the program to include opposing views (CD Nov 1 p9).
Despite concerns that Sinclair’s broadcast of an anti-Kerry documentary Oct. 22 wasn’t balanced and violated the broadcaster’s public interest obligations, the film received few complaints Mon. Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman said he would be very surprised if anyone pursued taking issue with the broadcast, but said the controversy has “painted a bull’s eye” on Sinclair. Sinclair stations aired part of a documentary Fri. night that was critical of Presidential candidate Sen. Kerry’s (D-Mass.) Vietnam Service. The material was part of a program that also included criticism of President Bush. “I think that what you saw was that the public was heard,” Schwartzman said. Last week, the Veterans Institute for Security & Democracy filed an initial complaint with the FCC against Sinclair over concerns that Sinclair may not provide equal time for a counter opinion on the issues raised in the film (CD Oct 22 p3). The group’s attorney John Crigler hadn’t seen the program and requested a copy from Sinclair before deciding what action, if any, to take. “I'm still waiting for the goods to arrive,” Crigler told us Mon.
The FCC’s context-based ruling Wed. on Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl performance (CD Sept 23 p3) raised First Amendment concerns, which are likely to end up being battled out in the courts, attorneys said. “The Commission clearly has tried hard to come up with a positive smile,” said Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman: “But it’s almost impossible to do this ruling without getting into First Amendment issues.”
NAB’s Advisory Committee on Responsible Programming met Mon. to outline ideas on policing the airwaves for indecent content without FCC intervention. The committee was formed in March (CD April 1 p5) and has created 5 subcommittees to handle various issues, an NAB spokesman said. The subcommittees cover the First Amendment, audience communications, improving the V-chip, best practices, and a code of conduct or statement of principles. The overall committee is co-chaired by Gary Chapman of LIN TV and David Kennedy of Susquehanna Radio. Details of the closed-door meeting were scarce. Parents TV Council, Media Access Project and Morality and Media gave presentations, the spokesman said. “I have no hint on what they have in mind on what I said,” said Andrew Schwartzman, pres. of Media Access. The advisory committee is scheduled to meet again Nov. 30 to draft working proposals on responsible programming, the spokesman said.
The FCC has a better chance of getting the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the Brand X cable modem appeal because the U.S. Solicitor Gen. joined the Commission’s appeal, several attorneys told us. Last week, the DoJ joined the FCC in an appeal of the 9th U.S. Appeals Court, San Francisco, 3-judge panel ruling striking down the FCC’s decision that cable modems should be classified as an information and not a telecom service. “I think the fact that you have essentially the U.S. government taking on this issue bears some significant,” said attorney Frank Jazzo.
The FCC has a better chance of getting the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the Brand X cable modem appeal because the U.S. Solicitor Gen. joined the Commission’s appeal, several attorneys told us. Last week, the DoJ joined the FCC in an appeal of the U.S. Appeals Court, San Francisco, 3-judge panel ruling (CD Oct 7/03 p1) striking down the FCC’s decision that cable modems should be classified as an information and not a telecom service. “I think the fact that you have essentially the U.S. government taking on this issue bears some significance,” said attorney Frank Jazzo.
The full FCC ruled Mon. Will & Grace and Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes that contained sexual material didn’t violate the Commission’s decency rules. The programs aired at times children would likely be watching.