CBS, Fox, NBC oppose delay to decency challenge

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Three television networks, CBS, Fox
and NBC, on Friday urged speedy court review of a decision
finding some of their shows violated decency standards,
opposing a delay sought by the U.S. government.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission earlier this
week asked an appeals court to postpone hearing the networks’
challenges and return the case to the agency for two months so
it can review television broadcasters’ arguments.

The networks are challenging the FCC’s March decision that
profanity uttered on ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” CBS’s “The Early Show”
and the 2002 and 2003 Billboard music awards shows on Fox was
indecent. However, the agency did not propose or issue fines.

News Corp.’s Fox television stations and its affiliates
called the government’s request a “continuing attempt to delay
and possibly evade any judicial review of its new indecency
enforcement regime.”

The FCC said it did not follow its normal procedures when
it ruled, but CBS Corp. countered that it was not challenging
the facts in the case or FCC’s review process so the court
should deny the government’s request for a delay.

The networks said a delay was unnecessary because the FCC
has been weighing, for more than two years, an appeal of a
ruling that television stations violated decency standards by
airing U2 rocker Bono swearing during the 2003 Golden Globe
Awards show on General Electric Co.’s NBC.

The networks argued that the Bono decision marked a new
front by the FCC to go after fleeting or isolated incidents of
on-air indecency, diverging from past precedent and making it
hard for broadcasters to know what is forbidden to air.

The FCC “cannot credibly assert that there has been no
opportunity to address or rule on the legal issues presented
where precisely the same questions have been pending before the
agency since April 2004,” CBS said in its opposition brief.

The TV industry is particularly worried about violating
decency standards because fines are now $325,000 per incident,
10 times the penalties until a new law was signed last month.

“The chilling effect of the commission’s new regime is
intolerable for broadcasters — especially considering that
Congress just enacted a ten-fold increase in the size of
potential forfeiture penalties,” Fox said in its brief.

The FCC’s request for the case to be sent back came just
days before the July 12 due date for the television networks
and stations to file their brief detailing their arguments with
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network and its affiliates supported
the FCC’s request for a delay, as did affiliates for CBS and
NBC, according to the FCC.

An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment on the filings by
CBS, Fox and NBC.

Reuters/VNU