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CBS, Fox, NBC oppose delay to decency challenge

Posted on: Friday, 7 July 2006, 20:46 CDT

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

Source: REUTERS

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