| laborlitigator |
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators on Wednesday fined CBS a record $550,000 for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction," which exposed the singer's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show.
CBS is still paying dearly for the high jinks between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.
The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to slap each of the 20 CBS-owned television stations with the maximum indecency penalty of $27,500. The total penalty of $550,000 is the largest fine levied against a television broadcaster. Most of the FCC's bigger fines have been against radio stations.
The agency's five commissioners decided not to fine CBS' more than 200 affiliate stations, which also aired the show but are not owned by the network's parent company, Viacom.
MTV, a Viacom subsidiary, produced the Feb. 1 halftime show, which featured Jackson and singer Justin Timberlake performing a racy duet. At the end, Timberlake ripped off a piece of Jackson's black leather top, exposing her right breast to a TV audience of about 90 million.
Timberlake blamed a "wardrobe malfunction," and CBS was quick to apologize to viewers. The breast-baring song generated a record number of complaints to the FCC -- more than 500,000.
"While we regret that the incident occurred and have apologized to our viewers, we continue to believe that nothing in the Super Bowl broadcast violated indecency laws," CBS said in a statement. "Furthermore, our investigation proved that no one in our company had any advance knowledge about the incident."
The FCC started a crackdown soon after the Super Bowl, resulting in several high-profile fines. Television networks also began implementing broadcast delays so censors could scrub anything deemed too racy. CBS, for example, aired the Grammy awards ceremony a week after the Super Bowl with a five-minute delay. More recently, the NFL began its season with a live, pregame show on ABC that was aired with a 10-second delay, and Monday Night Football telecasts on ABC will air with a delay for the remainder of the season.
It has been a difficult week for the network. On Monday, CBS News apologized for a "mistake in judgment" in its story questioning President Bush's National Guard service, claiming it was misled by the source of documents that several experts have dismissed as fakes. The story has mushroomed into a major media scandal, threatening the reputations of CBS News and chief anchor Dan Rather.
On Tuesday, CBS News appointed former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press chief executive Louis Boccardi to investigate what went wrong with its story. |
|
|
| DaleB |
CBS got burned by paying more attention to the story than the facts.
The fine for a 'breast glimpse' in 2004 still amazes me. If only they could react so quickly to important things. |
|
|
| BWSmith201 |
quote:
Originally posted by DaleB
CBS got burned by paying more attention to the story than the facts.
The fine for a 'breast glimpse' in 2004 still amazes me. If only they could react so quickly to important things.
Touché, Dale.
Good point. I wonder if we'll get this kind of action on "Memogate." I guess we probably will, CBS wants to clear its name! I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they wait until Nov. 3 (that's my birthday!) to reveal their findings on that, though... (cynical me!) |
|
|
| dipersp |
WOW! $550k! That's incredible!
It took CBS, what, 7 seconds to make that much money in Super Bowl ad money?!
How about instead of talking about the PAST (Military service records, medals, etc.), we talk about the FUTURE and what are good, future president will do about PUNISHMENTS in this country.
That's like fining a basketball player making $3 million a year $1000 for an infraction. Get real.
AND, you KNOW CBS will try to appeal it - they'll spend OVER $550k in lawyer fees (I know they're on staff, but still) to appeal it just to "cleanse" their name. Horse crap! |
|
|
| BWSmith201 |
| True, true. :o |
|
|
| nightguy |
| What's most amazing is how much policy broadcasters have implemented since then to protect themselves. They accomplished in less than 5 seconds what some have worked for for decades. |
|
|
| fatherlu |
| CBS should file a motion for joinder and cross complaint against Janet Jackson for indemnifcation and make her pay for the 550K. Although not a legal defense according to FCC regulations, in this case (not the memogate), I believe that CBS was an innocent party who didn't know of the rogue action of its guest. Perhaps if people like Janet Jackson and her boy get the bill at the end of the day, they'd be less inclined to do that type of thing when children are watching. |
|
|
| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by fatherlu
CBS should file a motion for joinder and cross complaint against Janet Jackson for indemnifcation and make her pay for the 550K. Although not a legal defense according to FCC regulations, in this case (not the memogate), I believe that CBS was an innocent party who didn't know of the rogue action of its guest. Perhaps if people like Janet Jackson and her boy get the bill at the end of the day, they'd be less inclined to do that type of thing when children are watching.
The irony of it all If something of real import like an assasination or terrorist attempt, etc. was caught during a live broadcast, ratings for such shows would blossom. Something a network would also have no control over.
But some indescretion like a bared breast evovles into legal sanctions. The web we weave...it's amazing. |
|
|
|
